SAT scores stranded in post office

NEW YORK -- With the thousands of unscored SAT exams apparently stuck in New Jersey post offices because of the anthrax scare, the College Board said Tuesday it was contacting high school students and offering them a chance to retake the test or get a refund.\nThe College Board, a New York-based higher education membership organization, owns the test, which is given seven times during the school year. But scoring of the $25 college entrance tests is conducted by the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J.\nThe College Board estimates mail delays held up the answer sheets of as many as 7,800 students out of about 550,000 who took the test Oct. 13. That figure was based on the fact that ETS got none, or only some, of the answer sheets from 89 high schools and other test centers in this country and overseas.\n More than 2 million students take the SAT each year, about half of them seniors. This is the height of the college application season.\nStudents may retake the test at no charge at the next scheduled sitting, Dec. 1, College Board spokesman John Hamill said. But the College Board also plans several makeup tests, which will likely be scheduled for later in December. Test takers may also request a refund.\nWhen students sign up for the test, they may ask the College Board to provide their scores free to up to four schools. The colleges and universities picked by affected students will be contacted and asked to be flexible in dealing with the students' applications, Hamill said.\nIf the delayed answer sheets from Oct. 13 eventually make it to ETS, but the student has already retaken the exam, they'll have the choice of sending colleges the higher of their two scores, he said.\nThe Trenton mail processing center and the Princeton post office were closed because of anthrax contamination last month. The Princeton post office was reopened Saturday, but the Trenton facility remains closed.