Hey y'all, I've been doing some studying for the SAT and heard about something called superscoring. Can anyone explain to me what it is exactly and how colleges use it? Would really appreciate the help. Thanks in advance.
Sure thing! Superscoring is a process employed by some colleges when considering student's SAT scores during the admissions process. Under this method, instead of considering your total score from a single test date, colleges look at your highest section scores across all the test dates you've taken.
So for example, let's say you took the SAT twice. On your first test, you scored 650 in Reading and Writing, and 700 in Math. On your second test, you scored 700 in Reading and Writing, and 650 in Math. If a college were to superscore your test, they would consider your SAT score as 700 in Reading and Writing and 700 in Math, resulting in a total score of 1400. This is because they take your best score from each section, regardless of when you achieved these scores.
Not all colleges use superscoring though. Some other institutions practice what's called score choice, where you can select which of your test scores from a single date you want the colleges to see.
As a general rule, you should look up the specific SAT score policies for every college you plan to apply to, as they range widely. Also remember, even with superscoring, you should still aim for a high total score on each test, as colleges do see all your scores, and it's in your favor to not have large discrepancies between test dates.
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