It looks as if future college students will have less control over what SAT II test scores colleges will be able to see. The College Board (TCB), administrator of the tests, chose to eliminate the "score choice" option for students.

The Board made the change last December; however, most officials and parents didn't know until the Board posted it on their Web site in February. Even now, the change has received little publicity.

"The new policy is consistent with how the regular SAT I is scored and reported," said Chad Schaedler, executive director of pre-college programs at Kaplan. "We do see that (the new policy) is going to change kids' approach to the tests." Kaplan is a company that offers test-preparation materials and courses.

SAT II tests examine a student's knowledge of one subject. They are offered in 20 different subjects and schools that require scores have highly selective admission policies.

"Score choice" gave students the option of what scores colleges would see-if they got a low score, they could wait for a better one to send out if they retook the test. However, a problem arose-students forgot to send scores in. The Board decided to eliminate "score choice" altogether because of this. As of fall 2002, SAT II test-takers will have all scores sent to prospective colleges.

News of this change had students and parents alike swiftly preparing for a May or June test date in the summer of 2002 before the change took place. According to a recent New York Times article, Kaplan said sales of SAT II study materials soared 76 percent. The College Board reported 17,000 more students registered for the June test date. Schaedler noted an increase in the number of parents making calls to Kaplan, trying to prepare their children for the tests.

"Score choice" opponents say it promoted "gamesmanship," but proponents believe taking it away puts students attending poorer schools at a disadvantage. Students at wealthier schools can keep retaking the tests, where students at poorer schools may not have the resources to do so.

Schaedler feels schools will look at SAT II scores the way they view other test scores, "With the SAT (I), colleges look at the highest scores. Most schools will continue to look at the highest scores with SAT II tests. Schools are looking at so many tests already…they have a good sense of how a particular student would score on a standardized test," he says.

But others say the elimination of "score choice" may somewhat affect admission. In an interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education, former admission officer Nelie McNeil said when she was at Harvard, poor test scores were difficult to overlook.

"If I saw five achievement tests, three of which were pretty good and two that were lousy, I might have had trouble recommending that student," she said.

The Board also recently overhauled the SAT I test. Starting spring 2005, the test will include an essay and more higher-level math questions. Analogy questions, which paired words with the same relationship, were dropped from the test.