<p>I had heard from earlier NYU threads that NYU doesn't consider standardized tests (aka the SATs/ACT) if taken again after high school. Is this true of most Top 25 colleges/unis that offer transfers? I had taken the SATs only once in the middle of my jr. year of hs and had gotten a 2230 (:'[), but I am very confident that I can raise my scores by at least 100 points if I take them now. Would it be a good investment to retake them if I apply for transfer to schools such as Stanford, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, and Northwestern? For Y and S at least, the median freshman SAT scores seem to fall into the 2250-2300+ category. </p>
<p>Also, how beneficial would it be to retake the SATII Math IIC (650 the first and only time I took it) and the Biology M (700 first sitting)? I believe I can get a 800 on the IIC and at least a 750+ on the biology (Taking calculus and AP Bio helped!). I am thinking of applying as an engineer transfer, but my math score is deifintely too low for places like the ones I've listed above.</p>
<p>Naturally, I want to be as competitive an applicant as possible (since I am coming from the senior community college in NY). So if I can get 100+ point increases in all of the tests I've listed above, how favorably do colleges look upon the score increases?</p>
<p>PS: If a similar thread was opened earlier, can someone post the link here instead?Thanks!</p>
<p>I’m sure it varies from college to college. It’s probably a safe bet to check the individual college’s website that you’re wondering about (or each one for multiples) under the “transfers” section and see what they say about standardized testing.</p>
<p>Note though that a 2230 on the SATI is a fine score. It’s over the “good enough” barrier and having a 2330 as opposed to a 2230 won’t make a huge difference in your application strength. If picking up an extra 100 points were effortless I’d say go for it but it might be wiser to focus on other areas of your application rather than spend months preparing for the SATI when you’re already in college anyway.</p>
<p>The SATIIs are a little different since you scored a bit low (for the schools you’re talking about applying to). Competitive scores for science majors are usually over 700 in all related areas (including Math). I’d probably retake them. Of course your question was whether the colleges will accept the retakes to which I have to say:</p>
<p>With absolutely no authority, inside (or outside) knowledge, or other reason to be right on the matter, my gut says you can retake them (but make sure you read the first paragraph in this post). Most colleges that require standardized tests for transfers have to leave room for the possibility that students might not have taken them before being admitted to their current college and so it would make no sense to effectively penalize those transfer students that happened to take the tests in high school.</p>
<p>That said, I have heard of schools having a, “If you haven’t taken them already you don’t need to take them but if you have taken them you need to submit” policy for transfer applicants which seems to be accommodating but in my opinion just hurts the people who took them in high school but didn’t put forth their best effort.</p>
<p>Okay, so this whole post said nothing useful other than “look on the website”. But my gut says you’d be fine retaking them. When in doubt e-mail the college.</p>
<p>No, sorry but they wanted to see your abilities at a crucial and specific period in your education. All the places Ive looked don’t want you to test again, nor will they accept the scores.</p>
<p>Examples? You could very well be right but way back during my college search I seem to distinctly remember getting the feel that I could take at least the SATIIs again in college should I ever decide to transfer.</p>
<p>“If you have not previously completed the SAT Reasoning test, the ACT test with Writing, or the SAT Subject Tests and are applying for transfer to Carnegie Mellon, DO NOT complete those tests now. These tests are designed to gauge your abilities at a very specific time during your educational journey. They will not be as useful to us if you complete them once you have already enrolled in a college/university.”</p>
<p>not to mention the things covered on the SAT/SAT subject tests are pre-college level. Besides 2230 is a great score</p>
<p>Ah, okay. That’s a good example to show people of that situation then. It’s good to have an example.</p>
<p>That said I’m pretty sure not all places are like that. I’m quite certain that different schools have different policies and that the OP’s best recourse is to research/contact the individual schools in question.</p>
<p>Hmm I see. I guess there’s no way around it except to call the nidividual schools. That’s going to be a lot of phone calls.</p>
<p>While I did poorly on my Math IIC/ Biology, I got 770+ on World History and Chemistry. Would it hurt me to submit these scores along with my lower scores? I am hoping to pursue biomed engineering at a top 20 school, but am worried about how much adcoms will weigh my low math bio scores against my higher scores.</p>
<p>hopefully i can offset my bad performance in hs w/ my frosh year courses(taking calc II, accelrated stat II, and multivariate this year).</p>
<p>I’m in the same dillemma. I don’t like my SAT’s at all.
That’s why I started a new thread asking if getting a good GRE score would help, because it is a level up from SAT. That’s not reccommended by CCer’s.
phone calls and emails here and there shouldn’t be too painful.</p>
<p>yeah, i just checked out your thread donnasaur. I think I might retake the math because i a 650 is too low to gloss over, and hopefully some schools that i’ll apply to will accept them (if not cmu).Phew…a lot of colleges haven’t even released their xfer apps yet and i’m already stressed.</p>
<p>I’ve checked out Cornell’s website… I don’t have much time to devote on my energies on applying right now. I’ve just thrown around some ideas on this forum.
I am going to start applying on my winter break when I’ll have more time. anyway, I hope you like your GPA more than your test scores. I attended community college to escape high school and that shot my GPA, which forced me to go to a (name withheld) liberal arts college.</p>
<p>We are kind of in like/opposite situations. I got a 1990 in SAT 1 but 790/780 mathII/Physics. I like my subject test scores but hate my regular.</p>
<p>“No, sorry but they wanted to see your abilities at a crucial and specific period in your education. All the places Ive looked don’t want you to test again, nor will they accept the scores.”</p>
<p>All the places I look at state that they require SAT I from all transfers and some require additional Subject tests. If a person has never taken an SAT before (like it is in my case), the only option for him is to take the test despite the fact that he has already spent sometime in college.</p>
<p>Well, my HS GPA was a 3.7 overall (almost 3.9 before sr. yr- i BOMBED my last yr), and I beleive I can get a 4.0 this semester and next. I looked on Cornell’s website, and while most of the schools mentioned submitting SAT scores, I’m not sure if I am not allowed to submit test scores for previously untaken taken tests. For instance, I have never taken the physics SATII, but since I took AP Physics B in sr. year, I think that I can get 750+ on it if I take it this semester (with a prep book). Specifically for Cornell, can this be done? CMU made it clear that they dont want any standardized test scores prior to college.</p>