Kristen BixbyWhat is Superscore?
Superscoring is a policy some schools have by which they will consider a student’s highest section scores from any test date of the same test. Many students take college admission tests more than once. If a college superscores, they will take the highest scores from Reading & Writing, and Math (from the SAT, for example) to calculate a new total score.
Example
Consider this scenario: a student took the SAT for the first time and scored a 500 on Reading & Writing and a 580 on Math. The second time, the same student scored a 600 on Reading & Writing and a 550 on Math. If a student sends both score reports into a college that superscores, the college will take the 600 R&W score, and the 580 M score, for a total superscore of 1180.
Check College Policies
Not all colleges practice superscoring, so it’s recommended that students check each college’s application and testing policies to find out if they do. For colleges that do superscore, we typically advise sending all scores. For colleges that don’t, it might be in a student’s best interest to consider Score Choice (rather than sending all scores, students can send just scores from their best test date). And, there are some colleges that require students to send all of their scores no matter what. It’s important to know each school’s policy and follow it.
Why Do Colleges Superstore?
Colleges know that students aren’t perfect. They can have bad days, or they can perform poorly on certain sections of college admissions tests. Colleges that superscore want to know what students are capable of, rather than punishing them for being “off.” As MIT says, “We do this in order to consider all applicants in their best light.”
How We Can Help
It can make sense for students to get advice from a professional college counselor about which scores to send to which schools. For more information about how Campus Bound can help you, contact us today.