<p>well the IIc is really curved, DeafeningHorn, so people expect higher grades. </p>
<p>and River Phoenix, I'm a very strong math student with extensive higher level college math courses, as well as plenty of competition math success- i definitely deserved an 800, but i had a bad test day and probably screwed something stupid up. Should I have retaken it? I dont think so, because my ecs proved my interest in science, i didnt need a standardized test to show that. just another perspective.</p>
<p>If you know your stuff, it's much easier to ace the achievement test, because it has more advance math, improving the curve, and it's less tricky</p>
<p>@somethingnew: my opinion is that in a case like yours it's completely unneccessary... but if you think you can get an 800, there's no harm in retaking it - I mean there's no reason why not; it's just that I'm afraid people have taken the "MIT doesn't care about sat scores" thing a little too far</p>
<p>No one has said "MIT doesn't care about sat scores" -- what people are saying is that your application is far more than your SAT scores, and if there's no real need to re-take an SAT (e.g. if you have already scored over 750 on a required test), there are probably better things you can be doing with your time, energy, money, and brain. Priorities, that's all.</p>
<p>I agree with that for the SAT I, because it's so fickle; but in the case of an applicant who doesn't really have that much to show his/her math ability, I can imagine retaking a 750 on the SAT II to be reasonable since the scores of students at MIT are so much higher on that. my impression is that the median at MIT on the Math IIC is 800 or close to it - does anybody have statistics?
I wouldn't retake it myself of course, because of my priorities :-o; I'm only responding to what seems to be a Spanish Inquistion on anybody who dares ask if he should retake a sorta high score</p>
<p>The OP didn't tell us his SAT I Math score or GPA or other courseload, but with an AP Calc BC 5, college math classes, and strong science ECs, I can't in my wildest dreams imagine that a 760 MathIIC would be a deal-breaker. Once the applicant shows he can handle the work, the rest of the application is what would come into play, in the context in which the OP found himself. (Not every MIT matriculant is a proven math genius, y'know? That's not a requirement for admission.) Anyway, sorry to keep this "argument" going, I'll just sit on the sidelines and watch from here on out.</p>
<p>Coolphreak, good luck with your application, whichever way you decide to go on the SAT MathIIC!</p>
<p>yeah, in the OP's case it obviously doesn't matter, I just wanted to point out that it's not necessarily a ridiculous question because it depends on the individual, that's all</p>
<p>River Phoenix seems to be on point in this discussion.</p>
<p>Hey guys thanks for all the advice....i don't think I'm gonna re-take the test; i think that i have other strengths and can show that I'm good at math elsewhere. I also don't feel like taking it >.<</p>
<p>i'd rather do something else</p>
<p>i might change my mind but probably not...</p>
<p>Just bumping this thread because I found basically the holy grail of advice while fixing the links in Matt's blog today (this is my job for the month of August, yay):
[quote]
Let me tell you one more story that I often relay. I was doing a regional reception in a city a few years back, and afterwards a student -- we'll call her Artemis -- comes up to me and tells me that she has a 760 on the Math SAT. As I was about to tell her that her score was just fine, she keeps talking, to inform me that she was going to take the test again, since "clearly" her score was "too low." I was like, "What?!?!" I "ordered" Artemis to not take the Math SAT again, and instead to have a picnic on that Saturday. Because to us, a 760 math is the same as any higher score she could receive on the retest.
[/quote]
from this</a> entry, which also has some other good stuff on the unimportance of perfect test scores.</p>
<p>I remember that post, mollie (wow have I been around for that long?), but I still say it's less true for the SAT IIC
one thing is that perfect standardized test scores will let you be a presidential scholar and help you get jobs later on; so if you can get them there's no reason not to go for it
you just shouldn't stress about it, that's all</p>
<p>Middle 50% score range of admitted students:
SAT II Math [740, 800]
SAT II Science [710, 800]</p>
<p>You're below the 50th percentile for admitted students to MIT last year with your current Math II score so I recommend that you retake it unless you absolutely can't. As far as what mootmom is saying, there are 24 hours in a day and multiple moths remaining until application deadlines so you'll have plenty of time to write great essays and still take the Math Level II an additional time ONE Saturday morning.</p>
<p>Look, test scores are something that you can still control untill you turn your application in, so you should do the best you can. If a 760 is the best you can do, then by all means don't retake it. If you feel you have the capacity of acing the exam on a retake a couple of months down the line, then you should not hesistate to do so. For instance, if you have horrible grades, that's something you can't control and there's no need for you to stress over that at this point.</p>
<p>Good luck and I hope my advice helped.:)</p>
<p>do you go to troy ead?</p>
<p>oh btw i think i forgot to mention that i'm only a junior lol so i'm not applying this year so i have plenty of time to retake. oh btw mollie...matt actually mentioned that same story when I was at his MIT ISEF reception...funny</p>
<p>You guys stress too much, and stress each other too much. Matt and Ben have said a 760 is fine. </p>
<p>Yeah, I said I was bowing out. I guess I misspoke.</p>
<p>Thanks for that link to the blog!!!!</p>
<p>I can't comment in terms of being a presidential scholar and whatnot, but in terms of MIT admissions, a 760 is definitely <em>not</em> worth retaking.</p>
<p>Thanks, Ben, it's great to have confirmation from a "first source" -- and now, everyone bookmark that post for future reference:
</p>
<p>mootmom, I don't mean to be contrarian, but on the SAT IIC, a 800 is statistically different from a 760 (that's less true on the SAT I); it's unlikely that the this difference matters for MIT admissions (it's lower than the median, but that's mostly happenstance)... It can matter for other schools though
you can understand that it is in the interest of admissions offices for kids to not be stressing about the stats
but the OP isn't stressing about them, he's focused elsewhere; I still say that if you can get an 800 there's no reason not to have it - it's really not like it takes a big effort to sit for a test (I thought they were kinda fun :-/), and an 800 certainly isn't worse than a 760
I retook a 35 on the ACT specifically because it didn't qualify for presidential scholars, and I have no regrets (even though I ended up with a 35 again the second time)</p>
<p>And I still say that if you have a 760, and are asking specifically about whether it will be acceptable for MIT admissions as the OP did (and not asking about Presidential Scholars, for instance), there's no reason not to be content with it. Apples and oranges, perhaps, but Ben has provided the answer to the OP.</p>
<p>(Note that it is not only "unlikely" that this makes any difference for MIT admissions, it is <em>untrue</em>, viz. the statement of an MIT Admissions Officer above.)</p>
<p>I don't see how you can claim it makes no difference; maybe a very small one, maybe only subconsciously in the minds of the adcoms, maybe in very few cases, but it's not like they don't have the scores in front of them
We all agreed that in the OP's case there's no need for him to retake it, I've only tried to demonstrate that there's nothing wrong with retaking a high score either. And I still don't understand what the downside is...</p>