<p>My 11th grader took the Nov. SATs since he'd been preparing for the PSATs and was told he might as well take the SAT while he was at it. Well, he did really well!! We are absolutely thrilled! The question is, he is looking at some strong schools next year, and wants to know if he'll need to retake the SAT. Right now he is doing the happy dance, with his 740 Cr. Reading, 770 Math and 780 Writing (essay- 10). He will probably consider taking the ACT, though he doesn't work quickly so that may be a disadvantage. Help! I don't know what to tell him. Of course, right now I am just telling him CONGRATS!!</p>
<p>I am really looking for suggestions. I hope this post doesn't look like parent bragging, because that is not my intent. He is currently looking at Pomona and CMC, as well as UNC Ch. Hill (OOS), Emory, Vanderbilt and maybe Rice. His focus is on the Calif schools right now, so wants to possibly aim to push the Cr. Reading up a bit. I Think the math score could go a little higher (he is a strong math student) but I believe there isnt a huge difference between 770-800 in terms of the raw score (# right/wrong). Help!</p>
<p>There is no harm in taking it again, but he already has very nice scores that should be just fine for the schools to which he is applying. </p>
<p>Perhaps it would make more sense for him to focus on other things, such as the SAT Subject Tests (if any of the colleges on his list require them).</p>
<p>Thanks, Marian. He'll take a couple of SAT II's at the end of the school year (probably Chemistry and Math IIC). He's strong in those subjects, and is in AP Chem and AP Calculus now, so he feels he'll be prepared. He's not as strong in the reading Comprehension/grammar stuff, so while we ar thrilled with his scores, he wonders if he should try to push them a tad. Right now he's on cloud 9 and enjoying every minute of it! He's just thinking ahead, and since he's not usually this motivated, I don't want to lose the momentum!!! I know the first words out of his mouth when he gets home tonight will be about an Ion paintball gun or Xbox 360 as a holiday gift!</p>
<p>My son had the same situation last year as a junior, with very similar scores. I told him that the scores were good enough for any school in the country (above or very near 75th percentile), and where he got in would now depend on his grades, extracurriculars, application essay, alignment of the stars, etc. </p>
<p>Don't forget about SAT subject tests, if required, at the end of the year while the subjects are still fresh. Math IIC has a pretty generous curve, and a good score there will reinforce the math. Doing practice tests is good prep for the math, but keep in mind that the tests in the Kaplan book seem much harder than the actual IIC test.</p>
<p>Also, I wish we had done more visits in Junior year (spring break is a great time). Time gets short come senior year.</p>
<p>(Oops--I see you have the SAT II covered!)
CONGRATS to your son, this is one less thing to worry about!</p>
<p>I'm a testing minimalist, and my opinion is to not have him take it again. Many CCers won't agree with me, but that's how I feel. The test is a grueling endurance marathon, and it's not easy to get pumped up again, especially if he's retaking for the heck of it. Even if you had said he's looking at MIT, Harvard, etc., I would still say the same thing. SATs are only a part of what colleges look for. Better he should focus on his grades, ECs, SAT subject tests, etc. Based on last year's stats, I'm sure he's well into the 99th percentile with that SAT score.</p>
<p>Also, College Board provides some statistics on retakes, giving percentages on how many people go up and down. (I'm sorry, I'm not sure where this info is, maybe on the score report.) After reading those stats, my daughter decided not to retake. I told her I agreed with her 100 percent. Enough is enough with all this testing! Just my humble opinion.</p>
<p>JYM, I think your son has done a wonderful job. My older son's scores were similar, and he was accepted at some great schools, including 3 in the top 10 on USNWR. (S also had several 800 SAT II's, so I think I'd have your son prepare for those exams.) If you look at just your son's V + M, he has a 1510, which should be good enough for any college in the country.</p>
<p>As LurkNessMonster said, his admissions will now depend on ECs, essays and the rest of his "package" -- testing is only one aspect of the admissions puzzle, and I'd say your son has now cleared that hurdle. Great job!!!</p>
<p>If he doesn't do as well, the admissions people will see all the results. I'm not a fan of mutiple testing. He has great scores. Move on with other parts of the application....</p>
<p>jym626,
Congrats to your son! IMHO, it is absolutely unnecessary for him to retake. My son took the SAT's once, got great scores, and let them be. I actually asked an admissions rep for HYP if my child was applying as a social sciences major and had a mid-700's Verbal score, whether the school would care. She told me that she had never sat in on an admissions committee meeting where someone had said, "Hmm, mid-700's verbal. That's weak." She sort of gave me one of these. :rolleyes: As others have said, let him spend time working on other pieces for his application. Good luck!</p>
<p>I vote with not repeating. My son had similar scores, a little higher, looked at the college board web site and saw that the chances of the scores going DOWN on a re-take were greater than them going UP. The SAT IIs can be studied for. I'd suggest he focus on those. I don't think the ACT is necessary with SAT I scores that high. And time is an issue on ACT. My son is a fast test taker and ran out of time on the science section, pulling his composite score down. Let your S enjoy his well-deserved happy dance and then move on to the other things, like ECs he loves and HS coursework.</p>
