<p>For big tech schools like MIT/caltech, etc. is an 800 on a science test that much better than a 790? what are your opinions on the other tests as well?</p>
<p>Not a biggie</p>
<p>In the same boat, there. 790 on Chem…I’m hoping it doesn’t count against me; retaking might look weird, though (or do they not care?).</p>
<p>this means that you got 1~2 more question wrong…not biggie…imo</p>
<p>I think you can rest assured, that admission officers are human enough to understand the possibility of making stupid mistakes during the test. I strongly doubt any admission rule exists that mechanically sorts out all those poor 790s.
Neither do I see how a 790 could possibly hurt you, nor why you would want to retake the test.
People with much lower test scores get accepted to the schools you mentioned. If you are a competitive applicant overall, no such score could destroy your chances.</p>
<p>Its only like 1 or 2 questions, theyre gonna understand.</p>
<p>It depends. It’s not always 1-2 difference.. sometimes it’s a big difference.</p>
<p>If you get 0 wrong on SAT II Physics, that’s an 800. If you get ~10 wrong , that’s about a 790. For some science tests, the generous curve at the upper end means that the difference between an 800 and a 790 can be up to 11 or 12 questions, which is a heck of a lot. For others, like Bio, 800 and 790 is the difference of fewer than 3-4 questions, which is less of a jump. Chem is in between the two. Math II lets you make a huge number of mistakes, like phys, does, but since you said ‘science’, I guess that’s not the subject you’re talking about.</p>
<p>A 790 is wonderful; why would you even need to retake it?</p>
<p>if you got a 790 and expected an 800, just saw “aw crap,” but move on. like, an 800 is a bit better, but is it really worth re-studying everything for a couple of months? i mean if you got a 790+ on a math/science test, then you probably could be busy ballin up sci fair or MAO or something</p>
<p>You might want to read this:</p>
<p>[MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: “What’s the big deal about 40^2?”](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/standardized_test_requirements/whats_the_big_deal_about_402.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/standardized_test_requirements/whats_the_big_deal_about_402.shtml)</p>
<p>10, duh</p>
<p>Many years ago, before the current practice of retaking tests, someone (ETS?) would disclose what point spread constituted a standard deviation. Nobody talks about it anymore (and I don’t know where you would find the info now), but I’m confident that 10 points is well within statistical insignificance.</p>