<p>Excellent scores, but no need to waste time nor money with the ACT. Does she need to retest with those scores for admissions, absolutely not. Will a higher CR help with merit aid, maybe. Thus, I suggest retake in March. Most colleges superscore, so it won't matter if M and W go down. The reading passages on the SAT are just luck sometimes in that they are *almost[/] interesting, in contrast to the standard 'boring as all get out'. Your D just might find a couple of passages that hold her interest and enable her to score higher.</p>
<p>Very good advice from Corranged on how to handle the CR section IMO. Just doing a few practice CR sections from the Blue Book will help your d get the hang of this. The key thing is to look over answers and figure out what went wrong with the ones missed. As Bluebayou points out there's little problem if other scores go down. Your d seems to a natural at the SAT so a big drop isn't likely anyway.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the suggestions. She's not inclined to take the ACT (it's very foreign to us in NJ). She has no problem with taking the SAT again, I guess I just need to really believe it doesn't matter if the Math and Writing go down. </p>
<p>Any other suggestions on safeties? She's fine with the south as well as the midwest. I'd prefer east of the Rockies.</p>
<p>When she visits or interviews at schools she can ask directly if schools superscore. Some schools mention it on their websites. They don't mind being asked and it might help her ease her mind about the downside of retesting.</p>
<p>An excellent college in the south, probably a merit-aid safety for her, is Rhodes College in Memphis. Haven't been, but I keep hearing that Memphis is a fun, musical city. And how gorgeous is this campus? Rhodes</a> College | About Rhodes</p>
<p>And the PA rating in USNWR is actually higher than better known NE LACs, such as Lafayette, Bard, and Skidmore. FYI</p>
<p>Same situation here. Your daughter's had the best prep and she can use it. 6 months of maturity will make a difference. Take it again at the end of Jr. year. Counselor suggested to take the ACT too just for the heck of it (since he was so happy and confident) and he got a 36. There's a Presidential Scholarship (from the US Govt) and it's by invitation only to the highest scores in each state. In any case SAT is usually superscored so there's nothing to lose.</p>
<p>We are from the east too where the ACT is "foreign". Don't worry about it, I guess it wasn't foreign enough.</p>
<p>You’re in good company, and I certainly understand the angst. Every year the question over whether or not to re-take relatively high SAT scores comes up. The consensus on CC always seems to be “they’re good enough, move on to other aspects of the app.” Usually it’s followed by the warning that a lower sub-score in one area diminishes the result of a previous higher score. Or try the ACT. All fine advice.</p>
<p>However, I believe Xiggi and Tokenadult have tried to diminish the concern by posting that that a reasonable number of re-takes is really a non-issue for the most part, acknowledging that some universities such as the UCs don’t superscore and only take the highest sitting. I also understand how a lower second score or no net gain on re-take would lead someone to conclude that it was not worth it. </p>
<p>I don’t have much time today to post the links, but also search for Papa Chicken’s statistical analysis on first vs. second sitting scores. I believe they prove some relief on this point, though admittedly anecdotal.</p>
<p>I joined CC over this whole issue of SAT prep and re-taking. We just didn’t know about this stuff, and my S tested cold both times in his Jr. year and had a significant improvement just based on test familiarity. </p>
<p>S scored 2200 on his first sitting with an 800CR. The consensus on CC at the time was that if he re-took and somehow scored lower than his 800CR, it would diminish the impact of the original 800 score. He is a strong math student and felt his score did not indicate his true abilities. The take away lesson is that it was his decision. He re-took with no additional prep and scored another 800CR and an 800M which was much more in line with his abilities. It made him a US Presidential Scholar candidate. </p>
<p>I’ll say it again. I’ve come to the conclusion that the decision to re-take should really reflect an applicant’s satisfaction with each aspect of the application. Second guessing the statistics or how admissions might view additional attempts is the lesser concern in my opinion. Perhaps that helps.</p>
<p>Given that most colleges superscore and it's only fall of junior year, I'd encourage your daughter to take the SAT one more time prepping only for the CR section. I'd go follow the xiggi method using the Real SAT book. His thread is here: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/65632-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html?highlight=xiggi+method%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/65632-xiggis-sat-prep-advice.html?highlight=xiggi+method</a> Lower scores won't hurt her, and higher scores may help - especially with merit money. I don't think you should go overboard with retakes, but twice is perfectly reasonable. My son BTW got 800CR, 760 M, 690W and retook hoping to up the writing score. He did much better on the essay, but less well on the multiple choice and ended up with an identical writing score. CR stayed the same, math went up 10 points. It sure didn't hurt him, but I doubt the 10 points helped him. I think the practice on the essay was good for him, even though I am not fond of the essay component.</p>
<p>PS I think one of the best prep's for the CR section is lots of pleasure reading.</p>
<p>It had been mentioned, but I will mention again. Send official score reports to all the colleges she is considering PRIOR to a retake, and at the time she retakes, do not have scores sent anywhere, not even to your HS if they routinely include the scores on the transcripts. Wait until you personally get/have access to the results. Then, you can pick and chose who gets them after the retake. If CR is better, but M is worse, and a school superscores the best of each, by all means send the new scores. If the CR is better and M is worse, or M and W is worse (and they are now considering W scores) and they do not superscore, and the total is less than before, then don't send. That way you control who gets what. Each time you specify who gets a report, all the prior scores get reported. But if you take a second time and specify no one, one one gets them. Sure, you get 4 reports free only if you designate at the time of the test or within a few days after, and later those 4 will cost you, but it can be a small price to pay to have control over the scores. Send scores over the summer and then plan a retake in Fall of senior year.</p>
<p>sunnyflorida's strategy is very useful if your student is ONLY taking the SAT, not the SAT Subject Tests.</p>
<p>If Subject Tests are also involved, trying to give yourself the option of concealing the last set of scores might turn out to be too complicated.</p>
<p>For example, if your student takes the SAT again in May and then takes Subject Tests in June and November, there would be no way to conceal that May SAT score from schools that also need to receive the Subject Test scores.</p>
<p>I don't think the OP's daughter needs to be worried, anyway. Most colleges consider the highest score obtained on each SAT section, regardless of test dates. Those M and W scores are locked in already.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Any other suggestions on safeties? She's fine with the south as well as the midwest.
[/quote]
Furman seems a good fit.</p>
<p>Hi big boy want to go out sometime</p>
<p>Even the colleges that don't superscore will still take the best single sitting. So I don't see how she can lose even if she were to go down on all the sections. I wouldn't stress about it, she's got great scores. Take the test one more time late junior year or fall senior year and then forget about it.</p>
<p>sunnyflorida's advice is only useful if you believe colleges LIE to you, which I do not believe.</p>