College Board in Damage Control

College Board in Damage Control June 19 Many June SAT test-takers can take a day off from waterskiing this summer to retake the exam. So why cant College Board offer a retest this summer? After all, they made a big blunder on the June exam! Its the right thing to do. This week has not been the first week that we at Ivy Coach have been critical of College Board. Lets just say that College Board knows us well. Remember a couple of years ago when the College Board sent out cow stickers? We sure do. Well, weve got some more to say about the printing error on the June administration of the SAT. For those who dont read our college admissions blog every day as they eat their waffles and down glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice, there was a printing error on the June test and College Board ended up having to discard two sections of the exam. The testing company insists they will still be able to score the exam but many students and parents are up in arms.  One Long Island student even filed a legal claim against the company. College Board previously issued a statement that they would allow test-takers to take the October administration of the SAT as a makeup at no additional cost. Right. Thats like when Ironman canceled a race in Lake Tahoe, California at the very last minute with swimmers all in the water only to then charge the swimmers more to enter that same race the subsequent year. Its not like we speak from personal experience. Ok, we sure do. Anyhow, we asserted that such a response on the part of College Board was unacceptable. For many test-takers, its not about the fee. Its about the fact that they studied and prepared for this exam in June. And now they have to wait through the rest of June, July, August, September, and part of October to sit and take the next test? Its particularly unfortunate for students who intend to apply Early Decision or Early Action because they need to know their scores with expedience as their scores will likely influence where they choose to apply. Finding out a sc ore  so late in the game is far from ideal. And so we, along with other organizations like FairTest and other folks in the college admissions community, urged the College Board to not only waive the fee but to administer the exam over the summer months, so these students can re-take the test if they so choose while still fully prepared. But College Board has not yet listened. And so we shall not go silently into the night. We will continue to fight the good fight. We will. As reported yesterday by Examiners Nancy Griesemer in a piece entitled College Board goes into damage control mode, Struggling under increasingly urgent requests for clarity on their statement concerning the June 6 SAT, the  College Board  issued this afternoon yet another  amendment  to the policy regarding students who wish to take advantage of the offer for a  free re-test in October. As calls to the press office went unanswered, the College Board appeared to be going into damage control mode, while continuing to put together a piecemeal response to  timing and scoring problemsarising from the administration of the June test. College Board, its time to make a true, genuine concession and that concession is to offer the exam over the summer months. Youre a big company. Youre capable of doing it. We know it. Enough with the piecemeal responses, as Griesemer suggests. Its time to take some real, appropriate action. Its time to do right by your June test-takers. You owe it to them. You can do this. You can.