Yale made a sound decision yesterday. It said applicants must report all SAT scores, not just the highest of the three or four that some would-be Yalies take. That was the long-term policy of the College Board until last June, when Board officials announced they would let test-takers decide which scores to report. The stated reason was to reduce stress: if the student wasn’t up to par on testing day, he or she could always get tested again. But the policy also masked a financial reality—students from wealthier families could keep taking the test until they got the result they wanted; students from less well-off families often couldn’t. The predictive value of the test is marred by re-testing. And some who criticized the June decision pointed out that the Board had a financial stake: it stood to make more money by allowing unreported extra tests. Yale got it right. The class advantage of repeat test-takers will continue, but the fact of that advantage will now be clear and taken into account.
