<p>I brought my score up from a 1900 to a 2230. I know colleges say the only look at the highest score, but do you think that my previous score will still stand out to adcoms? I feel like they might think I cheated or something. When in reality, I was feeling bad the first time I took the test plus I studied a lot the second time around. Both factors contributed to such a big jump.</p>
<p>while they may not suspect cheating, I believe that it is like a driving record. Your record is not clean if you have even 1 violation from 10 years ago...
Sorry to be so depressing, but I assume you are a junior, and having just gone through th application process as a senior, I have a rather cynical view of the process :)</p>
<p>My brother increased from 1900 to 2220, and he got into Yale. It won't hurt you most likely.</p>
<p>No, they won't expect you to have cheated. They probably see many times a person go from a low score to a high score. Collegeboard says the most common times that people take the SAT is the spring of junior year and the fall of senior year. The person takes it in the spring, sucks at it, studies over the summer, and gets a good score in the fall. Very normal (at least at the top colleges, I suspect).</p>
<p>i feel more relieved after what kyledavid80 said :). any more inputs?</p>
<p>More than likely not... They will think you studied alot and did much better, and it's very hard to cheat on the SAT(at least where I took it)</p>
<p>Don't worry, it won't hurt your chances.</p>
<p>i went from 1500 (PSAT i took it as a junior) to 1800 (SAT june (?) 2006) to 2100 (SAT october 2006) </p>
<p>study!!!!!!
i got into many schools, but going to bowdoin !!! woot</p>
<p>"while they may not suspect cheating, I believe that it is like a driving record. Your record is not clean if you have even 1 violation from 10 years ago...
Sorry to be so depressing, but I assume you are a junior, and having just gone through th application process as a senior, I have a rather cynical view of the process"</p>
<p>Um.. what? His record IS clean. There is no record of cheating. Yes, he didn't get the highest score the first time around .. that doesn't mean it's some sort of violation on his record.</p>
<p>Geez.</p>
<p>haha i like you murkywater. thanks everyone, very encouraging. :)</p>
<p>Ahaha. Sometimes I'm tactless on this messageboard. :P</p>
<p>By the way bulldogdreams, what were some of the books and strategies you used to raise your score? I'm hoping to hit at least 2200+ in October. Any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Also, I'd add: I've heard that many colleges view the first take of the SAT to be another practice SAT -- the real thing (unlike the whimpy PSAT =p).</p>
<p>the thing is i think it depends where you made the jump. If you make a jump from say, 1900 to almost 2200 say its not entirely within someone's reach; as you get to that point theres the whole aspect of diminishing returns. Jumps from lower to higher scores i think should be expected as one learns the "game" of how to take the SAT</p>
<p>The only book I used was the Collegeboard's official book; I'd reccommend avoiding other books because their questions aren't the real deal. My advice isn't really profound: practice practice practice. Take as many practice tests as you can. If you go to sparknotes they have good practice tests which are based off of real SAT questiond and of course use the practice tests in the Collegeboard's book. I also made a list of every new word that I encountered while taking practice tests/ studying for the SAT or while reading random articles.</p>
<p>if i saw that i'd be pretty impressed. Even if the 1st sitting was a bad day for you, it shows you've worked hard and improved well. I dont think anyone would suspect cheating</p>
<p>I know someone who got a 2220 the 1st time he took the SAT. He thought he could improve on it, but the edge wasn't there and maybe he took it lightly - he got a 1960. He was rejected by a couple colleges that you'd have thought would easily accept him based upon a 2220, but then again, the process includes many variables. Much better to go from a 1960 to a 2220. :)</p>