Unethical policy of ETS's ScoreSelect option

Question

I am faced with a dilemma after seeing questions like this in online graduate school applications:

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I feel that ETS has been seriously unethical in their advertisement of the ScoreSelect option of score reporting.

I took an ETS GRE subject test last April as a junior. As a junior, I had no experience with the online graduate school applications that I do now. I took this exam with no preparation under the assumption that "ETS has the ScoreSelect option, so since I am fortunate enough to have the money to take this test, I ought to take it to have the most exposure I am. After all, with the ScoreSelect option, the schools I apply to won't see my score on this test."

Now that I have begun the online applications for graduate programs, I've become aware that many schools require

not only a self reporting of one's scores within fill-in boxes in the online application as well as

the scores sent directly from ETS,

but also the PDF that ETS provides called the Score Report.

This Score Report contains ALL of a test taker's scores. This document completely negates ETS's mission with the ScoreSelect option of score reporting, and moreover, for ETS to not mention this alongside any advertisement of the ScoreSelect option is seriously unethical. In fact, (having taken some form of an ETS GRE test 4 times I have heard this spoken verbatim 4 times) after testing a GRE exam and outlining the process of canceling one's score, ETS proctors urge test takers to "serious consider one's options before opting to cancel one's scores. With ETS's ScoreSelect option you have the option to only report those scores that you wish to report to graduate schools."

The fact that many top tier graduate schools require the score report, ETS is not displaying their ScoreSelect option in an informed way. If ETS does not make the option available to users to make a custom score report PDF, then they have treated a great many test takers who have this issue very unethically. Particularly, ETS has wronged me in not informing me of this score report policy before registering for a test with little to no preparation, which I did specifically under the umbrella of comfort that the ScoreSelect option provided. In not allowing a customization of a customer's score report, ETS has rendered any positive aspects of the ScoreSelect option invalid for those of us who are applying to school's who feature questions like this in their applications.

Can anyone recommend a solution?

EDIT: Here is the document in question (redacted): enter image description here

EDIT2: enter image description here

Answer 1

I don't think there are any "solutions". If the university wants to ask for all scores, even the ones you wanted to block, then they can ask that. If you want to apply there, you don't have much choice but to answer honestly. Omitting material facts from an application is a pretty serious academic offense; even if they don't notice it at first, it can still get you kicked out of the program if it's discovered years later. Photoshopping the Score Report to erase the undesired scores would make that offense even more severe - now it's obvious fraud and falsification.

(It wouldn't really help even if ETS offered you the option to omit scores from your personal Score Report, since the university could demand that you submit the full version with nothing omitted.)

I agree that it seems a bit shady on ETS's part to suggest that this feature can really prevent universities from finding those scores, when in fact the university can still demand that you share them, and it's unfortunate that this led you to choose a less appropriate test-taking strategy. But none of that really has any bearing on your applications at this point. You could complain to ETS or sue them for false advertising or whatever, but that seems outside the scope of this site.

If it's any consolation, my impression is that universities are more likely to pay attention to recent scores, unless it's clear that you've taken the test a zillion times in hopes of randomly scoring well. So the older, lower scores may not hurt your application very much.