What Is Score Choice and How Does It Work for College Applications?

Score Choice is a policy that gives students meaningful control over which test scores colleges see, but it is widely misunderstood, and misusing it, or assuming it applies when it does not, can cause problems. Knowing how Score Choice works, and where it does not, lets you present your testing record in the best light. Here is the explanation.

What Score Choice is

Score Choice is a College Board policy for the SAT that lets you choose which scores, by test date, to send to colleges, rather than being required to send your entire testing history. If you took the SAT three times, Score Choice lets you send, say, only your two strongest sittings and withhold the weakest. The ACT has a comparable approach, releasing scores by individual test date, so you select which date's scores to send. The practical effect is that, at schools that permit it, you can present only the test results you want a college to see, keeping a weaker sitting out of view.

The insider view: useful control, but verify the school's policy

I interview for MIT, and Score Choice is genuinely useful, but the most important thing to understand is that not all colleges honor it. While most colleges allow Score Choice and ask only for the scores you choose to send, some, including a number of selective schools, require you to submit all of your test scores from every sitting, regardless of Score Choice. These schools state this in their testing policies, and you are expected to comply; sending a partial record to a school that requires all scores is a problem. So the first step is always to check each school's policy: does it allow Score Choice, or does it require all scores. You then send accordingly, your best sittings where Score Choice is allowed, your complete record where it is required.

In practice, the all-scores requirement is less damaging than students fear, because schools that require all scores typically also superscore or focus on your best results, so a weaker sitting in the mix usually does not hurt you, the school simply takes your best. This is worth keeping in mind: even where you must send everything, your strongest performance is generally what counts. So while Score Choice gives helpful control at the schools that allow it, you should not panic about schools that require all scores, since most of them evaluate your record generously.

It also helps to understand how Score Choice relates to superscoring, because students conflate them. Score Choice is about which test dates you send; superscoring is about how a school combines section scores across the dates it has. They interact: at a school that superscores and allows Score Choice, you would send the sittings that contain your best sections so they can be combined into the highest superscore. At a school that requires all scores and superscores, you send everything and the school builds your superscore from your bests anyway. Knowing both policies for each school lets you decide exactly which scores to send to produce the best result.

How to use Score Choice

1. Check each school's policy: Score Choice allowed, or all scores required.
2. Where allowed, send only your strongest sittings.
3. Where all scores are required, send everything and rely on superscoring or best-result review.
4. Coordinate with superscore policies to send the sittings with your best sections.
5. Never send a partial record to a school that requires all scores.

A student I interviewed

A student I interviewed had one weak early SAT sitting and two much stronger later ones, and was worried the weak score would count against her. For most of her schools, which allowed Score Choice, she simply sent her two strong sittings and the weak one never appeared. For one school on her list that required all scores, she sent everything, but that school superscored and focused on her best results, so the weak sitting was effectively set aside anyway. Understanding both policies let her present her best record everywhere without anxiety. The weak score she had dreaded turned out to be either invisible or irrelevant, depending on the school.

Mistakes students make

• Assuming every school allows Score Choice.
• Sending a partial record to a school that requires all scores.
• Panicking about all-scores schools that actually superscore.
• Confusing Score Choice (which dates to send) with superscoring (combining sections).
• Not coordinating Score Choice with superscore policies.

Coordinating Score Choice, superscoring, and all-scores schools

Score Choice works best when you coordinate it with each school's superscore and all-scores policies, because together they determine exactly which scores to send for the best result. For a school that allows Score Choice and superscores, send the specific sittings that contain your highest section scores, so the school can combine them into your best superscore while the weaker sittings stay hidden. For a school that requires all scores but superscores, send everything, the requirement leaves no choice, but the superscoring means your best sections are what count anyway, so the weaker sittings do little harm. For a school that allows Score Choice but does not superscore (considering only single-sitting totals), send only your single best complete sitting.

The practical step is to build a small grid: list your schools, and for each, note whether it allows Score Choice or requires all scores, and whether it superscores. That grid tells you precisely what to send to each. The most common mistakes are sending a partial record to a school that requires all scores (a compliance problem) and failing to take advantage of Score Choice and superscoring where they are available (leaving a better-presented record on the table). A few minutes building the grid, and checking each school's current testing policy, ensures every school sees your strongest allowable record. Because these policies vary and occasionally change, verify them for your specific schools rather than assuming, and you will present your best possible scores everywhere.

What this means for your application

1. Verify each school's Score Choice and all-scores policy.
2. Send only your best sittings where Score Choice is allowed.
3. Comply fully where all scores are required.
4. Lean on superscoring at all-scores schools.
5. Coordinate which dates you send with how schools combine scores.

Frequently Asked Questions