<p>Given that son has yet to do one school visit, I enjoy living vicariously and hearing about everyone else’s visits. Son did get his SAT results this week and they were good enough that it looks like he’s one and done. And he even expressed an interest in a college today. So that’s progress. But I think it’s going to be a long year.</p>
<p>Btw, what is Naviance? And how do I find out if my son’s school has it?</p>
<p>Naviance is a website that helps students and parents “research, track, and plan for the college admission process. Naviance provides on-line college search…” I had to get that off their website to explain what it is. Our hs uses it to send emails to all its students and parents get copies, a great thing since my kids don’t read their school emails (infuriating!). You can ask the school if they have it, since they’re the ones who assign temporary usernames/password to get you started.</p>
<p>My son looks like he’s one and done also, but I can remember reading somewhere that some schools will take the highest Math/CR/Writing scores from each SAT taken. If that’s the case, I wonder if he should take the October SAT?</p>
<p>Naviance provides (in scattergram form) data on the stats (GPA and SAT scores) previous classes from your HS had if accepted to a college. I believe it only provides data if 5 or more students where accepted at a particular college. Very useful info when trying to detemine reach/safety/match for various colleges.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>While you do need to check each college, most do superscore and take the highest for each section.</p>
<p>Thanks, entomom. I was disappointed with his Writing score, which is silly of me, I know. It’s just that he always scored between a 710 and 760 on his practice SATs and got a 690 on the actual SAT. That’s just decent for Brown, Stanford and some of the other schools he’s thinking of.</p>
<p>I hate to be a test hound, but from what I’ve seen, it might be good to get over the 700 barrier for all sections for that level school. Please no flames, sure there are kids who get in without sky high test scores, but if they really want to be on par for the very selective schools, I think a student needs to make reasonable efforts, and I’d consider a 2nd retake reasonable, to be a competitive candidate. Actually, the more results I look at and the more I hear, I think test scores, gpa and class rank are considered much more than many schools that profess “holistic” admissions are willing to admit. A good friend said that her Ss decision letter from USC stated (sorry I can’t remember the exact language) that they accepted kids from the SAT 97th percentile range. Now, even if that’s their 50% SAT mark, 97th percentile is equivalent to a CR:720 M:740 W:720, and USC is definitely not one of the most selective schools in the country.</p>
<p>Remember, I’m not saying that this is good, and I’m not saying that having top statistics is enough to get into selective school, it’s just what I think I’m seeing these days.</p>
<p>entomom: I have to completely agree with you ^^^^. Also, one shouldn’t worry about retaking the SATs and having a score drop in any section. Thanks to Super Scoring, which seems to be used by most colleges, only the best scores from all combined sittings will be considered. “One and done” would be fabulous, but the benefits of another Saturday morning spent taking the SAT certainly outweigh the inconvenience if there is a section that realistically really could be significantly better.
My daughter recently took the SAT for the second time. Although 2 sections dropped, one section went up 20 points. That is all we cared about - the 2 sections that dropped don’t matter as her previous higher scores on those 2 sections are the ones that will be considered by the colleges she applies to.
I can’t believe we are really all in the process now, and are the next academic class in line for all this … !!!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>At least for the last academic year, the 98th percentile was around a 2140 single sitting. Although what USC wants is quite high (but it gets enough applicants to have those standards), it’s not as high as you put it.</p>
<p>nynymom, there are some high schools where you can see Naviance results even though you’re not a parent at the school. Here’s an old CC post with lots of Naviance links: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4195580-post55.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4195580-post55.html</a>. Keep in mind that schools differ, and GPAs and school reputation vary. Your own child’s school may be more rigorous (or easy) than these high schools, and admissions results from these schools will vary from our own children’s schools. </p>
<p>Though D1 initially loved the idea of one and done, she may well end up with two ACT sittings and two SAT I sittings :eek: This sounds insane, but every step has felt like the right thing to do. </p>
<p>She started out taking the ACT earlier her junior year, as she’d taken that in 8th grade and felt comfortable with it. This was her first experience with the long test with writing, and she felt herself flagging towards the end. Her subscores reflected that: later sections had lower scores. She then figured she’d take the April sitting, when she’d know what to expect for test length and be able to bring up her lower scores. </p>
<p>Then PSAT scores came out, and it was clear that D1 would make NMSF. Students need to take the SAT to “confirm” their PSAT result, so D1 took the SAT in March. For NMSF purposes, she’s done, but she now feels more confident about the SAT and thinks she can bring up her Math/CR combo score if she sits the test in October. She was also feeling ill during the SAT, so a score increase is certainly possible. I suggested she wait to see how she does on the April ACT.</p>
<p>My conclusion: superscoring and the widespread use of the ACT has been a financial boon to the testing industry :)</p>
<p>SS, Since USC superscores, I took the lower end of the 97th percentile scores linked to here:</p>
<p>[SAT</a> Data Tables](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/sat/data-tables]SAT”>SAT Suite of Assessments - College Board Research)</p>
<p>ST, I can’t agree more. My philosophy for testing is: as much as necessary and as little as possible.</p>
<p>entomom, you’re not anywhere near the test hound that a lot of posters on this site are. I probably should stay away from threads other than this one, but there’s a serious debate going on in a thread in the SAT Preparation forum as to whether it’s advisable to retake a 2360. Seriously! <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/895986-retake-2360-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/895986-retake-2360-a.html</a></p>
