As a junior my kid sent a low SAT score to umiami, now we see they are test optional. She wanted to ED there.Answered
Junior year my kid just listed schools to send her SAT too. Unfortunately, she listed UMIAMI and that score was bad (1040) now we see they are test optional and my kid wanted to early decision there. What can we do? Is there a way they won’t see this. Should she not even bother applying? We are so sad. She has great grades, and GPA.. but 1040 is pretty bad for Miami. Any advice?
Earn karma by helping others:
2 answers
Unfortunately, you can't UNSEE and REDACT sent SAT scores by CollegeBoard. The only way to cancel an SAT score is to cancel it within 24 hours of taking the SAT test (which she would have had to do last year before her test was scored).
She has only 2 options and I think 1 is better than the other.
Option 1. Apply ED and explain in the additional information section that she inadvertently sent in the SAT score and didn't know the consequences of doing that at the time she was in 11th grade. I call this a "Hail Mary" but the application reader will see her 1040 regardless and have to evaluate the rest of her applications holistically and pretend they didn't see the 1040 test score. That is very difficult to do because regardless of how complete and impressive her application is, they are going to be judged for not improving her 1040 to a 1300 or 1400 in the meantime.
Option 2. Use the extra months to test prep for the SAT and take the November 3rd and December 5th SAT tests. ( but act quickly because the deadline for the 11/3 test is tomorrow). If your daughter really wants to go to U of Miami, I personally think it would be better for her to ramp up her SAT to a viable score that fits in with the 50% range. 75% of UMiami admits have a SAT of better than 1310, and 25% have a better than 1450.
If you look at the Common Data Set for UMiami (I'll post the link).
https://www.irsa.miami.edu/_assets/pdf/cds2122.pdf
Look at section C7 which is a table of the relative importance of academic and non-academic factors in your first-time freshman college decision, you will see UMiami thinks the most important factors are the following:
1.Rigor of secondary school record
2. Class rank
3. Academic GPA
4. Standardized test scores
5. Application Essay
6. Recommendation(s)
7. Extracurriculars
And important factors are
8. Talent/ability
9. Character/Personal Qualities
10.Work Experience
11.Volunteer Work
Less important factors
12. First Gen
13. Alumni (legacy
14. Geographic residence
15. State Location
16. Race or ethnicity
17. Applicant interest
Therefore you and your daughter have to decide whether or not her application is impressive and complete in these 10 areas without submitting the 11th criterion which is the test scores. What I'm saying is that your UMiami application reader is going to have a scorecard with these items and score your daughter. If she scores really great in these 10 factors without a test score, she has a really good chance of getting in. Items 12-17 are considered but are of less importance. But if you or your husband are UMiami alumni that can make a big difference.
But if there are more than 2 or more areas where she is not very strong, then it might not be a great idea to apply to UMiami at all.
I hope this sheds some light on the problem.
You can't prevent them from seeing a score if it has been sent. However, there'll be a section on the application that asks whether you want to use test scores as a factor for considering admissions. Just indicate that you're applying test-optional.
If at all some unusual circumstances affected the SAT score, they can be explained in any of the essays or additional info sections.
Hope this helps!
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!