Quick Answer: SAT fraud involves students paying others to take the test in their place, as demonstrated by a recent Long Island case where a 19-year-old college student charged six high school students up to $2,500 each to sit for their SATs. Students caught committing SAT fraud face serious consequences including score cancellation, college admission rescission, and potential criminal charges.
Taking the SATs is probably the most important test you’ll ever take in your life. Point blank.
Scoring well on the SATs helps determine which colleges and/or universities you get accepted to, thus determining if and where you will move after high school, the friends you’ll meet there, the experiences you’ll have and so on.
One little test dictates so much of what will pave the path of your future. It’s a lot of pressure on high school kids to do well, make their parents proud and secure a notable spot at the university of their choice.
Every weekday I read the enforcement actions, filings and fine print the outlets skip, and turn them into the one or two moves that actually improve your position — a rate worth moving for, a fee you can refuse, a deadline to beat before it costs you.
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Obviously a student’s GPA comes into play along with many other factors when being admitted into a higher education institution but I am here to attest, the SAT is a big deal.
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When I took the SATs it was much different than it is now. Our SATs were out of 1600 points and did not contain a writing portion. Now, you have three sections of the test: math, reading and writing totaling at 2400 points. In fact, if I told you what i scored years ago it would sound embarassing based on the total amount of points you can earn today (as if it wasn’t embarrassing years ago).
Recently, an SAT scam was found by Great Neck North High School guidance counselors in Long Island, New York. Apparently, a 19-year-old college student charged six local high school students up to $2,500 each for him to sit in for the SAT in their name.
The college sophomore had graduated from Great Neck North High School and targeted the SAT taking students from his old school. Apparently he earned scores of 2200, 2210, 2140, 2180 and 2170 for these paying students.
Guidance counselors at Great Neck saw huge discrepancies between these students’ SAT scores and GPAs which urged them to take a closer look at their tests. These students all took the test at test locations other than their high school so they were sure to not be recognized when it wasn’t them showing up for the test. Apparently, the test taker had a fake driver’s license for each student he portrayed (including one female??) that had his picture and their name.
This test taker may be book smart with excellent marks on the SATs but made a very stupid decision. He had been arrested and faces up to four years in jail. Questions are now being raised about the “rigor of security surrounding standardized testing” – Source.
What I want to know is where these high school children got that much money to pay this kid to take the test for them. $2,500 is a pretty penny for anyone, let alone someone still getting an allowance.
If you have been scammed and would like to file a scam report, please click here.
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