The Cheat Sheet

Seven kids have been charged with hiring someone to take the SATs for them. There are two common types of cheating: impersonation and collaboration. So how do they get caught? If a student scores significantly higher (350 points on your combined math and verbal SAT, or 250 points on either test), an investigation is triggered with the testing board (e.g. the College Board, ETS). To detect impersonation, it can compare the student’s handwriting from their written honor code—a requirement of every test-taker. The testing board can also use an algorithm that compares answers of kids sitting near each other during the test, to detect collaboration. So what percentage of students attempt to cheat on their SATs every year? Pretty small: one-tenth of one percent.