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That was my thought too. It's not unreasonable to raise one's score by studying more (especially an honors student). It says she took courses and had a private tutor just for the SAT, so that would be easy to confirm.
The deadline to apply for certain scholarships has passed and others will pass. She missed out on a program she hoped to attend (although I wonder if she can apply next year). To me, it seems the fair thing to do is release her scores so she can apply for other scholarships and programs, do the investigation. If it turns out she didn't cheat, she stops losing out on opportunities. And if it turns out there was cheating, then go after her to return the scholarships, pull her from programs, etc.
One thing I am curious about, if her answers were the same as others in the room, are their scores being held up too? I suppose they can't disclose that for privacy reasons, but I am curious.
I am also curious why she didn't take the arbitrator option (or just retake the test). That seems to be the path of least resistance.
1) In the article I read, the other person or people with similar answers got the same letter. They however have not gone public and SAT can't out them.
2) We all know why she got a civil rights lawyer instead of arbitration or re-take. My close friends are trial lawyers, the tactic being used right now is called "bad press" and is used to try to smear a company publically so they realize it's costing them more than this "small fry".
3) Raising your score is not unreasonable. Raising it that much however sure is, but again that's not the point. Heck imagine if you had two students stay after class to make up a test that was 100 True/False. They both got 80 right and the ones they got right and wrong.....were all the same. That's essentially what the built in algorithm checks for. Now if you got the same answers as someone 100 miles away then that's one thing but when it's the person sitting adjacent to you?
Seriously, how am I the only one still pondering the fact that an "honors" student got a 930 on her first SAT try?
Improving 300 points isn't that hard, given prep and learning test taking strategy and also starting from such a low freaking first score, but what kind of diluted, meaningless "honors" program produces students who can't crack 1k on an SAT? That's absurd.
1) In the article I read, the other person or people with similar answers got the same letter. They however have not gone public and SAT can't out them.
2) We all know why she got a civil rights lawyer instead of arbitration or re-take. My close friends are trial lawyers, the tactic being used right now is called "bad press" and is used to try to smear a company publically so they realize it's costing them more than this "small fry".
3) Raising your score is not unreasonable. Raising it that much however sure is, but again that's not the point. Heck imagine if you had two students stay after class to make up a test that was 100 True/False. They both got 80 right and the ones they got right and wrong.....were all the same. That's essentially what the built in algorithm checks for. Now if you got the same answers as someone 100 miles away then that's one thing but when it's the person sitting adjacent to you?
Thanks for the answers. (especially #1). If they did flag other students and held up their scores too, not just her, then it's just part of the process. It stinks that it takes so long though since she (and other kids) may be missing out on entrance to programs and scholarships. Then again, maybe the other students just retook the exam (that's what I would have done).
Don't tests like these usually have different test books distributed so those sitting next to each other have the same questions in different order to preclude any benefit from copying?
Ideally but not always. You may have a couple or three different versions for a really large group but not if it's relatively small. I didn't deal much with SAT but I did with PSAT and we never had differing versions for that one, or rarely did because we tested groups of 25 in a room. Room 201 might have version A while Room 202 had C. My main focus was AP and there were never differing versions.
They're packed in sealed bundles with all the same version in a bundle.
Seriously, how am I the only one still pondering the fact that an "honors" student got a 930 on her first SAT try?
Improving 300 points isn't that hard, given prep and learning test taking strategy and also starting from such a low freaking first score, but what kind of diluted, meaningless "honors" program produces students who can't crack 1k on an SAT? That's absurd.
Eh...do you have kids yet? Especially kids in less fortunate or poor areas/cities or school systems.
My son was an honors student and Im still scratching my head...how? LOL.
It doesn't take that much anymore. You'll see.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Volobjectitarian
Seriously, how am I the only one still pondering the fact that an "honors" student got a 930 on her first SAT try?
Improving 300 points isn't that hard, given prep and learning test taking strategy and also starting from such a low freaking first score, but what kind of diluted, meaningless "honors" program produces students who can't crack 1k on an SAT? That's absurd.
I think she must come from a really low quality school. It sounds like she tries hard, and that's enough to get you good grades in many schools.
The problem goes deeper, here, than having her retake the SAT. Because of this delay in reporting her SAT, she's missed the deadline to apply for a dance scholarship with FSU. So it's not all about retaking the test - I don't know what can be done to help her at this point.
I would completely believe a student who was functioning well in school, who made a 930 on the original SAT could bump that score up 300 points, which is a respectable but not fabulous score, by working hard with a tutor all summer. A LOT of the SAT is strategy. Understand the question. Eliminate the incorrect answers. Quickly answer all the questions that are easy and then go back and answer the ones you didn't get right away. Read the question about the literary passage before you read the passage. Etc.
I can honestly see not wanting to take the test again. Scores can vary pretty widely from one test to the next. She may also be a very bad test taker. I knew kids who were really good students, AP classes and all, who did not perform as expected on the SATs.
That being said, she's probably not doing herself any favors with the publicity.
My son is a sophomore and just took the PSAT. I said take it, get a baseline, see what you need to work on. He got a 1480 out of 1520, which if he were a junior would probably qualify him for National Merit. Now he'll probably be freaked out when he takes it next year thinking he has to improve.
Simple solution. Quit making one test have so much weight for college acceptance. Lets go back to the old way of high school averages...……..or a better combination of the two.
Because a number of highschools have very easy grading so that they can meet graduation goals.....even if the kid hasn't learned much and can barely read.
The SAT treats kids equally.
This google search has tons of articles on the phenomenon. Yay, Johnny can barely read but he graduated so we're doing great at the school! Yay!
I can honestly see not wanting to take the test again. Scores can vary pretty widely from one test to the next. She may also be a very bad test taker. I knew kids who were really good students, AP classes and all, who did not perform as expected on the SATs.
That being said, she's probably not doing herself any favors with the publicity.
My son is a sophomore and just took the PSAT. I said take it, get a baseline, see what you need to work on. He got a 1480 out of 1520, which if he were a junior would probably qualify him for National Merit. Now he'll probably be freaked out when he takes it next year thinking he has to improve.
If he takes it again, and score a little less. Does the latest one count over the older better score?
Obviously there is software to scan for and report abnormalities in scores. Once those abnormalities are flagged, then they investigate....and after they investigated they found an issue. It was the initial surge in points that brought her test to the attention of the review board, but there are other factors that resulted in the final decision. I would think the Board would be very sure they were making the right decision. They have no reason to flag any one student......there are hundreds of thousands of kids that take this test.
It seems that there are a group of students and this is the only one going public??????
Why wouldn't the others be contacted and why wouldn't they join in this complaint if they were 'innocent'?
Also, the claims of lost scholarships.....universities have lots of play with offering deals to students. While the deadline for application has passed, I can almost guarantee if this young lady was to retake the SAT and score as well...and there is no reason she shouldn't score as well, the university might take into consideration her situation.
Let's see how this plays.
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My close friends are trial lawyers, the tactic being used right now is called "bad press" and is used to try to smear a company publically so they realize it's costing them more than this "small fry".
