Should I retake a 1530 on the SAT? 750 EBRW 780 M 23 essay which is weird bc normally I score higher on english than math.
My strict asian parents want me to retake bc they’re like “oh if you’re better at english then your score is likely to go up” plus I’m planning on applying to top tiers as an English major.
But I’m not sure if anything higher than a 1530 is likely to help an unhooked applicant to ivies and also it’s gonna be second semester junior year and I’m already dying in the workload both at school and with ECs
Unless you think your score would go up without doing any more studying, IMO it’s not worth the effort. You’re already in the top tier and if you’re not admitted it won’t be because your 1530 was too low.
If anything, it would instead be worthwhile to spend that time you would have spent studying for and taking the SAT again doing some unique and interesting things that will differentiate you from the thousands of other high-scoring applicants that only do the stereotypical ECs.
For example, you mention that you’re Asian. If your ECs are playing the violin and math competitions, that’s a tough crowd to differentiate yourself in because there are so many other similar applicants. You’ve still got time to explore and try new, interesting things that will be different than the other 1600 SAT Concertmasters.
IMO, instead of re-taking the SAT, you should concentrate on doing well on the subject tests. English should be one of the subject tests if that is what you plan on majoring in.
I was told this by a Princeton admissions officer: “A 1530 is not any different from a 1550, and a 1550 is no different from a 1600.” Essentially, your score is not a set-in-stone thing, but rather there is a score range. Colleges aren’t going to look at a 1530 and think that you’re worse than a student with a higher score.
Colleges want to see that you’re at a high level, and a 1530 definitely demonstrates that.
What major? What subject tests? What AP exams? Likely you don’t need to retake, but what does your other test history look like? Stanford actually does admit students with perfect scores (particularly CR/W) at a higher rate than those without, but most schools don’t.
Pretty sure every school admits 1600s at the highest rate of any score but that’s because those students are more likely to be exceptional in other regards too.