Stop taking “baseline” SAT / ACT exams!

I don’t know where the idea took hold or why it became so popular, but the concept of signing up and taking the SAT or ACT to get a baseline score is a horrible idea. 

Using the actual SAT / ACT as a baseline is a waste of your time and money and can have dangerous consequences. 

What if we already did this?

If your student has already taken the SAT or ACT with little preparation, you might want to stop reading at the end of this paragraph. You can help by discouraging the practice going forward, but in your case, what’s done is done. 

How can it hurt?

On the college admission side of things these baseline tests make little difference. Colleges look for applicants’ best scores either from a single exam date or from superscoring, so that initial exam taken with little preparation is usually ignored. 

As we see more schools return to requiring test scores for admission, I’ve noticed more clients worrying about their colleges or universities seeing those baseline numbers. Yes, schools are using students’ best scores, but in an already stressful process, there is no need for added anxiety or second guessing that comes from having these baseline results on your official testing record. 

The real risk is with College Board and ACT. For years, both companies have use a measure of “too much improvement” to catch cheaters. This means the baseline score, the test taken with no preparation and sometimes little care, becomes the standard by which your future scores will be judged. When you study, use practice exams to pinpoint your areas for improvement, and retake the exam, College Board or ACT can question your higher results if you improved more than they expected. 

I had this happen to a few students over the years and it is terrible. Typically students are waiting for scores when they receive a letter from the testing company questioning the results. They are given the option to cancel the exam or retake another exam to confirm results. At no point does the company share the actual scores or specific reason they are questioning the results. 

If this happens to you, you have little recourse. College Board or ACT won’t release your score. It doesn’t matter that you’ve been working on your math and English in school and can explain your test prep and hours of practice exams. You are stuck. 

What happens?

Most of the cases involving my clients were not resolved well:

“Gary” had studied for a fall SAT with me, having taken his original exam in the spring, the morning after having an immediate family member pass away unexpectedly. College Board delayed his scores, ignored letters from his school counselor and me explaining the details of his situation, and by that time admissions deadlines had passed. Gary was stuck with that lower than usual baseline score. 

“Susan” studied with me in the spring of her junior year and had her SAT score questioned. It was really upsetting to be accused of misconduct and the whole process felt so unfair that Susan couldn’t imaging retaking the SAT. She decided to switch to the ACT instead and we had to do some additional test prep to build her skills and confidence. 

“Kristen” got lucky. ACT released her score, her third attempt at the test. Kristen and I had done intensive prep for her second the third attempts. She was a senior who was waiting on these results, so she immediately sent them to her colleges. Then ACT questioned the score (unusual because they released it first then retracted it.) Kristen’s school got involved; I wrote a letter detailing our work and the progress I had seen. Her parents initiated legal action, but ACT continued to demand a retest. Fortunately, the scores had been sent and Kristen was admitted to her top choice school and her family decided to move on. 

You can guard against these issues with one simple action— don’t take baseline tests with College Board or ACT. 

But how will we measure improvement?

There is a simple fix that won’t cost you anything— take practice tests at home using official materials. Your student can take a full-length timed exam at your kitchen table one Saturday morning. You can calculate their score and even better, you will have a list of the questions they missed. College Board and ACT won’t have these results, so they can’t be used against you later. 

You can also use the official tests your student has already completed. Most schools offer the PSAT and/or the PreACT. These are solid measures of how a student is expected to score on the actual exam.

“But a practice test at home isn’t the same!” I get that, but most students showing up for these baseline exams aren’t going in with the same level of focus (or stress) either. An at home practice test may not be perfect, but it is close and carries no risks. I don’t recommend signing up for the free practice tests offered by your local big-box test prep company for multiple reasons. More about that HERE and HERE.

College Board offers multiple tests on their Bluebook app. (Don’t take more than one because we have a limited amount of official practice material. Save it for serious prep.) ACT has paper and pencil as well as digital practice tests available on their website. 

Let’s end the practice of baseline exams