Rant - College Board SAT

[RiverRat1]

My son took the SAT a few months back while still in school (junior). We paid $30-$40 for him to take the test. It was a scheduled test obviously.

Fast forward to 2-3 weeks ago and my son who was apparently thinking way ahead of adults, said where the crap are my SAT scores so I can send in these college applications before I start my new job and then go into band camp.
After a week we finally find out they (College Board) lost the test results "in transit".

Now we get a letter that says his make-up test is this coming Saturday. And if we want expedited test scores we can pay a fee because it's important for them to get their scores in time to apply for colleges etc. No ****
Now the make up test is in a different town 30-40 minutes away, my son is scheduled to work (so will have to ask off), he will have to find time later to put in applications. And I'm sure marching band parents understand this will not be easy if test results don't come back before school starts as school and band will take up 99% of his time.

Next post will be the email my wife send the College Board.

[RiverRat1]

I am writing on behalf of my son, who originally took his SAT on May 7th of this year. I am extremely frustrated with how this situation is being resolved. I have several concerns:

1. You say the original testing materials were lost in transit. How are the tests sent from the test site to the SAT facility? Something this important - that could potential affect where a student can go to school - should be tracked and insured. I would like to know the procedure for getting the tests to SAT.

2. We only received about a week and a half of notice for a makeup test date and location. This interrupts work and family plans and is highly inconvenient. Why is there such a slow notification process? My son has been looking for his scores for weeks. I understand wanting to give as much time to locate the materials as possible, however, this is a time of year when people are out of town, have made plans to be out of town, or in the case of students - working. Also, the location of the new test is inconvenient. We chose a location that was close to us for a reason as I'm sure the other students in that session did.

3. You make note of the timeline for college and scholarship applications and then say you will charge an extra fee? This is ridiculous! This mistake is not on the part of the students or parents. This is a mistake on the part of SAT. I can understand charging a fee for a rush on scores for a normal testing date if a student chose a later date for a test, but we did not have a choice. That is an unfair fee in this circumstance.

4. This situation makes me worry for my student's scores. He is no longer in "school mode" and has been working many hours to earn money for college and other expenses this summer. It's very frustrating to think he may not get as good of a score because of lost test materials and a short notification for the makeup. What is the compensation for this?

I do not feel like the SAT program has given acceptable information in a timely manner. This is a service that I pay for and better attention should be given to some customer service. I would like a response that answers some of the questions and concerns I have listed above.




Think they will respond with any satisfactory answer? IMO they should have been pro-active once they lost the scores and called/emailed/letters or something and admitted fault. I have no idea what we would do if out of town on vacation or something.

[systemnt]

you wont get a response, unless its an auto-reply saying they received your email.
sucks for your kid...totally unfair.

[dustoffer]

My first thought--"Do they destroy everything after scoring and mailing results?" In today's automated world, I have to believe they have a retrievable record.

[txdukklr]

wow thats bs

[scubasteven25]

Sounds like bs, but good luck with getting a satisfactory reply. I know someone who had some issues and the customer service was less than adequate.

[Rack Ranch]

Call your school superintendent...

[WItoTX]

My first thought--"Do they destroy everything after scoring and mailing results?" In today's automated world, I have to believe they have a retrievable record.

This. When I did my ACT back in 2003, they emailed me results.

[RiverRat1]

My first thought--"Do they destroy everything after scoring and mailing results?" In today's automated world, I have to believe they have a retrievable record.

They lost all 50-60 kids scores for the whole group, not just my sons.

[Slickrick]

Doesn't it make you proud to know that you have to pay very high school taxes in Texas and every other state and this is what you get. When there is a problem like this it is almost impossible to get any answers as to why this happened or corrective action. Good luck but I don't see you getting sensible answers

[Swampa]

That blows

[rileydog]

Did they lose the test results or the actual tests? Something doesn't add up here on their end.

[rileydog]

Doesn't it make you proud to know that you have to pay very high school taxes in Texas and every other state and this is what you get. When there is a problem like this it is almost impossible to get any answers as to why this happened or corrective action. Good luck but I don't see you getting sensible answers

SAT is not tax funded. It's a private company.

[Chew]

There is no way that those scores aren't sitting in a database somewhere. This isn't 1975.

[rileydog]

Riverrat sent you a pm