Role of the Test Scores
The impact of your scores on your admission
chances varies widely and is dependent on
the particular school's admissions policy.
Larger institutions place considerable weight
on the results of standardized tests. In
general, the scores are commonly considered in
the context of the student's transcript. While
the test scores may be indicators of acade-
mic ability, their validation is determined by
whether the scores are consistent with
one's grade point average in high school. A wide
discrepancy between the two will raise
concerns (see Table 2.1 below).
Table 2.1
RELATIONSHIP OF STANDARDIZED TEST
SCORES
AND HIGH SCHOOL AVERAGE
Test Scores
H.S. Average
Impact
High
High
Confirmatory
Low
High
Requires evaluation
Average
Average
Confirmatory
High
Low
Requires evaluation
Low
Low
Confirmatory
Another factor that needs to be kept in mind is
that the more your score is close to the
college's median, the less significant role it
will have. If there is a meaningful deviation
from the median, however, this will catch the
attention of the admissions officers.
Depending on the direction and how extreme the
deviation is, its impact upon your
admission chances will be positive or
negative.
If you are not satisfied with your performance
and you feel that you can do signifi-
cantly better, then (and only then) is it
advisable to retake the test. To do so and not find
a significant change will mean that you have
merely confirmed the accuracy of your ini-
tial performance. If you decide to repeat the
test, you should be aware that some schools
have a policy of averaging the two scores,
while others elect to count only the highest
score. To retake a standardized exam more than
twice is not advisable. Where your per-
formance was negatively impacted by a major
problem (such as being ill) you should
call attention to such mitigating circumstances
in your personal statement.
Experienced admissions officers have gained
subjective perceptions of the caliber of
schools that send abundant numbers of
applicants for entrance to their colleges. These
schools need no introduction to admissions
personnel. If you are attending a small, less
well-known institution, admissions personnel
may need to be enlightened about the
nature of your school and its program. You can
try to do this briefly in your essay. If
your transcript of courses does not clearly
identify its character, see if you can get a
guidance counselor to elaborate on it and on
how demanding its program is, when he or
she communicates with the college on your
behalf. Finally, it should be noted that some
schools have prepared their own profile to
familiarize admissions officers with their
program. If this is the case, make sure it is
sent off with your transcript.
Class Rank
Your transcript will not only contain a list of
courses, but may frequently also indicate
your class rank. The value of this figure
depends on whether it is "weighted or
unweighted." In the latter case, class rank is
formulated without taking the difficulty of
course load into consideration. In such cases,
class rank is less valuable to admissions
officers, unless there are several students
from your school applying and each is taking
courses that are equally challenging. A
weighted rank provides a more meaningful
appraisal, since more difficult courses are
given greater weight than others. Schools that
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