How many times should you take the SAT?

Applying to College
1

<p>hi guys, i'm a sophomore and haven't taken an SAT that "counts" yet in high school. Do you think that its too late to take my first in my Junior year? or should I take one this year in case of any screw ups. </p>

<p>btw, I took it for fun in 8th grade (not studying or anything, just to get a feel for it) and got</p>

<p>CR:730
Math:780
Writing:700 (Essay 8) <----- I should be able to improve this....</p>

<p>And honestly, how much does a varsity letter actually matter in getting into a college? I have lettered and made districts the past two years in swimming and have a good shot at being named captain next year. Is it true that sports don't matter at all unless your recruited?</p>

2

<p>those are really good</p>

<p>IDK, try to perfect ur score.</p>

3

<p>take it no more than 3 times.</p>

<p>but you could get into most colleges with that score lol.</p>

4

<p>to answer the part about sports, i think it is definitely in your favor to be a varsity athlete and especially a captain because it shows leadership. but it won't put you at an advantage over someone who shows leadership in other ways (clubs, student orgs, etc). sports are just one way.</p>

5

<p>too bad those dont count
those are damn good scores</p>

6

<p>i'd say 3 at the most. ive taken 2 personally, so 1 more to go..</p>

7

<p>Actually, those would have counted if you had called collegeboard to tell them to keep them. Which I assume you didn't, just like I didn't. I will be waiting for October in my junior year to take my first SAT that counts. </p>

<p>The general rule of thumb is no more than 3 times (not counting middle school), and you can stop at 1 or 2 if you don't think you can do any better. I don't know if Score Choice reports how many times you took it?</p>

8

<p>If you got those as an 8th grader, you're insanely good.</p>

<p>I got like 560 CR as an eighth grader and 730 M which translated into almost a perfect score in one sitting as a junior. Just don't forget to study, but I think you're a natural born genius.</p>

9

<p>It's time for the FAQ again: </p>

<p>ONE-TIME TEST-TAKING </p>

<p>Colleges have given up trying to distinguish one-time test-takers from two-time or three-time or even four-time test-takers, because that wasn't useful information to the colleges. There are a number of reasons for that. </p>

<p>1) The colleges have utterly no way of knowing who spends all his free time practicing taking standardized tests and who takes them "cold." </p>

<p>2) The colleges are well aware that students who have actually taken the tests sometimes cancel scores, so they have little incentive to give students bonus consideration if the students submit only one test score. </p>

<p>3) The colleges are aware that students who take the admission tests at middle-school age, who are numerous, do not have their earlier test scores submitted by default. </p>

<p>SAT</a> Younger than 13 </p>

<p>Hoagies</a>' Gifted: Talent Search Programs </p>

<p>Duke</a> TIP - Interpreting SAT and ACT Scores for 7th Grade Students </p>

<p>4) Colleges are aware that the majority of students who take the SAT at all take it more than once. </p>

<p><a href="http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/Avg_Scores_of_Repeat_Test_Takers.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/Avg_Scores_of_Repeat_Test_Takers.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>5) Colleges are in the business of helping students learn, and they don't mind students taking efforts to improve their scores. They know that students prepare for tests. </p>

<p>From the New York Times: "Although coaching would no doubt continue if subject tests replaced the SAT, at least students would be focused on content as much as test-taking strategies, Mr. Murray said. There would also be pressure to improve local high school curriculums so that students were prepared, he wrote.</p>

<p>"These arguments make sense to Mr. Fitzsimmons [dean of admission at Harvard], who said, 'People are going to prepare anyway, so they might as well study chemistry or biology.' He added that 'the idea of putting more emphasis on the subject tests is of great interest' to his group." </p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/education/19sat.html?pagewanted=print%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/education/19sat.html?pagewanted=print&lt;/a> </p>

<p>6) And now the College Board is back in the business of letting students choose which test scores to send into colleges, </p>

<p>Score</a> Choice - New SAT Score-Reporting Policy </p>

<p>so now there is less reason than ever to suppose that colleges care how many times you take the test, because the colleges have no way to know how many times you took the test officially. </p>

<p>Colleges treat applicants uniformly now by considering their highest scores, period. </p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/349391-retake-how-many-times-take-sat-act.html#post4198038%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/349391-retake-how-many-times-take-sat-act.html#post4198038&lt;/a> </p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0809_GuideApplying.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0809_GuideApplying.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>From the Harvard admission office: "If you submit more than one set of scores for any of the required tests, the Admissions Committee considers only your best scores—even if your strongest SAT Subject Tests or portions of the SAT Reasoning Test were taken on different dates." </p>

<p>See also a Newsweek article about the renewed score choice policy adopted by College Board. </p>

<p>Reactions</a> to College Board's SAT Score Choice | Newsweek Education | Newsweek.com </p>

<p>Some colleges want to see all scores a student has ever obtained, period, but as one admission officer asks, if "a student submits a single best sitting of 2320," does anyone really care "how low were her other score sets?" </p>

