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And we have absolutely no way to assess the difference between a 720 and a 760 on one test component, or even between a 680 and a 720.
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<p>You are right, we don't. The GC only suggested that a 600 or a 700 is a psychological threshold. Somehow, a 690 does not look as impressive as a 700 or a 710, even though rationally, readers know there is no difference in ability. </p>
<p>for a student who has already scored high, there are other ways to build an impressive profile through APs, grades, and especially ECs, recommendations and essays. SAT scores alone won't get a student into a top school.</p>
<p>Very helpful input from everyone. Thank you. This has already allowed us to sharpen our thinking about what he ought to concentrate on now. It seems pretty clear that this spring he should take the SAT IIs. We checked last evening and noticed that some of the schools he might be interested in have specific SAT II requirements in subjects he is taking this year.</p>
<p>As for re-taking the SAT I, it will be his choice ultimately (with a bit of parental input, of course), but next fall seems soon enough to decide about that. His component scores this year were all in the 700s, by the way, so there isn't that "psychological" issue commented on above. I agree that if one of the components was substantially below the norm of the other two it would feel like there was some money left on the table, so to speak.</p>
<p>And I had the same thought as Mazatl about cause and correlation, but I guess the problem is that we don't really know which it is.</p>
<p>As others have pointed out, with a near-perfect score on the ACT (and by near-perfect, I assume you mean a 35 composite) there is no reason for your son to retake the SAT I. I just want to make one other point, and that is that there is no remaining institutional bias against the ACT, even among top schools. Especially in the Midwest (I assume from your screenname that you're in Wisconsin) it is common for students, even top students, never to take the SAT I at all, unless they need it to confirm for NMF. No college will question the bona fides of a student who submits only the ACT (or, at those few schools that require them, ACT plus SAT IIs.) I'd recommend that your son forget about the SAT and concentrate on SAT IIs.</p>
<p>Kind of hard to believe there's a significant difference in intelligence or work ethic between a 2250 and 2350. IMO, it's just one way of helping to sort the qualified, but looking at acceptance rates, it's one of the key sorting methods colleges really use.</p>
<p>Concentrate on the SAT IIs for the rest of the year; he can retake the ACT next October if he wants to, and he thinks he can raise his score by 2 points or more. If he's at a 34 or 35 already, he's done.</p>
<p>A school like MIT will look into his math and science-related ECs, so these need to be outstanding, with at least regional or state rankings. Perhaps this is where your son can best put his efforts.</p>
<p>Your son's situation sounds just like mine (junior in HS, 2290 SAT, 34 ACT). For what it's worth, I thought about retaking the SAT... I thought about retaking the ACT... but in the end I've decided against it. There's a point where it becomes futile to keep retaking. I think the chances of my score going down are just as good as it going up. Your son should be fine for the schools he's considering, as far as I can tell. If he wants to retake, by all means let him, but I don't see it as necessary.</p>
<p>All the schools we visited mentioned that they want to see scores from at least 2 SAT tests. He should submit both his SAT and ACT and that should cover it - no need to repeat!</p>
<p>I'll join the bandwagon here - my senior D scored highly on both the PSAT (did not make the cut for semi-finalist though since the state cutoff here is so high) and ACT, so she never took the SAT, she only would have if she had been a NMSF. She did take SATIIs for a school she was considering, but ended up not applying to. She ended up applying to nine schools, no Ivy's but two top 10 LAC's (one of which is test optional), so we shall see in a couple of months if it was the right decision.....</p>
<p>If you read through all the stuff on the various acceptances for last year and the profiles of the accepted, you will see he is fine. My D stopped taking them in Jr year and never had a problem.</p>
<p>My now Soph S had nearly identical stats/profile as OP's student: all SATI catagories in the 730-790 range, ACT 35, all 5's on APs and NMF and member of *Cum Laude *Society. S was satisfied with his scores from the tests in his junior year. </p>
<p>I asked his GC. Said at some point things look like "grade grubbing." S stopped everything but SATII's and AP's in his junior year.</p>
<p>S got acceptances from numerous colleges, substantial merit money at the ranked LAC he attends and was treated academically as junior at the end of the first year for housing selection and the ability to bring a car to college and park on campus.</p>
<p>I wouldn't repeat, but check the statistical analysis on the paper copy of the SAT score report. That will give you some info on how people with similar scores do when they repeat the test. We found it very enlightening and it supported the decision my daughter had already made about repeating. (She didn't.)</p>
<p>I would have your son re-test. What's the downside, really? I have read that SAT scores continue to improve until after the third testing, and after that, there's no real gain.</p>