Lopsided score...should I retake?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>800-M
740-W (10 on essay)
640-R</p>

<p>Total: 2180 (1440 M+CR)</p>

<p>As you can see I messed up on the CR section, though I am extremely happy with my math and writing scores (after all, you can't beat an 800). However I have the feeling that my reading score will give colleges the impression that I only have a limited range of knowledge. My parents have told me not to worry because I want to major in engineering, and math and science are way more important than reading for what I want to do...should I retake it though and risk lower scores on the other 2 sections? These are the schools I'm thinking of applying to:</p>

<p>UT Knoxville (Safety)
Purdue
U Illinois - Urbana Champaign
Georgia Tech
Virginia Tech
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt (Reach)
MIT (BIG Reach)</p>

2

<p>Wow good job on the math and writing sections. I think that you would probably be more than fine at most of those schools, but I think that you would probably need to get the reading up some for Vandy and MIT. Best of luck.</p>

3

<p>I would normally say definitely retake, but, like the guy above me said, that score is PLENTY high for all of your schools save MIT. You’ll even have a decent shot at Vand with a 2180. If you actually want a chance at MIT (which, to be frank, you won’t have with a 2180), then definitely retake. MIT, like 99% of private schools, will superscore your test results. As long as you don’t completely bomb the other two sections, any increase in your CR score will help you. (They don’t like to see only one good section per SAT, so don’t BS the other two sections).</p>

4

<p>Is it high enough for Urbana and GA Tech? Because those are pretty competitive schools.</p>

5

<p>you look good.
my SAT is around the same (2170) except with 800 in CR, and 690 M and 680 W</p>

6

<p>maybe I was being too hard on myself hah…this site makes you do that :P.</p>

7

<p>Ok so I’ve pretty much narrowed down my college list to this:</p>

<pre><code>* Carnegie Mellon U

  • Georgia Tech
  • Penn State U Park
  • Purdue U
  • Rice U
  • Texas A&M U
  • U Florida
  • U Illinois Urbana
  • U Tenn Knoxville
  • U Texas Austin
  • Virginia Tech
    </code></pre>

<p>and then maybe a reach school like Vandy. Save for the reach school, is it really worth retaking? If not then I might not apply for a reach.</p>

8

<p>Wow how many writing questions did you miss to get a 740 with an essay score of 10?</p>

<p>I’m assuming a couple to none..?</p>

<p>I’m taking the SAT’s again and I’m aiming to get higher than a 690 on the writing so I’m just curious what your stats are for writing…if you don’t mind?</p>

9

<p>It’s not worth retaking for any of those schools. GA Tech isn’t really that competitive: 63% acceptance rate, 60% of ppl in the top decile, and an average SAT score of ~1960. Carnegie Mellon is much more competitive: 2080 average SAT. And I just saw you added Rice, which is even more competitive than Carnegie Mellon. Rice is a definite reach with a 2180, sooooooo retake it.</p>

10

<p>I wasn’t really sure that Georgia Tech would be comparatively that easy for me to get into, mostly because of my low class rank and GPA. I’ve been told that’s the #1 thing colleges look at.</p>

<p>EDIT: forgot to mention that my average grade is a 91.1 and my GPA is 3.34 (though it should go up a lot after this semester).</p>