<p>i heard mixed opinions. i read manytimes that schools use them only for a placement, but at a same time (and making alot of sense to me) low SAT2 score hurts my chance.</p>
<p>i have only 590 on SAT2 Writing(non-native english speaker/aiming top-tier engineering school/620 SAT1 verbal score)</p>
<p>i want some advices on this subject.. (i think neither 590 nor 620 is a good score..)
if i need some improvement, i would take Jan SAT2 for one more time. (or should i retake SAT1 ?? -i took SAT two times, and i took SAT2 Writing only once.)</p>
<p>i am not sure if i can improve alot tough. how much should be needed(kinda dumb question..)
any suggestions are welcomed!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Those that require SAT II's for admission and require writing to be one of them (it is important to admission and a bad writing score can possibly make the difference although colleges usually give some consideration to fact that English is not your native language).</p></li>
<li><p>Those that require SAT II's but do not require writing (could be important but if you submit enough other SAT II scores from other tests that meet the number required and those are all higher than the writing II then the writing II becomes the superfluous test and of little importance).</p></li>
<li><p>Those that recommend SAT II's but do not require them for admission (they will consider any II's submitted and probably give it some weight for admission but not anywhere near the same as a required school).</p></li>
<li><p>Those that neither require nor recommend II's but may consider them if submitted (not likely to be given any significant wieght).</p></li>
<li><p>Those that require II's, and possibly writing, for placement but not admission (not considered for admission but determines placement if admitted).</p></li>
<li><p>Those that neither require nor recommend II's and do not consider them (this is the vast majority of colleges and the score means nothing for admission).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The first two types above include most of your very high ranked schools. As to the first two types, there are a number of those that take the ACT in lieu of both the SAT and SAT II's, giving another option to avoid the impact of bad II's.</p>
<p>The final point is that there are a lot of schools in all the categories above that do not accept January tests but only accept through December (and even some only through November). So, ultimately, the answer to your question depends on where you are applying.</p>
<p>Should i retake SAT1 -verbal(620)- or SAT2 Writing(590) ???</p>
<p>oh btw i've been in US for 4 yr. (man.. i 've seen some ppl who've been exposed to english-culture only 3-4 years and still managed to get 650+ or even 700+ verbal/writing scores. i sux T_T)</p>