<p>An January 2009 email from Dartmouth's assistant director of admissions clarifies the issue: "At Dartmouth we consider a student's highest SAT I score in each category (or their highest composite ACT score) and their two highest SAT II Subject Test scores, regardless of how many times they have taken the tests. We never discount a student's highest score, even if they have taken the SAT multiple times. I do hope that students will not feel the pressure to take the SAT tests four or five times (the data suggests that scores typically do not improve after the second try), but we will always consider the student's highest scores."</p>

10

<p>It's time for the FAQ again: </p>

<p>ONE-TIME TEST-TAKING </p>

<p>Colleges have given up trying to distinguish one-time test-takers from two-time or three-time or even four-time test-takers, because that wasn't useful information to the colleges. There are a number of reasons for that. </p>

<p>1) The colleges have utterly no way of knowing who spends all his free time practicing taking standardized tests and who takes them "cold." </p>

<p>2) The colleges are well aware that students who have actually taken the tests sometimes cancel scores, so they have little incentive to give students bonus consideration if the students submit only one test score. </p>

<p>3) The colleges are aware that students who take the admission tests at middle-school age, who are numerous, do not have their earlier test scores submitted by default. </p>

<p>SAT</a> Younger than 13 </p>

<p>Hoagies</a>' Gifted: Talent Search Programs </p>

<p>Duke</a> TIP - Interpreting SAT and ACT Scores for 7th Grade Students </p>

<p>4) Colleges are aware that the majority of students who take the SAT at all take it more than once. </p>

<p><a href="http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/Avg_Scores_of_Repeat_Test_Takers.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/Avg_Scores_of_Repeat_Test_Takers.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>5) Colleges are in the business of helping students learn, and they don't mind students taking efforts to improve their scores. They know that students prepare for tests. </p>

<p>From the New York Times: "Although coaching would no doubt continue if subject tests replaced the SAT, at least students would be focused on content as much as test-taking strategies, Mr. Murray said. There would also be pressure to improve local high school curriculums so that students were prepared, he wrote.</p>

<p>"These arguments make sense to Mr. Fitzsimmons [dean of admission at Harvard], who said, 'People are going to prepare anyway, so they might as well study chemistry or biology.' He added that 'the idea of putting more emphasis on the subject tests is of great interest' to his group." </p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/education/19sat.html?pagewanted=print%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/education/19sat.html?pagewanted=print&lt;/a> </p>

<p>6) And now the College Board is back in the business of letting students choose which test scores to send into colleges, </p>

<p>Score</a> Choice - New SAT Score-Reporting Policy </p>

<p>so now there is less reason than ever to suppose that colleges care how many times you take the test, because the colleges have no way to know how many times you took the test officially. </p>

<p>Colleges treat applicants uniformly now by considering their highest scores, period. </p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/349391-retake-how-many-times-take-sat-act.html#post4198038%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/349391-retake-how-many-times-take-sat-act.html#post4198038&lt;/a> </p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0809_GuideApplying.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0809_GuideApplying.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>From the Harvard admission office: "If you submit more than one set of scores for any of the required tests, the Admissions Committee considers only your best scores—even if your strongest SAT Subject Tests or portions of the SAT Reasoning Test were taken on different dates." </p>

<p>See also a Newsweek article about the renewed score choice policy adopted by College Board. </p>

<p>Reactions</a> to College Board's SAT Score Choice | Newsweek Education | Newsweek.com </p>

<p>Some colleges want to see all scores a student has ever obtained, period, but as one admission officer asks, if "a student submits a single best sitting of 2320," does anyone really care "how low were her other score sets?" </p>

<p>An January 2009 email from Dartmouth's assistant director of admissions clarifies the issue: "At Dartmouth we consider a student's highest SAT I score in each category (or their highest composite ACT score) and their two highest SAT II Subject Test scores, regardless of how many times they have taken the tests. We never discount a student's highest score, even if they have taken the SAT multiple times. I do hope that students will not feel the pressure to take the SAT tests four or five times (the data suggests that scores typically do not improve after the second try), but we will always consider the student's highest scores."</p>

11

<p>I still think college admissions officers could be lying. Or dissembling. Like how they hid the existence of the Academic Index. </p>

<p>But if Score Choice really hides how many times you take it, instead of showing all test dates but some with scores hidden, then to the OP: you can take it as many times as you like.</p>

12

<p>Beginning with March you can take it as many times as you want and send only one score. But if your score was better than the first just at the CR section for example, than you have to take it again and score better at all three sections because you can't send only the best sections from each test.</p>

13

<p>..until of course there comes a little new concept in SECTION CHOICE :D</p>

14

<p>Do not take the SAT at all. Take the ACT instead. All colleges except either test so you do not have to take the SAT.</p>

15

<p>The OP did really well with the SAT in 8th grade. It seems like that would be his stronger test, and he has more experience with it.</p>

16

<p>your scores are amazing, especially for someone your age!!! Take the SAT's when you are a junior, like in the end of the year, and if you feel like you can do better study during the summer and take them when you are a senior. Universities accept SAT scores through December of your senior year (at which point you will most likely be the smartest and most ready than ever) That's what I did. Good luck, but your scores already qualify you well .</p>