Low score for an international... How low though?

<p>So I'm an international applicant from France, and I just received my SAT scores from the Oct. sitting.</p>

<p>Maths 600
Writing 600
CR 590</p>

<p>That's a 1790 composite.</p>

<p>Considering the quality of the French education system concerning English classes, I am quite positive about my scores. However, I want to apply to Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, Brown, NYU, UCLA and a bunch of safeties like Reed or Ithaca. I know this is absolutely not enough. </p>

<p>Is it possible to raise my scores of 100 points each? How hard is it to break the 700/700/700 barrier in November (I'm retaking the SAT)? How can I improve my scores?</p>

<p>My DS went from 1940 to 2220 from June to Oct. And he studied (or said he did) during the summer (no summer job); plus did 9 practice tests.</p>

<p>Can you take it in December? Have you been preparing since the Oct test?</p>

<p>Good Luck - I just visited Paris and had a ball! We are Canadian and I expect Internationals score lower - DS got 760 in CR and only 710 in W.</p>

<p>Wow, that’s brilliant. I have actually been working on my all components since October. Practice tests have been really helpful, though I’ve done all of those in my CB study guide, so I just do them again. I also take private maths lessons with a French maths teacher, with whom I review the notions that I struggle with.</p>

<p>I will be taking the subject tests in December, so retaking the SAT on November 2nd is my only option. Would that be enough time to go from 1790 to 2000+ though?</p>

<p>Look into taking the ACT. The dates aren’t the same as the same as the SAT’s, so you could take the December 14 test since it’d give you extra time to prepare (some material is exactly the same, even though the format differs) and you could always send the results to schools of your choice if they were higher than your SAT’s.
Of course if you’re confident, you can call and see if there’s standby space for tomorrow’s test at the American School in Paris (St Cloud) - not sure it’s even possible, but if you can read the website’s prep advice and feel your preparation for the SAT will serve you for the ACT, it’s an alternative. I’d advise the Dec 14 date though.</p>