the 11% district average. Academics The average SAT score in 2015 was 593 in critical reading, 642 in math, and 582 in writing. The average ACT composite score was 27. In the 2015 Regional Science Fair, SST had eight Special Award Winners and ten Category Winners; and had two Category Winners in the 2015 State Science Fair. Application process Until 2007, students were required to follow an application process which involved writing three essays and an interview from an SST teacher. However, in effect from 2007 to 2008 onward, the Beaverton School District simplified the application process to a single "option school" application. This removed the essays and the interview from the application process. Due to the controversy of the change in application process, the Beaverton School District modified their new system to allow 15% of students to be accepted based on talent or sibling status, while the other 85% would continue to use the streamlined application. This new application process is a point of controversy among students, who hold one of two points of view. The first is that the incoming students will not be weeded out through the harder application, which, before the change, meant that only students that wanted to attend would be accepted to SST. They fear that the attitude of students who are accepted into SST through the easier application will change the school's unique culture. The second opinion is that SST will gain new life from the potential flood of new students who were put off by the old application process. Students of this line of thought refer to the fact that the class of 2010 turned out to be much smaller than any other class in recent history, presumably from lack of applicants under the old application process. This was a result of the teachers being unable to promote SST to as many 8th graders. The new application process, arguably better, promotes SST to incoming freshmen. Shadowing All applicants to the School of Science and Technology are encouraged to shadow a current student for a day. This allows the applicant to see the school in its entirety, and to see a "day in the life" of an average student. This enables them to make the most informed decision regarding their application. If an applicant decides to shadow, he or she is assigned to a student of the same gender, same high school, and