<p>My D has been considering retaking the SAT b/c she is not happy with her essay score. Writing is her strength-- she typically scores <em>very</em> well in this area and is looking at applying to schools with creative writing majors/areas of concentration.
Will these scores limit her chances of getting into very competitive schools??(Brown, Columbia and Reed are on the current list of reach schools)</p>
<p>with a 2270, i wouldnt retake it JUST FOR AN ESSAY SCORE. if she does retake it, her essay score could go up, but there is a chance that her high (and more important) scores could go down. and i dont think her 8 essay score will hinder her chances</p>
<p>tell her good luck!</p>
<p>CR+M 1480 is above the 75%ile for Reed, so maybe there is some other reason you consider Reed a reach. Reed will treat her W 790 like the former SAT II writing exam. Considering these scores alone, Reed looks like a match. Reed considers only the highest scores, so retaking is okay if she wants to, but I don't think it would make a difference.</p>
<p>i have a very similar situation. i got a 2250 and i got a 700 in math. i got a 10 on the essay however and --seriously-- 10 pts wont make a difference. </p>
<p>colleges dont care about ur essay.</p>
<p>the only reason i would consider retaking it is for the math section. i got the same on writing and CR</p>
<p>enjoy life woman!</p>
<p>why are parents like u fostring over their kids like back off</p>
<p>IMHO--Your SAT score is strong enough-forget the time and energy being wasted on taking the second sitting--better spent on writing fabulous essays/applications.</p>
<p>I'd retake but not for the essay score.</p>
<p>^^^are you being sarcastic Fred?! N'tlMeritmom please don't tell your daughter to retake. Most colleges do not even glance at your writing score. 1480 is fine. Getting anything higher won't really help. Tell her to do community service,r perform research, or go out and smell the flowers.</p>
<p>I'm not kidding. I think her D's math score could go up to 750+ which is even better than 720.</p>
<p>If you want your daughter to retake, it should be for the math score, not the writing score. It appears that she already pretty much maxed out on the Reading and the Writing (she probably had a perfect MC score) and those scores are fine, as they are.</p>
<p>One thing to note that the SAT Essay is a poor indicator of true literary ability. The best scores on the Essay may be garnered by the most boring type of essays. I took the SAT 3 times and in these three times, none of the six graders gave me anything lower than a 5. My essays, however, were of the most banal variety - 5 paragraphs, introduction, body, conclusion, thesis, topic sentences...there is definitely no creativity at all - but hey, it's what they wanted!</p>
<p>I think if your daughter truly has a literary flourish, it would come across in her application essays anyhow and the adcoms would glance over that essay score.</p>
<p>No need to retake. That's a competitive score for all schools. If she really wants to retake, then do it for the math score...the essay doesn't really count for too much.</p>
<p>Your D should retake to improve the math score and the essay score but that's just me...<em>shudders</em> Don't Hurt me CCer's!</p>
<p>If she wants to retake it go ahead...it's her life and her decision..</p>
<p>I'm sure everyone's tired of seeing me post this, but this was my composite:</p>
<p>800 critical reading
760 math
710 writing (8 essay)
= 2270</p>
<p>and I'm going to Dartmouth (and they liked me enough to give me a "need-based endowed scholarship," too). The SAT is one relatively minor part of the application, and your daughter's score is already excellent; save your worrying for something more important.</p>
<p>...2270 is apparently a very popular score. XD That is what I got as well.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it's a very good score, and I'm very proud of it, and am not going to retake it.</p>
<p>Quite honestly, my counselor told me that right now, because the writing section is so new, schools don't consider it that much. It's always nice to do well on it, but it's not going to hurt you too much if you don't score an 800, and I think CR+M1480 is a lovely score.</p>
<p>Please, OP, your D has a 2270 -- it's a 99th%tile score! Give it a rest. AS a parent, I can safely say that pushing the issue now is not going to generate good results. I know someone with a mid-2300 who retook to raise a 9 essay -- and guess what -- same writing score and essay score again. It is absolutely not worth retaking a 790 it to raise an SAT essay score.</p>
<p>Writing programs will probably disregard the SAT essay score anyway -- they all know that what's assessed on the SAT essays does not comprise the qualities of fine writing. </p>
<p>Her application essays are FAR more important than retaking the SAT at this point. Those are the essays that need to sing -- not the SAT essay. If she's not working on those yet, she should be.</p>
<p>She's probably capable of a 2300, and for some people, a score of 2300 or higher relieves stress -- its a psychological benchmark between safe and risky.</p>
<p>2270 is a great score and should be enough for any school. If I were you I'd retake because I would be certain of at least a 780 on math, which would shoot me up nicely into the midrange of 2300's. If she's not the greatest at math and isn't confident in getting 800, then forget it. Not worth it.</p>