<p>i'm on the fence about taking the SAT for the third time this october. i improved drastically from 1st to 2nd (1900 - 2130). But my verbal is still low - 620. writing and math are 790 and 720 respectively. if i take a third time to improve verbal but don't do as well on writing and/or math, will it hurt my chances at tufts more that it will help? thanks for your time and thoughts.</p>
<p>it'll help. a 620 CR is low for tufts, so it's better to take it again and try to raise it. colleges look at your highest scores in each section and take all of those together (unless the specify they want a certain score in one sitting, but that's usually for specialized, more competitive programs). but make sure you prepare and are confident that you'll be able to score higher, you don't want to go in and do worse.</p>
<p>nah i did it once junior year, and got 1950 i think just because i really didn't care. then i took it senior year without studying, and got like 2090, because i only had like 640 in math. then i just did it a third time for the heck of it, just to focus on math and it went up to a 710, and a final 2170...it doesn't matter if you do worse on other things, they just combine the best ones and tufts really doesnt care if you do worse. just try to do better, if not oh well</p>
<p>Tufts really only cares about your best scores.
I would take them again. It's only a 5 hour test and it is worth it.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure Tufts only takes your best score from a single sitting (ie no combining m/v/w).</p>
<p>Why don't you call the admissions office and ask about their policy?</p>
<p>It is not worth re-taking the SATs unless you are going to study damn hard for them. Unless you are going to figure out your weaknesses and address those, don't re-take. If vocab is your downfall, then you'll need to spend a solid few months shoring that up. If it's critcal reading, then you'll need to work on improving that. Consider an SAT class; at least, buy the 10 Real SATs and a book from a test-prep company.</p>
<p>If your scores aren't going to radically improve (like top 700), then don't re-take. I don't think that there's a substantial difference between a 620 and a 660. </p>
<p>You may be better off spending that time working on your essays. I mean that very seriously. A lot of high school students re-take the SAT and view it as a lottery thing - they might do better, they might not. If you aren't going to put in the time to study, don't re-take. If you are going to be spending all that time doing something, it may as well be making a killer application package and getting the apps in early. </p>
<p>A few years ago, one of the dads (ack, completely forget his screen name) talked about how his daughters were both admitted ED to excellent schools. They got their applications in by October; they submitted excellent essays, cover letters, lists of books recently read. Then, they called up the school about two weeks after it was sent to ask if it was there. He said that the admissions officers were impressed as they went through these beautifully-constructed applications with a lot of supplemental material.</p>
<p>I've heard the strategy that you should concentrate on studying for verbal for one SAT sitting, and math for another...and I do think they combine highest scores. If you decide to do this, the best advice is what was already said - just buy 10 Real SATs and do practice tests. BUT! Do them EXACTLY the way that you will have to. Meaning, don't do one Verbal section one evening, the next Math section the next day. Sure you can do well after a half hour, but when that half-hour section comes at the end of 3 hours you've already been racking your brain, you may not perform as well. THat's why I was told to simulate the conditions as much as possible, which included getting up early on a Saturday morning and just doing the test from start to finish with an egg timer. Once you get used to testing under those conditions you'll probably do much better than before.</p>
<p>If your problem is critical reading (as mine was...mostly because I'm such a bibliophile that when I read, I've learned to extrapolate what I, personally, think is interesting...and not try to figure out the ******** crap like What Author A thinks that Author B would have said about the ducks in line 45, or whether his tone was sagacious, perspicacious, or constipated. PLEASE. KILL ME.) you can PM me and I'll give you a few small tips that I found helpful :)</p>