Standardized Testing

Standardized tests are opportunities for a student to demonstrate his or her reasoning ability or mastery of a given subject. The tests described here provide a standard measure independent of an individual school or country's idiosyncrasies.

Aside from helping students and schools understand levels of reasoning ability and what has been learned in given courses, standardized test scores are recognized credentials in college admission. Choate is an official center for most testing related to college admission. The College Counseling Office informs eligible students through the Daily Notice, and the College Counseling Office web site about upcoming test dates, registration deadlines, and test date information. Choate Rosemary Hall's School Code is 070-810. The Test Center Code is 07-620; the Test Center Code for the ACT is 163670.

Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT)

In October, all fourth and fifth formers take the PSAT, which assesses three areas—critical reading, math and writing—each scored on a 20-80 scale. Taking the test serves both as practice and as a diagnostic tool to understand better a student’s testing pattern. Many students will have been encouraged as early as seventh grade to take a PSAT or even an SAT Test.

Many merit scholarship programs, most notably the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, are based on the PSAT administered in October of the fifth form year.

SAT

SAT Test

The SAT Test is a three-hour and 45-minute test that assesses critical reading, writing, and mathematical reasoning ability. It is scored on a scale of 200-800 on each of the three sections.

SAT Subject Tests

SAT Subject Tests are one-hour, subject-specific tests. There are 20 SAT Subject Tests in five general subject areas—English, history, languages, mathematics, and science—and each is scored like the SAT Tests on a scale of 200-800. Students can expect to take at least three such tests. The 200 or so most competitive colleges in the United States require one or more Subject Tests; some of them recommend as many as three. Whenever appropriate, as determined by teacher and student (and occasionally with input from the College Counseling Office, parents, and form deans), students should plan to take a Subject Test as an objective, standard measure of how much they have learned in a given subject. The Subject Tests may be taken in any year, on dates specified by the SAT Program, but it is most appropriate to take a Subject Test when the student has just completed a corresponding course. View the SAT Subject Test Options.

When Should A Student Take the SAT Test and the SAT Subject Tests?

Based on current scheduled administration dates, a usual pattern for taking the SAT and SAT Subject Tests is:

• SAT Test: Fifth formers should take it in January and May while sixth formers should take it in October. December and January would be “fail-safe” times if a student needs or wants one last, extra date to take this test.
  
• SAT Subject Test: Students should take a given Subject Test in June, November, and December when a related course will have most likely been completed. Subject Tests may be taken in any high school year, preferably when a course corresponding to a Subject Test has just been completed. The problem with taking a Subject Test a term or more after the course has been completed is that the student must then spend significant time away from other academic or extracurricular activity to review intensively for the Subject Test.

ACT

The ACT is a three-hour standardized test, plus an optional 30-minute essay, that serves the same purpose as the SAT Test. In most instances, the ACT may be substituted in the college admission process for the SAT Test, SAT Subject Tests, or both. Choate offers the ACT three times a year, in October, December, and either February or April. Because some students perform better on the ACT than on the SAT, the College Counseling Office suggests that most students take the ACT Plus Writing, as well as the SAT, in order to have score options when deciding which test scores to submit to the colleges and universities to which they are applying. Students can take the ACT as early as April of the fifth form year. For the ACT, Choate Rosemary Hall's Test Center Code is 163670.

Note: October 27, 2012 is an academic Saturday. Only sixth form students are allowed to register for the ACT on that date, unless an exception is granted by the Dean of Academic Affairs.

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

The TOEFL is recommended when the language spoken at home is other than, or in addition to, English. The TOEFL iBTshould be taken in either the fifth or sixth form or both and can be taken two or more times. This Internet-based test (iBT) assesses a student’s reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities.

AP Examinations (Advanced Placement)

The AP Examinations are subject specific, two to three and a half hours long, with one or more essay components, and are scored on a 1-5 scale, with 5 the highest score. They are offered at Choate in May on specific dates and times set by the College Board's AP Program.

The tests are demanding and are designed to challenge a student's factual grasp of material as well as his or her conceptual understanding of the subject matter. While we recommend that students take two, three, or more Subject Tests after successful completion of certain courses, the AP Examination is recommended only to students who have demonstrated strong achievement in the most advanced levels of a subject or who have taken courses that have specifically included the AP curriculum.

As with the SAT Subject Tests, any time a student is qualified to take an AP Examination he or she is urged to take it; not only is the AP a strong standard measure of advanced understanding of material and a strong grasp of fact within a certain discipline, the AP Examination can award students college credit or advanced standing in that subject.

Students taking AP courses are guaranteed the option of taking the corresponding AP Examination on the Choate campus. In most cases, students studying abroad spring term will be provided similar testing opportunities, but Choate reserves the right to consider individual requests on a case-by-case basis. Likewise, requests to take an AP Examination when the course isn’t offered will be decided on a case-by-case basis.View the AP Examinations by Subject.

Non-Standard Administration of the PSAT, SAT Test, Subject Tests, ACT and AP Examinations

If the presence and nature of a learning disability has been documented for a student and the College Board or ACT has granted him or her accommodations, the School will provide that student with all necessary accommodations during standardized tests. Such accommodations usually include, but are not limited to, extra time on either the SAT Test or Subject Tests, as well as on AP, ACT and PSAT exams. Students and families interested in learning more about this should contact the Dean of Academic Affairs Office or the Testing Coordinator in the College Counseling Office.