<p>is 2400 actually the best score you can get? i get the impression that the top colleges are trying to get away from admitting students who are "grinds," and in that case too many perfect scores can work against you (make you seem perfectionistic and obsessive about scores). would someone who got 2300+ on a first try want to take it again if they thought they could probably get a superscored 2400 without too much effort, or would that actually be counterproductive?</p>
<p>There are actually quite a few parts that need to be covered for your question:
- Yes, 2400 is the highest possible score.
- Not all colleges superscore
- Even though a 2400 on an SAT test is impressive, at the most competitive colleges, it is unwise for it to be a sole asset to your application
- Being a “grind” may be the distinction between taking the SAT 2-3 times, versus taking it 6 or more times (can you imagine? wasting more than 24 hours on testing? Do some community service or something)</p>
<p>lol, I love how people think that getting a 2400 could possibly work against them.</p>
<p>The higher the score, the better.</p>
<p>well i’ve been told that if you get 2300+ the first time and then retake it, it looks bad, even if you end up with 2400? so in that sense it could work against somebody? look, i’m not wise in the ways of college admissions like some of you guys, that’s why i’m asking! i don’t want to make a “i got 2360, should i retake” thread b/c i know that ppl will get angry at that, so i decided to phrase the thread title a bit differently, that’s all ^.^</p>
<p>Except in extreme cases (e.g., retaking 2350+ multiple times), higher scores are always better for schools that only look at one’s highest superscore.</p>
<p>so retaking 2350+ one time is a good idea? or does it just not make a difference</p>
<p>re-taking a 2300+ makes u look like an idiot for 2 reasons. 1. it means that u don’t know how good of a score yours actually is. in both cases, 99th percentile=99th percentile. BASIC MATH the SAT obviously needs to test for 
2. it makes u look like u spend all of your time studying…like u have nothing better to do after having scored in the 99th percentile. seriously, get a life. hell no i would not admit someone to my college if they take a re-take a 2300. FYI:no one in the history of the world has gotten rejected BECAUSE of a 2300. so, go focus on getting the rest of your application up to par AND/OR having a life.</p>
<p>no need to be so angry! see, this is why i asked, arachnotron 
b/c i wonder if admissions officers think the same way as ppl like theycallmecc. </p>
<p>i didn’t study for my first test, and with a few hours studying i think i could get a 2400, that’s why i’m even considering it but there’s no way to convey that to admissions officers, so if it makes me look like i’m obsessed with SAT or something to even take it twice, then i won’t do it. </p>
<p>it’s not a matter of whether i’ll get REJECTED for my score (i KNOW it’s a good score and i’m lucky to have it!) just a matter of “is it worth it to spend several hours of my life to get a 2400 or will that not help at all”.</p>
<p>really i don’t want to offend anyone but i guess i’ll appreciate more opinions, since i haven’t gotten a conclusive answer yet. i’m leaning towards just not bothering rn, but honestly i waste enough time on the internet that a few hours to get a little advantage in college apps is worth it for me, so if you think that it IS an advantage to have 2400, then tell me please. that’s all</p>
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<p>You’re projecting your ideal concept of how a score should be interpreted onto a contradictory reality. 2400 is better than 2300, so in some situations a 2300 could indeed get someone rejected.</p>
<p>Plus, the 99th percentile officially begins at 2200, but a 2200 does not equal a 2400. If someone with a 2300 thinks they can do better, there’s no harm in retaking once or twice.</p>
<p>Sorry, but you would be incredibly stupid to consider wasting 4 hours to raise your SAT by the most useless 40 potential points of your life.</p>
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<p>It’s far more intelligent to use the time to raise one’s college admissions score than to sleep in.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice on whether it’s a good decision for me personally, but honestly i can decide what’s worth my time or not.</p>
<p>i would appreciate perspectives based on what is the good decision for college admissions, because that’s what i don’t know much about. thanks to silverturtle especially, and if anyone else has a perspective, especially if you’ve worked in admissions or know ppl who have, that would be awesome :)</p>
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<p>Who mentioned sleeping in? The time could be spent doing community service or contributing more time to something you enjoy.</p>
<p>Besides, I doubt admissions officers view retaking 2360s as a positive sign. It would make them question how the candidate deals with failure, and how they set their priorities. Sorry, but retaking a 2360 is obsessive, and if you were to ask a college officer whether or not you should retake, he would invariably say that the difference between a 2360 and a 2400 is negligible.</p>
<p>Thus, it can be concluded that retaking a 2360 would have no positive impact on your application.</p>
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<p>Some may retake for the challenge, not as a result of an obsessive perfectionism. Admissions officers will not uniformly perceive the worst motive.</p>
<p>In most cases it will look good if you retook a 2360 and received a 2400. In some cases it may be seen as obsessive. It depends on who’s reading your application.</p>
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<p>Of course, one could use score choice for most schools and the 2400 would never be seen as a product of obsession (unless the admissions officer is psychic).</p>
<p>Most people won’t get 2400 even if they tried their hardest and died ten times over. So why would that work against you? The admissions should be impressed that you can get 2400 (unlike 99.9% of other people…)</p>
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<p>Indeed. 2400 is above the 99.98 percentile, and when you’re competing against applicants who are largely above the 99 percentile, there’s a difference between 99.5 (~2300) and 99.98.</p>
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<p>No there isn’t. The difference between the 99.5 percentile and 99.9 percentile is around 3 questions. Universities acknowledge the scope for silly mistakes in the SAT. If they have to choose between two applicants, one with a 2350 SAT and the other with a 2400 SAT, will they consider the SAT scores? No, because they’re on the same level there. At this point, they will consider other areas of the application. This isn’t speculation, it’s common sense.</p>