Retake? (Superscore: 2170, would be 4th time, applying to selective)

Applying to College
1

<p>The basic rundown is that I've taken the SAT 3 times and have only managed to get a superscore of 2170 (CR 700; M 730; W 740). I'm applying to the following schools:</p>

<p>Duke
UPenn
JHU
WUSTL
Vanderbilt
U of Chicago
Harvard
Stanford</p>

<p>Some have scorechoice, some don't. Is it in my best interest to retake the SAT for a 2200+ (I know I can do it.) It would be my 4th time and it seems that most people advise AGAINST taking it a 4th time. All things set aside, I'm in the 50% of all my schools, but I feel that, as an Asian, I'm at disadvantage if I can't get my standardized test scores up to at least 2200+...</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

2

<p>Do you really believe you’ll do significantly better?</p>

<p>What will you have to do to score higher?</p>

<p>Could the time you’ll be using to study be better used for something else in the college admissions process? (eg: essay writing)</p>

<p>Do you want to retake? (I’ve found that if someone is at the point where s/he is asking the internet, s/he probably doesn’t want to)</p>

<p>If you don’t want to, does your belief in the necessity of a higher score outweigh your lack of desire?</p>

3

<p>1) Yes.
2) Study more; Learn where I make mistakes and take note of it.
3) Probably – But it seems standardized test scores take a lot of weight as well.
4) Yes, I do want to retake it.</p>

<p>It just seems to me that people believe that adcoms discourage more than 3 times of SAT-taking.</p>

4

<p>^ Yeah, they do, but I think most of that comes from the fact that statistically, scores do level off after the third time around.</p>

<p>Even if adcoms do look down a bit on a 4th sitting, the positive effect of getting a much higher score, say a 2300+, will vastly outweigh that.
Also, only 3 of your schools (I think) don’t accept score choice. So, especially if you happen to like the score choice accepting schools more than the others, you have little reason to not go ahead and retake. And again, even if you like Duke, Stanford, and Vandy more, getting a significantly higher score will definitely outweigh whatever “points” you’ll get off for another sitting.</p>

5

<p>How much have your scores changed over the previous three sittings? Are you saying you haven’t studied for the SATs in the past? </p>

<p>At some point the law of diminishing returns takes a strangle hold on the process. Personally I think it’s pointless to attempt a 4th sitting if you’re only hoping to get a bit over the 2200 level, especially if you’ve studied and prepped in the past.</p>

<p>The risk you run is that even if you do improve your score to say 2240, an adcom may look at the fact that it took 4 tries and that your improvement wasn’t so much academically based as it was the result of familiarity with the testing process. Given the schools on your list I think your time would be better spent honing your essays. But, if you are worried that you will forever second guess whether an extra 40 - 50 SAT points would have made the difference at some of these schools, then go ahead and take the test again.</p>

6

<p>What about mixing it up? Try the ACT. My D was 2210 on SAT in 11th, but a 34on ACT in the summer. Some do better on one than the other. AND…some schools accept JUST the ACT (with writing) whereas they require SAT IIs if you submit the SAT I. SOME schools, I didn’t research yours.</p>