C’Mon Man! — Standardized Test Edition
Admit It! Next to the essay, standardized testing is what gives you the most anxiety about the application process. There’s just nothing fun about them (unless of course you love No. 2 pencils and coloring inside the lines – can it be considered coloring if it’s done with a pencil?). But, like it or not, they are a part of most applications and they’re not going away anytime soon.
So if Chris, Keyshawn, Coach Ditka, Tom and Stewart were writing this blog (or I guess more accurately commentating it before kick-off on Sunday afternoon), this is what they’d say.
You took your first standardized test just one month before the application was due? C’Mon Man!
- Give yourself the best opportunity to do well. Say the application is due in January and you take the SAT for the first time in December. Sure there are January and February test dates but it’s also possible your application will go through part if not all of its review (depending on the schools to which you’re applying and their processes) prior to those scores being available. If standardized tests aren’t your friend, don’t give yourself only one crack at them. It’s often best to attempt one of the exams (either the SAT or ACT) in the spring of your junior year and then either try that test again or try the other exam during the summer before senior year. That leaves you the first test date in the fall should you need it to make one more attempt.
That being said, you get a big C’Mon Man! for attempting the test only once.
- Unless you hit a home run on your first attempt, making another attempt is often a wise idea. Most colleges and universities will review your best outcome so taking it multiple times rarely hurts you.
You get an even bigger C’Mon Man! when you attempt the test too many times.
- This past cycle I actually saw someone report seven exam results. SEVEN. Holy self-masochistic behavior Batman. No one wants to spend that kind of time and money taking that many exams. Usually after three attempts, the likelihood of substantial improvement is slim.
Then there are those who don’t report the exam sitting in which they improved 200 points from the previous sitting. C’Mon Man! (in exasperated voice).
- For W&M, scores must be reported to us from the testing agency. What you write down in the standardized testing section of your application is not considered official. So when we have an official score report of a 1300 and a self-reported score of a 1500 we let out a collective C’Mon Man!
Just some food for thought as you rising seniors out there plan your upcoming Saturday mornings.
Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Senior Assistant Dean of Admission
Comments are closed on posts older than one year, but we still want to hear from you. If you have a comment or question for us, please email admission@wm.edu.
Hey! I know it doesn’t look good if you’ve taken the tests too many times, like you said, and I’m wondering what you think is a good limit. I took the ACT through NUMATS after 7th and 8th grade, and then this past spring as a sophmore. Is it okay to take it again at the normal time junior or senior year? For the SAT, I’ve only taken it once but I hope to improve my score by taking it junior and senior year (in the fall). Will that reflect badly on me?
@Meghan W, generally scores you take in middle school aren’t reported (or cannot be by request). You may want to look into that.
Given that you’ve already taken four standardized tests, we would recommend you focus on whichever test you did better on (the ACT or SAT) and retake that one as a junior, rather than taking both again. Usually take a total of three tests is a solid number in terms of effort but not overdoing it.
I know colleges often take the best score from each section of the SAT. Therefore, would one send multiple reports and must those reports be sent through the collegeboard.org website?
@Dmitry, W&M does superscore your SAT (meaning we combine the best components from individual sections into your best composite). We don’t do this for the ACT but we do take your best composite. All standardized tests must be reported to W&M from the testing agency.
We generally recommend that students send all of their SAT scores since that can’t hurt you in W&M’s process (due to the superscoring) however with score choice, you can pick and choose what you send. Just recognize that if you accidentally don’t send your highest score we can’t consider it.
Hello! I was wondering if I took the SAT and ACT, do I have to send the scores of both tests, or can I just send in the test I scored better in?
Also, I’m taking the ACT in early September, and I am applying early, but am afraid that the scores will not come in on time. Would W&M still accept my ACT score if it’s pending and should come in a little after the deadline? Thank you!
@Michelle, it’s up to you if you choose to report both scores to us or just the test on which you did better on. However, it sounds like you won’t know which exam was best until right before the ED deadline (September ACT scores should be available in mid-to-late October). Given that you’re applying ED, we’d recommend simply submitting both scores now (you can ask the ACT to immediately report your score to W&M once it’s avaiable)because we will only review your best so submitting both cannot hurt you. While we’re totally cool with components coming in slightly after the deadline, if you wait to receive your ACT score and then elect which one to submit it could come several weeks after the deadline which is probably not your preference or ours.