SAT and superscoring

Most of the colleges I will apply to allow superscore, but some like UC don’t. Because I got a good score on the main section but not on the essay section, I’m planning to take it again, but not revise for the math/RW and instead just focus on the essay.

For the colleges that want all scores: does it look bad when you clearly take a second time just for the superscore?

If you are going to take the test, plan to prepare for all sections and try to do well on all sections.

Not sure what you mean by “not revise” for the math and reading sections but be aware you cannot skip those sections in the test; if you fail to do a section, College Board will just cancel your test. If you do the sections half-heartedly and score much lower than before on the math or reading/writing sections two things can happen: (a) College Board may conclude there is possible cheating on prior tests and begin an investigation that would both delay getting the scores and risk having prior tests cancelled; and (b) though colleges do not consider lower scores against you when they superscore, that usual rule does not prevent them from holding against you the fact that it appears you decided to blow off two sections of the test if the scores are very low.

Moreover, I am not sure what your intent is with the UCs which do not superscore and require the essay section. If you think you need a better essay score then you also need to do well on the math and r/w sections to have the upcoming test used by the UCs.

When I mean “not revise” it means “not study for.” I will still do the questions but I won’t prepare for them like I did previously. (Dictionary: revise means, reread work done previously to improve one’s knowledge of a subject, typically to prepare for an examination.)

And with regard to the UCs: does this mean there is a minimum bar for you to send a test to the UC?

No, but your strategy is bad. If you retake, and your EBRW+M is lower,but your essay is higher, you just flushed money down the drain. UCs don’t superscore, so they will take the essay score attached to your best EBRW+M.

Ah, the British definition of revise. It is not used liked that in the US. The US and United Kingdom are two friendly nations severely divided by a common language. As to the UCs, there is no minimum bar. I just pointed that out because you seem to feel your essay score is mediocre and if you also want to improve it for the UCs, you need to get a higher composite score overall for the new test if you want it to be used by the UCs.

Ah no, it appears there’s some confusion here; for colleges like MIT or the like, I want to superscore my upcoming essay with the previous sitting’s Math/RW, but I’m not sure how UCs will see this, does it look bad or such.

Which colleges are “the like?” More to the point, which of “the like” require essay and also superscore? MIT does not require the SAT with essay, so again, your strategy does apply to them, since you’re assuming your second EBRW+M will be lower.

But let’s assume that you have colleges that require essay and superscore. Then those colleges will superscore, and the ones that don’t will just disregard what they are not going to use. But no, taking it again does not look “bad.”

It’s ridiculous to retake the SAT again cz you already have high score on math and reading section. If you had higher pressure if you retake the SAT cz the score may lower than last time you took. Also the essay is not quite importance for most of the colleges in US. I got low score on essay but still get the offer for top 50 college in US. If you want to go to higher ranking like top 10 I do recommend it to retakes. it depends on your goal.