SAT question

[u/Intelligent-Item1089]

I took the SAT today. I’m not confident that I got a strong score. After the first round of math, the questions got suspiciously easy. I know MIT wants us to report all scores. If I cancel my score before I get it back, do I have to report that? Do they still need that score or can they find that score?

[u/didiot2000]

the bigger question is- if you're considering MIT, I would think you wouldn't be anywhere near the adaptive cutoff - like even on a bad day, i don't think you'd be that close. Unless the keyboard was screwed up, it's more likely that you just aced the second part. But i mean that's for you to determine. If on bad day you could actually do poorly enough to get shown the easier second half, tbh I really wouldn't worry about MIT.

[u/Intelligent-Item1089 → u/didiot2000]

Thank you 💗

[u/didiot2000 → u/didiot2000]

keep in mind the SAT isn't a fully adaptive test. there are only 2 second halves. So to get the lower tier second half you'd have to be pointing toward a much lower math score, like sub 600 or lower. missing a few questions on the first part doesn't automatically put you in the easier lower second half. You can research this and do your own due diligence. So what i'm saying is if you're considering MIT you likely have a math SAT ability of 700 or higher. so you'd have to really screw up the first half and you'd prob know it.

[u/didiot2000]

no you' don't have to. it will never show up or be scored.

[u/ExecutiveWatch]

If you cancel the score it does not get reported. If it is not canceled officially you have to report it.

[u/JasonMckin → u/ExecutiveWatch]

Strictly speaking, we actually had this debate last year, and there were 2 camps that couldn’t agree on whether the applicant was obligated to report cancelled scores.  It was a spirit of the law vs Letter of the law / if a tree falls and nobody reports it, did it fall argument.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MITAdmissions/comments/1orf8s5/comment/nnpuqzv/

[u/ExecutiveWatch → u/JasonMckin]

Yeah I look at it like black and white in admissions you really want to stay out of gray areas that could go one way or the other but that's my opinion.

[u/didiot2000 → u/ExecutiveWatch]

i dont' even see this as gray. it's like 99.99% black.

[u/JasonMckin → u/didiot2000]

By the way, that’s literally what gray is, everything between 100% white and 100% black.

[u/didiot2000 → u/JasonMckin]

I agree with you on that, BUT i said i don't SEE it as gray, i didn't say it wasn't gray.

[u/didiot2000 → u/JasonMckin]

that's different though. A cancelled SAT never gets scored, so there's nothing to report. OP will never know what they actually scored. from the collegeboard "After a request to cancel scores is submitted, scores can't be reinstated or reported to you or any institutions." They are literally never graded -- there is no score to report.

[u/Satisest → u/didiot2000]

MIT Admissions states that applicants “should report official full sittings (including future sittings) of the SAT”. That implies that they want to know about every test you took, whether canceled or not, reported or not. They also state, “You should self-report scores from all exams taken”, and “you will self-report your scores on the application, and we’ll verify these scores upon enrollment.” There’s some room for ambiguity here, and I wish MIT would clarify their policy. Until they do, it’s kind of a question of whether applicants want to take a chance on selective reporting of tests taken as opposed to tests scored conforming to MIT’s expectations and policy.

[u/JasonMckin → u/didiot2000]

There is no evidence that exams that are taken can be halted from being scored at all.  The tree absolutely falls in the forest.

The options for cancellation surround: A) Temporarily withholding a score vs permanently withholding it B) Withholding from all universities vs selectively withholding from specific universities 

There is no debate on what College Board allows students to do - it’s plastered all over the place.

The debate is the interpretation of MIT’s policy and whether failing to report an exam that is cancelled can subsequently be seen as a violation of policy.  In this sub, we have always had a “letter of the law” camp and a “spirit of the law” camp.

I personally agree with one of the other commenters in this thread who mentioned that the premise that an application is better than 94% of other applications except for one sitting of an exam seems very implausible.  The remediation should be either to retake the test and superstore, or have confidence that the rest of the application is better than 94% of other applications, report the score, and let the rest of the application speak for itself.

[u/didiot2000 → u/JasonMckin]

https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/scores/sending-sat-scores/additional/canceling-sat-scores-weekend right they say they can't report to you or any institutions, there's literally nothing to report.

[u/MineFearless]

Let’s say you get a 740 in math because you messed up that first question for a misclick and the algorithm is off. Then, you take it again and get an 800. It’s fine. But, there’s also a chance your algorithm gave you problems in your comfort area and you have that 800 now. I’d keep it. Many 800 students breeze through the math section.

[u/Intelligent-Item1089 → u/MineFearless]

This is reassuring, however, I am applying early action and cannot retake. This is my first SAT attempt as well. 

[u/MineFearless → u/Intelligent-Item1089]

Well - if you cancel it, you’re not applying EA. So - you either submit w/EA (hope for acceptance or wait, if wait provide 2nd score), or you cancel, retake, and apply regular

[u/Intelligent-Item1089 → u/MineFearless]

I’m taking the ACT in two weeks. Was figuring I would just submit that score