Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere. My daughter scored Math 760, CR 720, Wrting 760. I know colleges don’t care about writing. She wants to apply to very selective schools such as Swarthmore, Oberlin and Carleton. She is in the 99th percentile nationwide for,the March 14 test. Is there any point in taking the test again? She thinks her CR score is a little low. My thought is that at these colleges, everyone has high scores and that 10 or 20 points more isn’t what makes the difference. Honest answers appreciated.
That score, alone, shouldn’t knock her out of contention of most any school. It’s a darn good score.
The only circumstance where I might possibly consider retaking to boost the CR score, is if she’s already satisfied with two of her SAT II scores, and she could retest the SAT I this spring. Otherwise, I wouldn’t want to fuss around with SAT’s this summer and fall when her time would be better spent writing really strong applications.
She has yet to take any SAT 2’s. She is wondering if she should retake SAT 1 in May, and do her SAT 2’s in June. Or the other way around. She is only planning on taking two SAT 2’s though I told her she should just do the ACT, as she will prob do well. She won’t even consider retaking SAT 1 in Sep, and I agree with you re prepping essays, and the common app, etc…
Others have said the expectation is that all kids do the SAT 1 twice. So I guess I want to know is, if she boosts her CR score by say 20 points, does it really matter at that level?
If it were my kid, at this stage in the cycle, I would focus on getting the SAT 2’s knocked out.
What if she takes SAT 1 in May with no improvement, and ACT doesn’t go as well as planned. Then that puts a lot of pressure on the SAT 2’s in June.
I would take SAT 2’s in May and if she gets a low score, she can take again in June, and then, hopefully be done with testing this summer so she can focus on apps. Just my opinion.
If she nails the SAT2’s in May, then do the SAT 1 in June.
Agree^^. Yeah, she should focus on taking the SAT subject tests. Have she seen an improvement on her SAT1 practice tests after the 2240, especially in Reading and Math?
Also there is October test so she has plenty of time.
Thanks all. I will show her this and urge her to sign up for SAT 2 for May.
My son’s college counselor recommended retaking a first time high 2200s score because she feels that it shows willingness to try to improve.
He retook it, but mainly because he felt that two of the sections did not reflect what he was capable of, and felt there was room for improvement. His score went up to high 2300s, so it worked out.
If your daughter’s scores are reflective of her capability based on practice tests and PSAT, and she prepped, I would not be inclined to retake. On the other hand, I hear that seniors in the fall are often at their high school academic prime and sometimes achieve their best scores during this timeframe.
Good luck.
Also, I will add that once you are above 700 on each section, variations in scores often come down to how easy or hard a particular test is. And, there can be an advantage to the superscore when 2 or 3 tests are in the mix. But overall I agree with everyone else that this late in junior year, it’s best to focus on academics and SATII tests and finishing junior year strong.
Those are good points. She felt that she over thought the critical reading section and expected to have the highest score there. Maybe she should retake in Sep, or June if she does well on May SAT 2’s.
@Lindagaf. There is no SAT on sept. She will need to take the test on May, June, and Oct if she wants to apply. Best of luck!
That is a very good score and I don’t think she needs to take it again for those schools. (You could look at the Common Data Sets to see where the scores fall in recent classes). I agree with everyone else that she should focus on her classes, APs and SAT subject tests in May and/or June. If she wants to take some time this summer to focus on vocabulary and take a few practice tests to keep her test taking skills fresh, she can take it again in October. Some people say that those extra few months between the spring of junior year and fall of senior year can result in higher test scores.