<p>I have very good ECs and GPA and my SAT (2080-first time no studying) is my weakest of those 3. Will colleges see taking it only once as a strength in any way? Also, if it comes up would it (not studying) be considered more of a strength (sign of potential) or weakness (sign of laziness) to an admissions officer?</p>
<p>With the new reporting system, most colleges will only see the ones you send so you should take it again (preferably with preparation).</p>
<p>Well, IS there a particular score (other than 2400) that you should not bother re-taking after one try then? Just wondering…</p>
<p>It seems most colleges use super scores in their admission process, so it would appear that many of them would not even bother looking or care about at how many times you take the tests. Some really competitive schools want to see all your scores but then 2080 would not impress them very much either. So my suggestion would to study and take it again. In most cases, studying can raise the score quite a bit.</p>
<p>One may not want to take another test after one try if the score is well above the upper quartile range of the schools you want to apply to. Or if you are not willing to study and improve your test taking ability, keep taking the test in hope for some random luck also probably is a waste of time.</p>
<p>^^If you get a 2350+ on your first try then you shouldn’t bother retaking it.</p>
<p>A 2180 taken twice looks better than a 2080 taken once, I would say.
Take it again, once you take it the first time you can see what you really need to work on and can improve a lot.</p>
<p>In my opinion, only taking it once would not work to your benefit. Here’s my reasoning why. First, your score is very good, but is not RIDICULOUS (like 2350+). In essence, retaking it shows drive to succeed, not perfectionism. Not retaking it almost shows that you are accepting mediocrity, when your other stats show otherwise. Basically you’d be sending mixed signals, in my opinion. If you plan on applying to Ivies, definitely retake it because your GPA and ECs will not be fantastic enough to make up for your SAT score without some sort of a hook. Again, if this were your fourth time taking it I would say hold off, but it isn’t, so retake it.</p>
<p>No I don’t plan to apply to an Ivies but thanks for the advice. For my most prestigious I am 30-50 above the high quartile in math but probably median in CR and W. One more question: if I retake after submitting my original application (thinking about December) will I be at a disadvantage at all?</p>
<p>I actually disagree with the above posts. Taking it once is definitely a strength as long as you study hard and give it your all. If you take it over many times, it gives colleges the impression that you’re a rich spoiled kid who can “buy” his SAT score. Even if this isn’t true for you, a retaken SAT seems more artifical to people in general.</p>
<p>I might disagree. Colleges know everyone has a bad day every once in a while, and if you score higher on the second test they are more likely to view the first tests as an anomaly than view your second attempt as “buying” the SAT score. That being said, if you take the SAT more than three times it does look pretty bad.</p>
<p>Even 40 years ago college bound students took it twice: Spring of Jr year and early Fall of Senior year. In general there was always an improvement coming from becoming more familiar with the test. Taking a few practice tests over the Summer wouldn’t hurt either. Since there is a choice now as to which scores to send, they might think you took it 5 times and this was your best score.</p>
<p>But colleges use the SAT for aptitude, even if it may not always be perfectly accurate. They are not interested in seeing someone improve “from becoming more familiar with the test.” If you take the SAT more than once, it just sends the image of expensive prep courses and tutoring.</p>
<p>I have heard differently that most colleges super scores and they just record the best scores in their system. Each individual admission person a lot of times does not even see all the different scores from different testing dates let alone how many times the students have taken it. This might be different for some colleges that require to see all the scores but most of them don’t. It also has been widely publicized that the expensive prep courses barely make a dent in improving your scores, I don’t think adcoms are blind to that study. It is the hard work of each individual student that work on the testing prep exercises, do a lot of reading with vocabulary and grammar review that has the most effect. I don’t think that would reflect badly on anyone who works hard to up their scores.</p>
<p>Would you re-take a 2270 (740,790,740 – my situation)?</p>
<p>To the OP and those who said that taking it one time is a strength, taking it one time and getting an excellent score is a strength. Taking it one time and getting 400 points from perfect and having no reason to not take it again is not a strength. To me, it shows that you don’t care enough to try again. Taking it three times is acceptable, but I don’t recommend it, and any more is bad.</p>