Hello! I took the SAT for the first time and because I had passport issues, I didn’t think I was going to sit for the SATs (I’m an international applicant and you need a passport as identification proof), so I barely got a week to prepare and I also had my A Level (UK board) examinations at that time. My composite score was 1560 but my essay was a 6/6/6. Since I’m aiming for top schools like the Ivies, MIT, Caltech, and Berkeley, I was wondering whether it would actually be beneficial if I retook the SATs especially to improve my essay scores.
Hey I don’t have an answer but I just made a post in a different section of the forum, I got a 1560 too but my essay was a 5/5/5. Curious to see what responses you get. I’m US though, not international. Also probably applying to similar schools as you.
I feel like MIT is fine because they’re so holistic about admissions, not sure about Caltech though… Berkeley isn’t nearly as hard to get into as Ivies/MIT/Caltech but I know that admissions for international students are really tough.
That is a good enough score for any school. Don’t waste your time unless writing is critical for your intended major.
You are fine. You are done. Relax. I am a test prep tutor. I would never advise a student of mine to retake for any reason with scores like that.
It’s out of 8/8/8, so 6s are fine. No one cares about those anyway. So you got a 1560: hooray!!
hey, same thing happened to me this time on my May SAT!!
For the December SAT I took, I got a
Composite: 1420 (English: 640, Math: 780), Essay: 8-8-8 (24)
But for the May one, I got a
Composite: 1480 (English: 730, Math: 750), Essay: 6-5-6 (17)
I was extremely happy to have a 1510 as my superscore, but I soon thought that my low essay score might be a problem now.
However, after reaching out to some of my “bright” friends, I concluded that the Collegeboard has changed its essay grading system, or whatsoever, but the average essay score has dropped significantly on the May test. (One of my friends who got a 23 on the essay before scored a 15 this time around)
I would say don’t worry too much about the essay score, because it seems to me that the essay score doesn’t really mean that much (i mean just look at my change in essay scores! I am using statistics to appeal to logos… lol)
Congrats on job well done and don’t worry about your essay score!