My counselor says I HAVE to retake a 2230. . .for the fourth time!

Applying to College
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<p>My counselor is quite adamant about me retaking my SATs (Superscore out of 3 times: 1430/2230; I'm happy with it) AGAIN in order to get the CollegeBoard college application fee waivers.</p>

<p>I did a search on this site and it seems that I don't have to retake the SATs under a fee waiver in order to get app fee waivers, but I don't think that my counselor will budge. I don't MIND retaking per se; it's just a waste of a Saturday. However, I know that taking it four times will look sketchy to colleges, plus I'm fairly certain that my score will drop this time around! I'm all tested out, LOL.</p>

<p>I was thinking what I could do is send my current scores (w/ my recent good SAT IIs) to the 2 or 3 colleges I'm definitely applying to. When I retake the SATs in Nov. I could just send it to my safety schools, and Vassar, Wesleyan, Davidson will never know I took it 4 times. . .however that is still $30 that I'll have to pay to send my scores now.</p>

<p>Any suggestions/ideas?</p>

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<p>Just don't listen to your counselor, your scores are fine. You can get into V, W, and D with that set.</p>

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<p>you don't need to take it, but what is the GC threatening you with?</p>

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<p>Thank you! But I do need the application fee waivers, and she won't give them to me until I take the SAT. . .</p>

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<p>send those scores u have now, and retake for the fee waiver</p>

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<p>she is threatening to withold paperwork from you?</p>

<p>I would think that the CB and the colleges wouldn't take to kindly of a GC threatening a student like that</p>

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<p>ps- most EVERYONE fom colleges to GC to anyone involved in college applications says taknig it more than 3 times is a waste and can actually be a bad thing for various reasons</p>

<p>you GC is wrong to do what they are doing, what is the justification for taking the test again</p>

<p>data shows that the likelihood of it going UP is minimal, while it staying the same or going down is very likely indeed</p>

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<p>Go speak with the Principal. If what you are stating is as it seems, it's pretty outrageous.</p>

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<p>That's a GREAT score. In fact, it's my goal, LOL.</p>

<p>But I think you should consider applying to schools that consider the SAT writing score, since yours is quite high. A list of a prestigious schools that consider the writing score, if you're interested:</p>

<p>Dartmouth
Duke
USC
Stanford
Vanderbilt
Harvard
Pomona
University of Pennsylvania</p>

<p>Good luck -- DON'T retake. It's ultimately your choice, and you're already well into the 99th percentile.</p>

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<p>Oh no, I think I may have conveyed this wrong--it's not that my counselor is a mean person or anything, she just told me (twice when I asked her) that it was her understanding that I had to retake the SAT under the fee waiver if I wanted the application fee waivers. I just discovered that that wasn't true. . .I'm not sure how to show her the evidence, though; I just read someone's post from the search results. </p>

<p>mj93, thank you! I'm considering Vandy, but it seems a little too preppy/pre-professional to me (although of course I can't judge a school just based on that, lol)</p>

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<p>call the college board on monday....and call a couple of your colleges</p>

<p>what if you didn't know about the fee waivers when you signed up for the SAT and then learned about it later when you applied for colleges, or didn't even take the SAT, would the colleges deny the fee waiver?</p>

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<p>citygirlsmom, thank you for helping me out! I'm going to call Collegeboard, or go talk to my counselor, or make HER call Collegeboard, or something. . .anything to get out of retaking! :]</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone who responded. . .I was getting nervous about the whole fee waiver thing for a while!</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/ra/2007-08_directory_colleges_cooperating_sat_program_fee_waiver_serv.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/highered/ra/2007-08_directory_colleges_cooperating_sat_program_fee_waiver_serv.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>You seem interested in LACs, so add Amherst and Wellesley to the list of colleges that consider SAT writing.</p>