<p>I agree with the general sentiment expressed above. Those scores are good enough for any college/university. You and he shouldn't obsess about getting them even higher when there are (a) other tests to focus on, but more importantly (b) everything else to focus on (schoolwork, EC's, the college search and ID, and 'life'). My son had similar scores the first time he took SAT and we all said yahoo, that's done.</p>
<p>I second opinions about not retaking. The scores are good enough as they are, and other components of the application will come into play. Congrats! It's a wonderful feeling to have the longest of all exams behind him.</p>
<p>"If he doesn't do as well, the admissions people will see all the results."</p>
<p>If you really want to play the game, send the scores (including SATII) out to all of the possible colleges of interest (or the most competitive ones) before retaking next fall. Don't send out any free score reports on retake. If scores go up, pay to send the new ones to the top schools; if they go down, nobody else will know. </p>
<p>But why bother? There may be a difference between a 1510 and a 1600 at the top schools, but really, what are the odds of improving more than 20 to 30 points? I doubt that there any significant difference between a 1510 and a 1540. Also, while there is no evidence that admissions officials view taking the test only once differently (they may not even know), I can't help but wonder if some of them will notice that the date of the score was fall of his junior year and know that the score was not boosted by an $800 Kaplan course and four test sittings. (Probably not, but at least the kid can feel that way!)</p>
<p>It looks like it's pretty much unanimous--enjoy!</p>
<p>Another vote for not retaking. Scores are reported to colleges as both the actual score and as a range on either side that includes the margin of error; needless to say, your son's range is bumping against the top of the chart.</p>
<p>In fact, when you get into the 700+ range, the difference between missing 1 and 3-4 questions can be luck of the draw: a vocabulary word that you just happen to know; a math concept that you have or haven't dealt with recently; a careless error or misreading, etc. Differences of 50 points are simply not statistically significant and ad coms are aware of this. On another thread just last week, an MIT admissions officer put it as bluntly as possible: they don't consider a difference between 2250 and 2400 meaningful (unless the scores were distributed oddly, for example 800/800/650). Congrats to your S, and let him enjoy something besides another SAT!</p>
<p>My 2c is that your S NOT take the ACT. The first reason is that since he will be taking SAT II tests, the collegeboard will also report his SAT I test so colleges will have that info anyways. And secondly, if SAT I is more his type of test, then there is no reason to suck up one whole day and more $$ on the ACT. </p>
<p>Whatever you decide, your S should feel good about the choice. </p>
<p>Other than that, I pretty much agree with what other posters have already indicated - there is no need to test endlessly and he should focus on the SAT IIs and any AP tests he will be taking. </p>
<p>And finally, I sure hope you joined him in the happy dance.</p>
<p>good luck and congratulations on an upbeat start to the college process</p>
<p>Another vote for not re-taking. The scores are stupendous! Only on cc and among other obsessed folk would anyone think otherwise.</p>
<p>The Stanford adrep who did our Info Session commented on how sad they found it that students with over 1500 SATs re-take to add a few points. I don't think they necessarily held it against these kids, but it didn't create an impression that they liked.</p>
<p>"Also, while there is no evidence that admissions officials view taking the test only once differently (they may not even know), I can't help but wonder if some of them will notice that the date of the score was fall of his junior year and know that the score was not boosted by an $800 Kaplan course and four test sittings. "</p>
<p>I agree. After following this thread for a couple of years, there have been kids who have gotten a 1550 or 1580 (or maybe even a 1600) after 3 tries. In the end, it didn't seem to make a lick of difference ! Whether there is solid evidence or not, I would guess that a single sitting does give a better impression.</p>
<p>My son took the SAT once again hoping to get his writing score over 690. (If for no other reason than it would make him eligible for merit money at Harvey Mudd.) It didn't happen. His scores are identical except for math which went up all of 10 points.</p>
<p>I'm another one who votes for don't retake. They are great scores, you are much more likely to have the scores go down not up. He'd be much better off doing great things with his ECs, doing community service or whatever.</p>
<p>Would not a college want a student to take it twice, once as a junior and the other as a senior? So what if the kid drops a little or doesn't move at all. I think two testings gives a college a better look at the student. Seems only human.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. I am sure he will be <em>more</em> than happy to know that the sentiment is to let sleeping dogs lie. My older s. only took the SAT once, atht he end ofhis jr. yr, and did very well, so never took it sr. yr at all. I am happy to let younger s move on to bigger and better things!</p>
<p>Why should a college want students to take the SAT more than once? Colleges don't ask that students take the AP tests, course finals (high school or their own) more than once? They have enough materials to judge a student by: GPA, SATs, SAT-IIs, APs, ECs, recs, class rank, essays, awards... I know of no other educational system in which adcoms look at so many different factors.</p>