<p>Highest score *for each section. You might never get a 1600 on a single sitting while to the college admissions, you would be a 1600 if you have 800 plus 800 on various test days. Works out nicely. </p>
<p>I took the test three times, and I did better every time. Some people don't always do better, but I did, so maybe you will, too. It doesn't matter except for 21 dollars and 3 hours if you do worse, so you might as well go for it, but within reason. Once you get to a certain level, though, you don't need to keep taking it, because that would suck. It'll be a glorious day when you realize you have no more standardized testing to do for college admissions.</p>