At many colleges, the biggest
impact of the mistakes made by the College Board in scoring the
October SAT will be on eligibility for scholarships, not on
admissions decisions, college officials say.
"With admissions, the colleges say they
are practicing holistic review," said Donald E. Heller, an
associate professor of education at Pennsylvania State
University and an expert in student financial aid. "But with
scholarships, some use flat cutoff points with the SAT score.
They say if you score above 1,200 or 1,800 on the SAT, you are
eligible for a scholarship. If you don't get that score, you
don't get that scholarship."
Jennifer Topiel, a spokeswoman for the
board, said on Friday that the board recommended that scores not
be used that way.
But the reality is that they are used like
that in numerous college and statewide scholarship programs. Dr.
Heller said he found in a recent study that 7 out of 14 states
that offered broad-based merit scholarship programs used
specific SAT scores to determine awards, usually along with
students' grade point averages. And, he said, many colleges that
offered their own merit scholarships did the same.
Over the past two weeks, the board has
revealed that because of technical problems in scanning the
October exam, the scores of more than 5,000 students were
inaccurately reported. It notified colleges of corrections for
4,411 students whose scores were too low — by as many as 450
points out of a possible 2,400 — but is not making changes for
600 other students whose scores were too high.
Christine A. Halloran, an assistant
director of admissions at the College of New Jersey, called the
scoring revisions a "nonevent" in terms of admissions because
much of the decision-making "is based on the strength of the
academic transcript."
But she said that under the state's merit
scholarship program, which is tied closely to how students
perform on the SAT, about five students would receive better
scholarships because the board had raised their October scores.
The New Jersey program offers a sliding
scale of scholarships that depends on a student's class rank and
SAT scores. In-state students in the top 5 percent of their
graduating classes, for example, are eligible for full tuition,
room and board, plus a laptop computer, if they earn a combined
score of 1,500 to 1,600 on the math and reading portions of the
SAT. If their scores are from 1,450 to 1,490, they receive
tuition, a laptop and a $2,000 stipend; from 1,400 and 1,440
they receive $6,500 and a laptop. Those with lower scores
receive less. The amounts diminish for students with lower class
ranks.
Franklin and Marshall College, in
Lancaster, Pa., which does not have a set cutoff for scholarship
eligibility but takes the SAT scores into account, had one
applicant whose score correction of more than 300 points meant
the difference between a $5,000 scholarship and one worth
$12,500.
"I know it is really hard for the public
to understand why 50 points can make a difference," said Dennis
Trotter, a vice president and dean of admissions. "But when it
comes down to it, we might be looking at 200 students who might
qualify for these scholarships, and they go head to head. There
are a lot of intangibles. One of the quantifiable things is the
SAT score, along with the high school record. A swing of even 80
or 100 points on the SAT could mean the difference between the
highest-level scholarship or not receiving one at all, because
it is all so competitive."
Still, some students say the revisions to
the test scores do not compensate them for missed opportunities.
Jake DeLillo, a star lacrosse player at
Yorktown High School in New York, received recruitment letters
from more than 50 colleges last year, and he was particularly
interested in colleges like the University of Massachusetts,
which had strong lacrosse programs. But, he said, some of the
coaches told him that his spring SAT scores were not high
enough, and he needed to raise them about 100 points to be
considered.
When he took the October SAT, he thought
he had done well — until he got his scores. The results forced
him to shift his search to other colleges, and he was accepted
by the New York Institute of Technology, last year's national
Division II lacrosse champion. Mr. DeLillo said he was looking
forward to attending.
Two weeks ago, he said, the College Board
told him it had understated his October results by 170 points.
"It was definitely upsetting," he said. "People make mistakes,
but this was a big one."
Journeys in Learning Beyond the Classroom
