Confused About SATs and College Transfers

<p>I will be attending a decent university next year, but I have the intention of transferring to, hopefully, an Ivy as a Junior (I don't trust my high school grades enough to apply as a Sophomore transfer). My original SAT I scores are probably what got me to where I am now. I scored a 2200. My SAT II scores were, in terms of percentiles, worse.</p>

<p>My question in particular is whether or not I should be concerned with re-taking the tests. Is it true that some universities won't look at SATs taken in college (Cornell)? Should I be trying to improve my scores this year? Can I do it next year? Will it matter?</p>

<p>IMO, if relatively balanced between sections, a 2200 is a good score. I wouldn’t advise putting your time and energy into bumping it up if you plan on transferring as a jr, concentrate on your college record instead.</p>

<p>I agree with entomom, a SAT of 2200 is pretty good, and only 200 points away from perfect. National SAT average is what, 1500?</p>

<p>Anyways, The SAT and ACT are used as indicators of potential college performance, they are not IQ tests. How they are handled for transfer schools will vary, but in general a university will not require SATs if:</p>

<ol>
<li> The transfer student has been out of high school for X amount of years (3 or 5 years).</li>
<li> The transfer student has completed X amount of college credits. This will vary by school, but generally one years worth of college credit is the norm. SATs become irrelevant as an indictor when they can just use your college record as the indicator.</li>
</ol>

<p>Some schools, such as MIT, require SAT scores from all transfer students regardless of how long ago the applicant graduated from high school or how much college the applicant has.</p>

<p>Anyways, with a score of 2200, I wouldn’t bother retaking the SAT, besides, you might not have to submit SAT to the potential new school.</p>

<p>You can go to Cornell’s website, navigate to the Transfer section, then look up Transfer Requirements.</p>