Which scores will colleges consider?

There are three primary ways that colleges consider multiple scores:

Say we have a friend, Vince, who took the SAT three times, and got these scores:

• Some colleges will consider your highest overall score on one test.
  
  For our friend Vince this would mean they would count his Oct. '10 test score, an 1700.
  
  
• Others will consider your highest score in each section.  A school using this method would look at
  
  Vince's Oct. '10 Math score, his Dec. '10 Reading score, and his May '10 Writing score, for a combined score of 1830.
  
  
• Still others will consider the average of all your scores. 
  
  For Vince that would mean they would say his score is about a 570 in Math, a 560 in Reading, and a 580 in Writing, for a combined score of 1710.

Although some colleges, in some cases will only choose to evaluate the highest math and highest verbal score, there is no standard method for dealing with multiple scores, each school does what it wants. Another thing that complicates this question is Score Choice, which allows you to select which results are sent to colleges. However some colleges are requiring that students submit all scores. For more information about Score Choice, check out our blogpost.

For test dates, deadlines, and registration, visit the College Board website.