Class of '06 has choice between current and new SAT

The class of 2006 has the unique opportunity to register for the current SAT or the new one. According to a brochure published by the College Board for students taking the SAT in the 2004-2005 school year, the cutoff date by which students can register and take the current version of the SAT is Dec. 20. After that point, students will only be able to take the new version.

Many colleges will accept submitted scores from either the current or the new SAT for the class 2005.

"We recognize that the class of 2006 falls in the midst of this major transition from the SAT," says Yvette Mozie-Ross, Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation for the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus. Mozie-Ross states that students in the class of '06 who have taken the current SAT and prefer those scores may opt to submit them instead of taking the new SAT.

Henry Broabdus, Director of Admissions at the College of William and Mary, states a policy similar to Mozie-Ross'. "We've always been willing to take the highest verbal score of two different SATs and the highest math score of two different SATs," he says, "and we'll be willing to treat the scores of both versions of the SAT interchangeably."

Other nearby colleges that have adopted this policy include Mary Washington University, Frostburg State University, James Madison University, George Mason University and Virginia Tech.

However, other colleges will not accept scores from the current SAT for a variety of reasons.

"Students need to have an essay to submit," says Louise Shulack, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Towson University. The essay portion of the SAT is found only on the new version of the SAT. Shulack also made it clear that the SAT II writing test was not an acceptable alternative to the essay on the new SAT.

Salisbury University will make concessions for those who have already taken the current SAT, although the essay portion of the new SAT is required. "Juniors must have a writing test," says Laura Thorpe, Director of Admissions at Salisbury University. "However, if they do have an old SAT on file, then Salisbury will take the old verbal and math score."

Salisbury, Thorpe says, will not accept the SAT II writing test as an adequate substitute for the essay portion of the new SAT. Other colleges will not accept the current SAT including the University of Maryland, College Park.

Many Blazers in the class of 2006 were not aware of the fact that they had a choice between the current and the new SATs. In an informal Silver Chips survey of 100 juniors conducted on Sept. 14, 2004, 56 percent of those polled said that they planned to take the new SAT, though 49 (87.5 percent) of those who said they planned on taking the new version were not aware that they could choose before they had been polled. The other 44 percent of those polled either said they planned on taking the current SAT or both.