<p>I’ve been trying to do some research on this, and it seems that, in NYC anyway, students aiming for the top schools like Stanford or Brown almost invariably take the SAT at least twice and often more than that. So the threshold for going one and done is extremely high. I concluded (though I’m starting to question even this in light of threads like the one I linked above) that if the results were in the upper half of the middle 50% range of the top schools on all three sections, that should be enough. For example, the middle 50% range at Stanford is 660-760 on CR, 680-780 on M and 670-760 on W. (Harvard is even higher - 690-780 CR, 690-790 M, 690-780 W.) I was actually assuming that my son would take the SAT at least one more time, but he did better on the first try than I ever imagined - putting him above the midpoint in these ranges on all three sections. Still, we have our first session with his college counselor this month, and I think I’d better ask for his advice on a retake. </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, with respect to KatCh614’s son, if my son had come in under 700 on any of the sections, particularly given that he was scoring higher on the practice exams, I’d suggest trying it one more time. I know that seems a little crazy given that 690 is a great score - 95th percentile - but if you’re aiming for the top schools, it seems to be a little on the low side. (Then again, maybe I’ve just been hanging out here too much.)</p>
<p>SlitheyTove - thanks for the links. Looks like an interesting tool. I’ll have to ask son’s college counselor if his school has it. entomom, re USC - they may have been referring to 97th percentile on the composite score, which would be a 2100. <a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat_percentile_ranks_composite_cr_m_w.pdf[/url]”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board;
<p>Nynyparent, if one’s personal expectations were not met with a 2360, I see no reason to not retake it. I personally retook a 2370 from January this March.</p>
<p>And every school’s middle 50% SAT range should be taken with a grain of salt IMHO. Especially for schools like Stanford and Harvard, I don’t think a score under 2200 without a significant hook or notable circumstances can be considered competitive.</p>
<p>Jersey13, first of all, congratulations on your March 2400. That’s quite an accomplishment.</p>
<p>I am curious, though, as to why you decided to retake a 2370. Did you think it would improve your chances of admission? I think most parents would be quite skeptical about that. Or was it more of a personal challenge? While I would never recommend retaking after getting a score that high, I’m not critical of you or anyone else who chooses to do so. Just curious about the motivation. </p>
<p>As for my son, he has no interest in taking the test again if he doesn’t have to. He’s north of the 2200 you mentioned. But I now have enough doubt that, as I mentioned, I do plan to ask his college counselor for advice on this.</p>
<p>I received a 770M in January and I considered the Math section the easiest of the three for the SAT. Knowing that I had made a careless mistake and had prepared well enough to score a 2400, I decided to retake it in March. I definitely had college admissions in mind in my decision to retake, but it was primarily a personal goal/challenge. </p>
<p>Also, while I’m not under any illusion that a 2400 is a golden ticket into any college, I actually do believe that a higher score on the SAT, regardless of previous score, is beneficial to a small degree to my eventual chances of admissions. If you care to look it up, another CC member, mifune, posted a study of the non-linear correlation between the highest echelons of test scores and college admissions which actually suggested an exponential increase in chances for the highest scores. The study can be taken with a grain of salt but I think it dispels some popular beliefs that all elite colleges have certain “cutoffs” where any score higher is treated equal.</p>
<p>Just back from a four college visit in North Carolina. Unlike some posters on this thread, my son is a solid B student with average SAT’s, so we’re not looking at the name brand colleges.</p>
<p>We visited High Point, Elon, Guilford and Queens University of Charlotte. On the way back we stopped and had dinner with my son who is a senior at Roanoke College in Salem, VA. We found all the colleges interesting in their own way but the one college that we all liked (surprise!) was Guilford. We went with my SIL and her daughter, also a junior. We’re on a hunt for fit and merit aid!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>True, I can’t remember my friend’s exact wording, I’ll have to ask her the next time I talk to her.</p>
<p>Regarding superscoring of the SAT, I believe Penn State (or was it UW-Madison) told us during an info session last summer that they do not superscore, they will take your highest score from one sitting. My understanding is that more colleges consider M and CR than W.</p>
<p>Mamom, you are right. PSU does not superscore.</p>
<p>If there are any Texas residents here, the TEA has announced that Texas juniors (in public or charter schools) will be able to take the ACT and SAT free for the April through June tests. Information is on the TEA website, the College Board website, and the ACT website.</p>
<p>I’m new at posting. Might as well jump in now that my D took her first SAT’s- 2220 and is aiming for some selective schools. </p>
<p>I understand that writing is important. Some top schools actually read the SAT essay. It could be to compare the voice and quality with application essays and see if it’s plausible the same person wrote them. I wonder how much they evaluate the overall quality, given the time pressure the student is under.</p>
<p>So D experienced a disaster with her essay. We thought she was prepared, having a “bank” of examples in her mind. Despite having practiced with a timer, she was thrown off in the actual test while composing the first part of the essay. With five minutes left she had 3 paragraphs to go. Needless to say the result was poor. She only got an 8 out of 12. Normally she’s a much better writer. Amazingly she still got a 770 in writing-she must have gotten every other writing question correct. So of course she is taking it again, specifically because she knows she can do better on the essay. </p>
<p>Any other thoughts about the SAT essay?</p>