One shot on the SAT - good/bad?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I've kind of mentioned this in another thread, but basically I've taken the SAT once in october of my junior year and scraped up a 2260 (1540 M+CR).
As I see it, it's a score that's in range, but definitely doesn't stack up competitively against the scores of other applicants. So I've been considering retaking it.
The only advantage I see is that I can suprescore sections (esp writing)...</p>

<p>How do you think admissions would take this? Is this kid good because he only needed to take it once to get a score so high? Or is this kid lazy and unambitious because he is unwilling to retake it as a senior? I appreciate the help of those who've given me advice so far, but I need more input.</p>

2

<p>There's no down side to taking the SAT a second or even a third time. It's possible after that that an admissions officer might wonder why you didn't have a better way to spend a Saturday morning. (At least that's what I heard with my very own ears from the Yale admissions officer with 4 other Ivy league admissions officers nodding in agreement.) That said, your scores are pretty good as is, and are unlikely to go up much. You don't get any brownie points for only taking it once.</p>

3

<p>Oh go ahead and give it another shot.</p>

4

<p>A second testing won't hurt you, but I wouldn't do it unless you think there is significant scope for improvement (at LEAST 40 points). Less than that and it will make no difference really.</p>

5

<p>2260 is good, but I think you should take it over again, just because, who knows, you might get a perfect score =O</p>

<p>And if you get a worse one, it doesn't really matter all THAT much, simply because it probably won't be that much behind the first one, and the colleges only look at the high scores (right?)</p>

6

<p>Is 2260 not good enough for Ivies? </p>

<p>If so, wow, the competition is insanely tough. :/</p>

7

<p>Lots of people get in with a 2260 including my son. He got a 2250 the first time he took the SATs, so don't count on a big improvement.</p>

8

<p>I have a 1570 CR/M combined, but only 680 W. I'm pretty confident I can pull the W up to 700+; is it worth it?</p>

9

<p>@lolcats4</p>

<p>I would say, in your case, to go for it. Writing is all about knowing the rules and practice. There's not too much logic going on there, so if you get a little more practice, definitely. CR and Math are more logic-based, so it wouldn't be hard to improve. Good luck!</p>

10

<p>I think the W is the hardest to predict. My son got a 73 and an 80 on the PSAT writing. Then he got a 690 on the SAT writing. 7 on the essay, did quite well on the multiple choice. He practiced writing essays and got a 9 the second time, however didn't get as many multiple choice questions right and still got a 690. It might have made the difference at some schools (Waitlist Harvey Mudd for example), but I'd rather blame his application essays.</p>

11

<p>Yeah I got a 7 on the essay, which is pretty much not Harvard material no matter how you cut it :P So I think I will retake</p>

<p>I too did well on the PSAT, got a 76...lol</p>

12

<p>My son only took the sat 1 time. He got a 2290 and 11 on the essay. He was accepted and is attending Harvard now. He was content with his score and figured that college adcoms should be happy with that score as well. He wasn't going to stress about it.</p>

13

<p>A 2290 is 99+ percentile, he better be happy with it :P</p>

14

<p>This question was asked and answered (twice, actually) at a Harvard information session I attended on the Harvard campus in February. Harvard will not dis you if you retake the SAT to get a higher score, as a general rule. On the other hand, once your score is decent--and a 2260 is quite decent, especially from early in your junior year--you might think about what else you can do to show what you're ready for once you reach college. Test-taking shouldn't be your EC. </p>

<p>The general answer appears below, but it should NOT be taken as specific advice about your situation. How else can you challenge yourself as you apply this year to various colleges? </p>

<p>Good luck on your applications. FAQ below for onlookers: </p>

<p>ONE-TIME TEST-TAKING </p>

<p>Colleges have given up trying to distinguish one-time test-takers from two-time or three-time or even four-time test-takers, because that wasn't useful information to the colleges. There are a number of reasons for that. </p>

<p>1) The colleges have utterly no way of knowing who spends all his free time practicing taking standardized tests and who takes them "cold." </p>

<p>2) The colleges are well aware that students who have actually taken the tests sometimes cancel scores, so they have little incentive to give students bonus consideration if the students submit only one test score. </p>

<p>3) The colleges are aware that students who take the admission tests at middle-school age, who are numerous, do not have their earlier test scores submitted by default. </p>

<p>SAT</a> Younger than 13 </p>

<p>Hoagies</a>' Gifted: Talent Search Programs </p>

<p>Duke</a> TIP - Interpreting SAT and ACT Scores for 7th Grade Students </p>

<p>4) Colleges are aware that the majority of students who take the SAT at all take it more than once. </p>

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

<p>5) Colleges are in the business of helping students learn, and they don't mind students taking efforts to improve their scores. They know that students prepare for tests. </p>

<p>From the New York Times: "Although coaching would no doubt continue if subject tests replaced the SAT, at least students would be focused on content as much as test-taking strategies, Mr. Murray said. There would also be pressure to improve local high school curriculums so that students were prepared, he wrote.</p>

<p>"These arguments make sense to Mr. Fitzsimmons [dean of admission at Harvard], who said, 'People are going to prepare anyway, so they might as well study chemistry or biology.' He added that 'the idea of putting more emphasis on the subject tests is of great interest' to his group." </p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/education/19sat.html?pagewanted=print%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/education/19sat.html?pagewanted=print&lt;/a> </p>

<p>6) And now the College Board is back in the business of letting students choose which test scores to send into colleges, </p>

<p>New</a> SAT Score-Reporting Policy </p>

<p>so now there is less reason than ever to suppose that colleges care how many times you take the test, because the colleges have no way to know how many times you took the test officially. </p>

<p>Colleges treat applicants uniformly now by considering their highest scores, period. </p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/349391-retake-how-many-times-take-sat-act.html#post4198038%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/349391-retake-how-many-times-take-sat-act.html#post4198038&lt;/a> </p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0708_GuideApplying.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0708_GuideApplying.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>From the Harvard admission office: "If you submit more than one set of scores for any of the required tests, the Admissions Committee considers only your best scores--even if your strongest SAT Subject Tests or portions of the SAT Reasoning Test were taken on different dates."</p>

15

<p>I suggest that you take the ACT instead, and let your SAT stand. If you are not happy with your ACT score, take that one again. (If my memory is correct, you can decide which ACT score to submit after the fact.) I think it is best not to give the impression that you are obsessed with test scores. I think it might be better to spend your Saturday working in a hospital or a homeless shelter, writing a poem, or doing something else you care about. I know that a few examples do not make a rule, but of my D's friends with perfect stats who were most disappointed with their admissions outcomes, many took the SAT multiple times. Maybe just a coincidence...</p>