<p>Is it just those few hours? Or is it also a few hours more spent obsessively taking practice tests, cramming vocab…</p>
<p>Also, you may doubt that admissions officers told me what they did, but then I wonder what you think my motivation for spreading dis-information might be? One was an admissions officer, the other a faculty member who was on the admissions committee. The reason I remember so clearly is that both of them offered the same opinion that came up in a completely unrelated discussion.</p>
<p>On the other hand, admissions people say things all the time that end up not being exactly true. If you are not in there when they are making the final call, you never know. In any case, I am not disagreeing with you anyway – nothing wrong with taking a shot at a higher score.</p>
<p>I’ll summarize the important points from it:
[ul]
[<em>]Of the 58 Asian applicants who posted, 15 of the 17 accepted had SAT scores over 2300. The lowest was 2270. The median score was 2350; the average score was 2347.
[</em>]Of the 52 White applicants who posted, 16 of the 17 accepted had SAT scores over 2300. The lowest score was 2280. The median score was 2355 ; the average score was 2353.
[/ul]</p>
<p>" I don’t know what you mean by “deflated” in this context."</p>
<p>Sometimes 2400 is impressive into the college admission committee’s eyes, but that does mean it gaurantees you an entrance. There’s alot of 2300ers with 4.0s apply to Stanford and get denied. One of the city council’s son got 96 average in Stuyvesant and had a perfect score got denied to Harvard Princeton Yale and Penn. But then he got accepted to NYU Stern with full scholarship. Boston College denied near half of the applicants with 2300s and accepted the 1900s with talent and ability. Like I said, it’s not all about SAT scores. It’s about well-roundness (Stanford University’s view).</p>
<p>" I don’t understand what you’re saying here. "</p>
<p>My concern is that since the blue book has no explanations to the answers, just the answers whether they’re right or wrong, how do you expect us to review the questions ourselves without explanations? I would like to hear some thoughts from you because I’m aiming for the highest as possible in January.</p>
<p>Oh wait, so you’re one of those people who calculate all the stats! Thanks silverturtle, they’ve always been so helpful!</p>
<p>Back to what the OP asked:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I personally think that since the average score was 2347, then anything 2300+, like the OP asked, is definitely more than acceptable. If you only took it only ONCE, then by all means take it again to go for the 2400, but it will “actually be counterproductive”, at least for certain colleges, if you end up retaking high scores over and over again.</p>
<p>That’s only if you take the SAT 6-7 times trying to get a perfect score.
A college will be very impressed that you managed to get a 2400 in two tries, and it won’t hurt your chances in the slightest. =]</p>
<p>The thing that can hurt you is retaking a 2300+ score for a 2400. I know looots of people who have done that, and I personally think it reflects badly on you- it makes you seem like a super-perfectionist whose life always revolves around test scores.</p>
<p>That said, colleges realize that 2300+ (or even 2250+, arguably) is nearlyy the same as a 2400 in that a large part of the SAT is about luck–how you felt that morning, if the problems just clicked in your head, etc etc. 2400 is great, but not the end-all.</p>
<p>And, I seem to remember that some Ivy League deferred 60% of its 2400s? There’s probably evil adcom parties that go on where they laugh about how many valedictorians/2400ers they reject XP</p>
<p>“The explanations for every Blue Book #2 question are on the College Board’s Website.”</p>
<p>Does it cost money?</p>
<p>" Citation? "</p>
<p>No need. It’s common sense. BC is not Harvard or Duke, but as a mid-tier top college, most kids will get in with a 1900 or over if the rest of their application is steady. You’ll surprised to see how BU denies many 2200ers and accept 1800ers (BU isn’t that of a good school anyways.)</p>
<p>" At holistically reviewing schools, the SAT is indeed one of many factors. "</p>
<p>There’s also the ACT because some kids don’t feel comfortable scoring averagedly on the SAT and decide to take the other one instead.</p>
<p>By the way, do you know if SAT IIs are still recommended or req. for ACTers if you’re applying to Duke, Amherst, or Michigan? My friend got into NYU Stern and he says he had no SAT IIs.</p>
<p>For all those who think that retaking a 2300+ score is bad.</p>
<p>Look. You have everything to gain and very little to lose (maybe the money/time). If you do worse, well then use score choice. If you do better and are worried adcoms will think you are insane for retaking a 2300+ score, again, use score choice. Score choice solves this entire problem.</p>
<p>And even for schools like Stanford, UPenn, and Cornell (all don’t accept score choice); you can still use it anyways as they will never find out.</p>
<p>Really? Reallyyy? That’s 1) seriously unethical and 2) not a risk you should be taking, considering that if a college finds out, you could be rejected/blacklisted.</p>
<p>Statistically speaking, you will probably NOT score higher than your previous score if you retake a 2300+. As I said before, a lot of it is luck and subjective factors. Someone with a 2300 isn’t necessarily less intelligent or less qualified than someone with a 2400.</p>
<p>“Boston College denied near half of the applicants with 2300s and accepted the 1900s with talent and ability.”</p>
<p>Boston College only puts a limited number of people in the Presidential Scholar program. They won’t accept a lot of 2300s because that would mean they would have to put them in that program, which basically pays for the full four-year costs.</p>
<p>it depends on how SAT smart you are. some people are smart enough that they get 2400 easily with minimal preparation (there are some on this site).</p>
<p>Probably too late now for the OP, but not necessarily for others in the same situation. It depends. If you are applying to MIT, I think you are actually much better off with a single score of 2360 than with a 2400. Matt McGann wrote a long rant about a student who had one recommendation that referred to the “magical 2400.” It’s still up on the MIT web site. No longer up are some comments on an MIT admissions committee member’s blog, coming from “Momchil,” who wondered whether 2400 SAT I + 2400 SAT II would essentially guarantee admission to MIT. In short, the answer was “No. Ha ha ha ha. Loser!” I think that re-taking a 2360 and obtaining a 2400 would also be a disadvantage at Stanford. It’s probably break-even at HYP. Retaking 2360 and coming out with 2390? Could happen. How would you feel about it?</p>
<p>If your other qualifications are in the “unbelievably good” category, and you do not have 1600 CR +M (single sitting) or 144 ACT sum of scores, you could become eligible for the national Presidential Scholar program by retaking. The odds against selection are very high, though.</p>
<p>If you are interested in a full-ride scholarship at a university that very rarely sees students with 2400’s, it might give you an edge. Admissions representatives at HYPSM+C see plenty of 2400’s and it has no novelty value for them.</p>
<p>Other good reasons to retake a 2360, to obtain a 2400:
a) Security of knowing that your future spouse cannot have outscored you. Potential opportunity to gloat over scores.
b) Your twin scored 2400 and you got 2360. Or worse, both of the other triplets . . .
c) With a 2400, you are permitted to use words such as “irenic” and “daedal” without a trace of self-consciousness.
d) Lifetime membership in TSSOPWSTFHALOFEO (The Secret Society of People Who Scored Twenty-Four Hundred and Look out for Each Other). Includes secret decoder ring!
Hey, silverturtle,
8-15-23-1-18
5-25-15-21-?
23-8-5-18-5
1-18-5-25-15
21-7-15-9-14
7-20-15-3-15
12-12-5-7-5
? </p>
<p>And one more reason not to bother: If you have a 2400, the lack of parallelism in my reasons a)-d) will make you fidgety.</p>
<p>I know someone who got a 2360 the first time he took his SAT. The 2nd time he got a 2400. He’s going to Harvard this fall. Obviously it doesn’t HURT to retake a 2360 once or twice if you know you can do better.</p>