Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Using the exact timing of SAT Score Sends, I observe a set of colleges that high-achieving low-income students consider, what point in time they consider those colleges, and which ones convert into applications.  This paper makes three main points through these novel data.  First, Score Sends are not applications, despite being used as such in the research community.  Only 62 percent of Score Sends in this sample turn into applications.  Second, the conversion from Score Send to application is systematic.  Notably, Score Sends are more likely to convert into applications when they are to colleges with lower tuition, higher graduation rates, and in-state.  Third, I find that the timing and order of Score Sends are related to the probability of becoming an application.  This last fact implies that there is room for improvement when modeling the application process and in addition, the timing of information, intervention, and policy may be critical to its success.