<p>Okay, so I took the SAT in March for the first time. I'm a junior going for National Merit Scholar next year. I got a 2150 composite, 670 writing, 680 reading, 800 math. I only got a 6 on my essay.. I read up on the perfect essay and blah blah blah for weeks leading up to it, and the one thing everyone said was that time goes fast. Well it does. D: I definitely know I can do better on the writing. Math.. Well I'm happy with that. And reading is a little under what I wanted. Should I retake? I got a 34 on the ACT my freshman year, which I think equates to something higher than a 2150.. I feel like my overall score is high enough, but is having a 6 on the essay and two scores under 700 going to hurt me in any way? For right now let's just say simply for national merit, not college admissions. I don't think I'm going Ivy league. Retake? Eh? It's a long test but I'd do it again if it's gonna be worth my $60. Thanks folks. :)</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure national merit is only recognizable by the PSAT not the SAT.</p>
<p>Dont quote me on this though.</p>
<p>tacobff is right … national merit qualification is through the junior year PSAT only.</p>
<p>Did you take the PSAT? If you’re a junior you should have taken the PSAT in October in order to possibly qualify for National Merit. The PSAT cutoff score for National Merit depends on the state in which you live. Your SAT score is very good, especially the math section. Depending on where you decide to apply, you may want to take it again, but you’re probably fine if choose not to.</p>
<p>hcrawford26: I don’t think the other people in this thread have any idea what you’re asking. :-)</p>
<p>If the SAT score is solely being used to “confirm” your PSAT/NMSQT, I wouldn’t even bother taking the test again. 2150 is good enough. In past years, an “adjusted SAT” NMSQT confirmation score needed to be higher than 1960. Instead of taking the SAT again, spend that $60 on a nice meal. Seriously. :-)</p>
<p>Here’s a brief explanation of the “adjusted SAT” score…
Your SAT Writing score is recalculated by the NMS offices to exclude the essay score. (Recall that the PSAT lacks the essay.) Essentially, the two-digit multiple-choice score is multiplied by 10 to generate a pseudo-SAT score lacking the essay score. This is the number that is added to your CR and M scores to generate your “adjusted SAT” score, which probably needs to be higher than 1960. FWIW, the cut-off for the SAT confirmation score is subject to change from year to year, so it could be slightly lower/higher for you. Since you scored a “6” on the essay, your Writing score will actually go up (probably 40 or 50 points). Thus, your SAT confirmation score will be right around 2200. That’s good enough.</p>
<p>Feel free to confirm all of this info with the NMS offices directly. Call them up. They’ll be happy to answer your questions.</p>
<p>Reading between the lines…you probably took the ACT one more time after freshman year and scored a “35” or “36.” Combined with a strong high school GPA and solid extracurricular activities, those standardized test scores are certainly good enough to get you into the vast majority of schools. Good luck with the college admissions process next fall.</p>
<p>Hope this helps…</p>
<p>Thank you, Bartleby007! Yes, I should have said that it was to confirm the score, not to qualify. Right now I’m only assuming I qualified since that isn’t released until September of this year. I will probably give them a call within the next two weeks. :)</p>
<p>Bartleby is correct. For National Merit, you just need 1960+ for confirmation. So you are done for that purpose. On the other hand, it seems you performed better with ACT even in freshmen year. You did not say if you have retaken ACT afterward, but I think you should after some practice to refresh your memory. 34 is a great score but you are likely to get even better score now. Having 35 or 36 would definitely further improve your chances in school applications and merit based aids. Also, take the ACT with writing as some schools may require that.</p>
<p>What is your PSAT score and which state? If you are at least a few points above the state’s historical high, you are pretty sure in…</p>
<p>Sent from my NookColor using CC</p>
<p>To become a NMF, one must meet the PSAT cutoff, has a <em>corresponding</em> SAT score (which in many cases > 1960, like others suggested), and good HS course grades. There were reported that one or two "C"s in your transcript may cost you the NMF status. Check out the NM thread. There are tons of useful information, including those colleges with great scholarships for NMF. However, if your target colleges do not honor NMF, like may private U and UC (CA), the money you received from NM will practically does not help your FA (assuming you apply for FA), since like other scholarships you awarded, the money will be used to cover the college’s grant and other loans first.</p>
<p>Your SAT score is fine. A 2200+ give you a better position (my opinion). SAT can superscore, but not ACT. </p>
<p>My D is a NMF with 2190 SAT (2270 superscore), ACT 33. Just complete all her college admissions. I am more than happy to share my recent experience.</p>
<p>Just a small correction from the above poster. There is a short list of schools that would do some sort of ACT superscoring.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I am going to retake it June 1 for peace of mind more than anything else, but I feel much better about the NMF qualification part after this. Billcsho, my PSAT was 205 sophomore year, 218 junior, and I’m in Iowa. It’s high enough above the past cutoffs that I’m not worried about making semifinalist. I have been hearing from many people that I should retake the ACT lately… I likely will!</p>
<p>Hi, yes I agree with other posters that your SAT score is high enough to confirm your PSAT score. in fact, it’s quite close. You should be fine on that end. Good luck with your college search. I’m sure you’ll have lots of options and congrats on strong PSAT and SAT scores 
And I wanted to add retaking the SAT, or as other people noted, retake the ACT might be a good idea for merit aid purposes. Totally depends on where you want to go but I’d say a higher score may help with more merit aid. It also sounds like ACT may be test to focus on given your strong aptitude in math. Your scores across the board are great already so I’d say look into schools of interest, see what scores are best for merit aid, and make your decision about retaking from there. SAT subject tests can be helpful too, depending on where you plan to apply.</p>