<p>I took the ACT and got a 33 but made a HUGE mess up on my essay which landed me with a 6 essay. 
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<p>I also like how you don’t have to take subject tests with the ACT.</p>
<p>Definitely retake, since this is your first time, and you’ll probably improve.</p>
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<p>I don’t think your situation is as bad as you think. Like what do you think colleges will think, that math competitions are meaningless, and one bad SAT means that all your other accomplishments don’t mean anything because of that? Admissions officers are reasonable people I would think. So don’t worry too much, just maybe prepare a little more and see what happens. And don’t stress out too much about SAT scores.</p>
<p>The 800 W is great but many colleges still weigh CR and M more heavily, and a 690 M is probably not competitive at the most selective schools. You mentioned Princeton and Brown. At Princeton 77% of entering freshmen have SAT M scores of 700 or higher. That would put you in the bottom quartile. My guess is most of those admitted to Princeton with M scores below 700 have really special credentials in other areas, and an 800 W, nice as it is, is probably not enough to place you in that category. It’s only slightly better at Brown where 66% of entering freshmen scored 700+ on SAT M. It’s similar at the most selective LACs: the percentage of the entering class scoring 700+ M at Amherst is 60%, Williams 60%, Swarthmore 59%. As for your 710 R, being above 700 is nice, but 710 probably places you in the third quartile at all these schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think 700 is a magic number, but by the same token I think most applicants with CR or M scores below that level face pretty long odds at the Ivies and the most selective LACs unless they come with a “hook” or otherwise pretty extraordinary credentials in some other area. I’d urge you to retake the SAT to try to get your M and CR scores up into the mid-700 range, and to try the ACT as well. You just won’t know which test you’ll score better on until you’ve done both.</p>
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<p>There is no SAT threshold. There is no point where an increase in scores stops mattering, and for top schools, the OP will likely need higher scores to compete with hooked applicants.</p>
<p>I’m just curious why you think there’s no SAT threshold? I’m guessing it’s because there are higher rates of admissions for higher test scores.</p>
<p>Like, using MIT as an example (since their admissions officers are pretty open about this type of stuff), they explicitly state over and over again that anything above a 700 doesn’t matter, which I would assume is their threshold. </p>
<p>But when you look at their stats, the admissions rate increases significantly for applicants with scores from 700-740 in the math or critical reading sections in the SAT to scores of 750-800. In fact, it increases from 12% to 15% for math, and from 15% to 20% for critical reading. And I don’t think the admissions officers are lying to us about how they treat the SAT. Instead, it just seems likely that among the applicant pool, those who have 800 in math or critical reading are just also more likely to have other qualities apart from higher SAT scores that are also attractive to MIT, which causes them to be more likely to be admitted.</p>
<p>Somebody posted an excellent thread on this recently which showed the correlation between SAT scores over 700 and admission rates of ivies. I’m too lazy to look it up right now, but I do remember the admission numbers went UP at Princeton until a certain SAT score was reached, and then dropped. It was interesting.</p>
<p>Here is it. Mifune’s post: </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/865226-addressing-few-concerns.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/865226-addressing-few-concerns.html</a></p>
<p>Hmm that is interesting. Well, obviously the SAT is not the only factor regarding admissions. My plan thus far is to do one final retake of the SAT, do some subject tests, write killer essays, and hope for the best.</p>
<p>You must retake the SAT, IMHO. </p>
<p>1) 2200 is a very good score, but just on the outer minimum fringe of what an Ivy accepts</p>
<p>2) What does a college think if you only submit one score as almost everybody takes SAT twice. Are you hiding the lower grade? Or conversely are you afraid to take it a second time? No matter the question, you look bad</p>