<p>the title pretty much says it all.
I mean seriously. If i had a penny for every time i have read a thread asking if someone should retake a 2300+ I would be rich. Do people actually think about retaking 750+ on each subsection? or are they really that freaking clueless.
it is really bugging me because it seems like people damn well know that they have amazing scores and there is no reason to retake.
Its puzzling to me....</p>
<p>I made a board like this, and I was actually curious. I don't see why people are so resistant to giving advice about it-- it's as valid a question as any other.
We're all looking for any admissions advantage we can get. We're all scared of ten, nine, eight percent acceptance rates. And I know that I don't know what the hell I'm doing when it comes to admissions strategies. Thus, I ask.
So. Yeah.</p>
<p>I think they're just being ridiculous. Maybe there are some people like Elanorci who really do just want some advice, but not that many.</p>
<p>I seriously considered retaking a 2290 because I wanted a 2300. After someone advised me not to, everything they said made sense, and I realized how ridiculous I was being. There are more important things than ten points, like grades, ecs, essays... The time I would have invested into the ten points would be so much more meaningful elsewhere. It took someone else's advice to make me understand that, so I think people seriously ask.</p>
<p>So yes. I agree with Elanorci.</p>
<p>I doubt they are showing off, especially cuz theyre online and theres no point in showing off online. Unless theyre extremely sad. But anyway, I think they genuinely want help to get to that top school, and need their SATs to be top notch to compensate for lack of GPA or EC or something.</p>
<p>they are either cocky and showing off
or plain stupid.</p>
<p>@elanorci
you are plain stupid for asking advice about retaking a 750</p>
<p>If you have a 750+, you generally fall under the same category as 800's so there is no practical advantage of retaking.</p>
<p>People that post threads like that need
-get outside
-get a life
-get common sense/street smarts</p>
<p>*usually</p>
<p>Also here is amazing advice i read somewhere here on this forum and wrote it down because it was so amazing and enlightening.</p>
<p>"To get into ANY top school you need an amazing life story or amazing accomplishments...whether you have a 1900 or 2300 SAT.</p>
<p>Let me say this one last time: </p>
<p>SATs are NOT everything; there are many, many times each and EVERY year where people who aren't "supposed" to get in, do. Likewise, there are many, many times where people who ARE supposed to get in, don't. SATs should be the focus for 4 hours of your life; ECs, community service, etc. should be the focus for 4 YEARS of it. Realize this, and you will no doubt be successful in the college admissions process, whether your goal is Harvard or San Jose State."</p>
<p>If you know who wrote this originally, please help me credit him by pointing it out.</p>
<p>Also please try to reiterate this as much as you can so we can educate the idiots who ask "should I retake a 760?"</p>
<p>thanks very much.</p>
<p>imo they are just showing off and this is the WRONG place to do so because every other person here gets like 2200+ or w/e (im not one of them lol) and i dont think that people are impressed. for the people who scored 2300 and wanna retake they probably have nothing better to do than to waste money + time</p>
<p>lol also you should see the "should i retake a 2400" threads because of a 800 on writing but less than perfect on the essay O_O.</p>
<p>^ wow thats the first time i ever heard that someone wants to retake a 2400.</p>
<p>and amen to that quote brought up by Shubham92</p>
<p>I completely disagree with Shubham92. Yes, there are some students in top schools who are internationally-ranked athletes/have done amazing research/have overcome poverty or depression or other problems to get to where they are today....but that is, by far, NOT the majority of people.</p>
<p>The majority of people in top schools are there because they've shown the admissions officers that they want and deserve to be there. They have the stats, they've shown through their stats + their essays that there is something they really care about (i.e. doing really well on CR and the Lit subject test and writing about how much you love reading), but unless you have extraordinary circumstances, you should always try to make your stats as strong as possible. They're not your entire application, but they're a damn large part of it, and stronger stats can only help you.</p>
<p>I think some people are just showing off and rubbing it in, but some people actually want advice. Some people are just plain stupid and can't make an obvious decision for themselves.</p>
