Find out when it’s a smart strategy to accept your test scores and stop registering for more sittings. https://www.collegeconfidential.com/articles/how-many-tests-is-too-many/
Back in the early 80’s (basically the Stone Age), your English teacher would maybe go over the SAT in one class sitting. Then, you’d sign up, show up and take the test in the fall of your senior year. No prep, no prep classes, and certainly no entertaining the idea of taking it more than once. It was considered more of an intelligence test vs. something that studying and strategy could be applied to in order to optimize results. Maybe I ran in the wrong academic circles, but that’s how it was at my middle-class public school.
Different world now. I would caution anyone plowing time and resources into taking multiple tests not do so if GPA will suffer. The SAT/ACT is ONE data point and could be #2 or #3 on the list of importance, depending on the college.
In my day, you would MAYBE take the SAT twice if you totally bombed it the first time and the guidance counselor would suggest you could try again to see if you could do a bit better. Other then that you only took it once!
Even the wealthy kids and the overachievers usually only took it once…
I took it three times and don’t think I would have gotten into some of the schools I did if I took it once. my score increased by almost 200 points between sittings. It wasn’t even really a studying thing. I think it’s just good to get used to your testing environment.
These days I think @ 4 times you’ve crossed the limit of usefulness.
I know a kid who took it 8 times and ended up being admitted to Cornell (superscore). It seems like overkill to me but to each his own.
It’s not a bad idea to take both the ACT and the SAT (after doing test prep or at least one practice test for both), see which one you did better on, and then retake that one–after more practice tests or test prep preferably.
The problem with that is that you’ve burned time and money. Taking the sample/practice tests under actual test conditions can give you pretty much the same result, IMO, in <2 weeks, for free.
Take it as many times as you need and can afford. That being said know your limits and if your scores don’t move around too much, don’t take it again. I took it three times and each time my score went down by like 20 points and all my college apps just asked for one SAT score. So this is more of a satisfaction factor than anything. In hindsight, the second and third times weren’t necessary and I didn’t even study come the 2nd and 3rd ones XD
As long as you are improving, you should keep climbing the mountain to see how high you can climb!