I took the SAT subjects yesterday, and while I felt really good about my Biology-M exam, my Math II exam felt really shaky. I skipped a lot of problems and I really don’t think I did well. I know this won’t help my chances of getting into my top schools, but what if I retake them? If I get a 500 on Math II, but then study a lot over the summer and get a score of 700 or more in the fall, will colleges be happy to see this improvement, or will they be turned off by the initial low score?
It depends. Check to see if colleges allow Score Choice. This allows you to send specific scores. If you’re planning on Ivy, I know Yale doesn’t allow this (so Score Choice is pretty much useless here), but other schools do.
I think it’s a mix. Colleges say that they’ll consider the highest score only, but that doesn’t mean it can impact their reviews negatively.
If you’re sure you can get a 700+ then go for it, because that score is better than a 500 in the end.