<p>So in Common App it asks for how many times "you" took the SAT. Is there a certain time range because I don't want the SAT that I took in 9th grade to be counted and to reflect badly.</p>
<p>Generally anything in high school counts, but maybe 9th grade is on the border. What time during your 9th grade year did you take it?</p>
<p>If you’re applying to schools that honor score choice then you can ignore the 9th grade score. However schools that want to see your full testing history usually want everything from high school, including 9th grade. </p>
<p>@foolish it was either in May or June.</p>
<p>@saif235 Okay, I will probably call the admissions office.</p>
<p>take as many times as you like. choose the two scores you wish to put on your college resume. improvement in the scores from the first date to the second date is a bonus. for example you took the SAT’s four times. 1400, 1340, 1450, 1420 was scored in that order. take the first and third score into account on your application b/c it shows improvement. if you use the last two, improvement is not shown and won’t recommend putting those on your resume because it shows a downward trend. consult with your guidance counselor for tips. </p>
<p>Avoid taking more than once if possible with 2 being the maximum.</p>
<p>@Dchang11 That is actually false. Colleges actually dislike when kids take the SAT more than 3 times. It makes you look like a grade grubber. Especially if the improvement is insignificant (i.e. 1730 to 1750 to 1790 to 1810). It will also show that you didn’t study. Some colleges look at all scores and if you decrease, they will hold that against you.</p>
<p>^^ @AnnieBeats sounds reasonable but do you have a source for the “insignificant increase” part?</p>
<p>My Daughter actually went down 10 points second time around but super score went up to a 2140 and we are debating whether she should take it a third time. I think 3 times is pretty common.</p>
<p>@ormdad
If your daughter gets around 2100 again the third time, it will not look good on her college application.
Did she study the second time around? If she did, she might have already reached her limit.
In addition, even if she gets 2300 the third time, it won’t be as impressive as someone who scores 2300 the first time around.</p>
<p>@StevenToCollege she studied, but not a ridiculous amount. The testing environment was all kinds of messed up- for one the proctor did not have a watch so he sort of guessed when they had to stop and this was very stressful for her. He also read them instructions for the subject tests, etc, etc and she is very rule-oriented so this threw her off.</p>
<p>Neither of us want her to take it a third time but her practice tests are around 1450+ CR/M so I know she can do better then 1380. It’s probably not worth it, she has a great GPA and good ECs.</p>
<p>My advice is that my advice doesn’t matter. Each person has different needs, abilities, and aspirations. I took it only once because I only wanted to take it once (as it would be more impressive and I didn’t feel taking it once would help me for the next time and to reduce the stress), so I waited till June (where I’d also have the most time to prepare in the weeks before) and got my target score then.
Some people would benefit from a “practice run”. Maybe for some even after 2x their score is too low for what they’re shooting for (although I’d advice trying the act in this case). One of my family friend’s daughter took it once for each section to just super score (and might have even taken it more than 3 times) and got into her school of choice I believe (JHU). So whatever fits you, but be careful going past 2 or 3 times, if it’s not coming out right, maybe the act is for you, not the sat.</p>