<p>this is totally a self-selecting group, too, right? Anyone rabid enough to come on here and look up score advice is already going to be scoring high...</p>
<p>They're either showing off or they literally don't have a life.</p>
<p>It would be really stupid if they are showing off, who would care about what you get on SAT's</p>
<p>I shed a tear every time I read a post of someone wanting to retake a 2250+. They have no idea that having a 2250 and good overall ECs, essays, and grades will get them into any school. Rubbing it in isn't nice especially when there are people like me with a pitiful 2180.</p>
<p>^^Not necessarily. There are people with perfect scores that get rejected from top schools. The only surety is that there are none...</p>
<p>But those top people still have twice the change of being accepted compared to me. That means that at those top schools, I have like 0% chance just because of my SAT. For example. I have a perfect GPA, I have pretty good ECs, volunteer work, AP grades, SAT IIs, and recommendations. Now say that somebody else has the exact same stats as me except that their SAT is a 2250+ instead of my 2180. Who will get into the top school? The 2250+er of course. And I will be left in the dust and end up at my safety school (University of Washington).</p>
<p>Haha, angryasianman, I know plenty of people with scores about the same or less than yours who got accepted to ivies...last year a kid with a 2180 was accepted to Brown...</p>
<p>angryasianman, you are leaving out some key components. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>First, what if you wrote a much better essay? </p></li>
<li><p>What if your interview was stellar while the other student with the higher SAT can't hold a conversation for his life? </p></li>
<li><p>What if you are a URM and the person with the higher SAT score is a Caucasian male? </p></li>
<li><p>What if the higher SAT scorer lives in Texas and you live in Montana or Wyoming!!!???</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In all four circumstances, you have the edge over the person with a higher SAT score. </p>
<p>In my school's senior class last year, the number six student was a math genius. He would find the problems and typos in the calculus problems for the teacher!! I know you all know at least one person like this. But to hold a conversation with this guy was horrible. He couldn't teach calculus to others very well, got overstimulated very easily, etc. He was in Academic Decathlon and, when it came to interviews and speeches, he was absolutely awful. Were his SAT scores high? Possibly. But was he a well rounded individual? Not really. The Ivies aren't looking for the person with the higher score as much as they are looking for the people with good scores that are also well rounded.</p>
<p>angryasianman, I don't think you realize that your 2180 is still a darn good SAT score. sure, it isn't a 2400, or even a 2300...but it's good enough to get you in places. I don't know if you read over previous posts on this thread, but there are ways to make up for your scores. while it's hard to compensate for a, say, 1800...a 2180 is not too far from the median of top schools.</p>
<p>In regards to the original question,
I don't think people are neccessarily showing off. sometimes I think kids who work so hard for the perfect scores and the perfect EC's, ect., don't know what to do if they aren't perfect. From what I've observed of a lot of the top students in my class, is that they literally need someone to guide them through everything school related. While it is neccessary to have some mentorship, if I was an admissions officer I wouldn't be looking for the "picture perfect" application. To me, that doesn't show unique character in the least.</p>
<p>^All of that is strictly my opinion based off of what I've seen of my friends and people from my school, I don't think everyone making posts about 2300+ are like that, but maybe some of them are?</p>
<p>Also, I'm sure there are the people that are just showing off.
But quite frankly, I am more impressed with the people who come on here with far less than perfect stats asking for advice. With such an elitist crowd on CC sometimes, I love seeing people who show that not everyone is some type of...crazy super student. The people who geniunely want advice, and don't have someone always telling them exactly what to do.</p>
<p>But seriously guys, don't retake a 2300+. Focus on something more important. Something that will better you as a student, person, and applicant all in one.</p>
<p>They are just quite ostentatious. That's all. I usually just add them onto ignore list.</p>
<p>(Make yourself feel good for once.)</p>