My son (2019) got an 800 on math and 700 on verbal. He’ll need to retake. He felt that the reading section on the actual test did not feel very similar to the practice tests he took. He’s just trying to figure out when the best time to retest will be.
So, I’ve not been able to tell whether those that thought it was hard did more poorly than they had hoped, those that thought it was easy did well, or a mix. Can those that thought it was “easy” identify whether you did better than hoped, worse, about as expected? Same for those who thought it was “hard”? P.S.: our son thought it was the hardest he had ever taken (one actual and multiple practice), but he had three AP exams today and either did not check his score this morning or got the results and did not tell us because he didn’t like them!
And, by the way, congrats on these scores. They seem very, very good. And to those of you who don’t like your scores, keep your head up, keep trying, and good luck!
For those who care about the scaling,
790 on Math (2 wrong)
630 on English (17 wrong for Reading, 7 wrong for Writing)
My son got 5 wrong on math and scored a 760, so the previous poster must be misreading the results.
@aidanrockne S19 thought all of the test was easier than he thought it would be. Take this for what it is though because he studied about ten hours a week for eight weeks this summer. And his last practice test score was very close to his Aug score- just a little bit higher on the Aug test versus the practice one he took two weeks prior to the test. I am not sure that this test was “easier”. I just think maybe he was well prepared. I think he mentally prepared himself that the test would be hard so, when he felt good about it afterwards, he declared it “easier than he thought it would be.”
I got a 1390 but I wanted a 1400…is it worth it to retake? I mean I don’t mind my score now but I heard that at some schools that it is a huge difference to have a 1390 vs a 1400. So advice?
Also I got my essay scores back…I thought that was supposed to be released later?
@ Center my S missed 4 and still got 770. May be something wrong at your scores. pls check again.
@jellyjam123 they always say that but it never applies for me! I always get the essay the same day. Odd.
Is a 6/5/6 on the essay decent? I know it’s not as important as the other sections but still…
@aidanrockne My essay score wasn’t the greatest, but I did pretty well and I thought the test wasn’t too hard after I took it. (1570- 770R [4wrong R, 1wrong W], 800M) I think I was getting psyched out because of how a lot of people said the reading was really tough and a couple harder questions in the math sections.
I am also wondering about the 6/5/6. Will it matter a lot to admission officers, especially since I got a 2 on the analysis on a past SAT?
@Paintbrush keep your essay score as is so I can still have something that I surpassed you on. 6/5/7 for me but 140 points less on Reading & Writing and 10 points less on Math. Your call of course but to make me feel good no more. 
@jellyjam123 no do not retake
@homerdog and @crazy43 yes I misunderstood. Same as Crazy43 kids. And @homerdog I dont feel SO disappointed because we werent even planning on the SAT this summer. We signed up in July and my son studied for 3 weeks 45 minutes a day about 5 days a week. My son took 3 practice tests. Ugh If only we had started in June…
I understand that College Board releases different test forms, meaning they change up the order of the questions, at each site. But do you think they use the same test overall across the U.S.? Do you they ever use more than one test on a particular day?
Just wondering, how rare is a 24 on the essay? I got 1560 (800 M 760 R) and 23 on essay. I go to school with a lot of smart people, but only one other person got a 23 on the essay. We had several perfect scores in our grade (2 or 3) but they all got under 20. A lot of the conventionally good writers bombed it. Is the essay grading really this hard?
@jellyjam123
Depending on what college you are applying to, retaking it would be good. For example, Ivy Leagues usually want scores higher than 1500 (averages range from 1500-1600) but would consider something in the 1400s if the rest of your application is very strong.
@PleaseAcceptM3
I would assume it’s very rare, my senior class has about 120 students and I am one of the best, if not the strongest writer in my class, and I scored a 21 on my first SAT (7-7-7) and a disappointing 19 (7-5-7) on the August one. The essay questions on the SAT are really simple compared to AP Lang and AP Lit when it comes to analysis and I usually have a hard time actually finding any good content to analyze.
the schools dont care about the essay
How important are the subscores? If my child got the same score on R/W for the June and August tests, but the subscores are quite different, do I want to send in both test scores? Specifically, he got a 37 in Reading on the first test and a 33 in Reading on the second test.