<p>Is anyone re-taking it in October? If so, what scores are youz trying to imrove?</p>
<p>I am lost... Don't know if I should take it the second time. I took the SAT this spring and got 710(m) 740 (v) and 760 (w), and that's in Princeton's range, but not outstandingly perfect. And if I get lower scores, than it will just look bad. Unless I practice really hard to try to improve, but won't it seem like perfectionism then?</p>
<p>hi Nelle,</p>
<p>it sounds like you're a bit uncomfortable with your scores, even though they're great. actually, you are in the best position possible. if i were you i would retake the SATs, but there's no pressure to do well because you already have great scores! i think you're reading into this a bit too much... colleges look at a second attempt as just that, a second attempt. nobody will think you are trying to be a perfectionist or anything. they will take your highest scores, so you might as well retake them.</p>
<p>I don't know the answer to give you, but I know my son, who received a 2290 (800cr, 800 writing, but 690 math), is going to retake it because the math is under 700. We heard the math in the April test, contained some more difficult concepts than ususal. So, hopefully, he will be able to improve. He, like you, was worried that if he went down, that would hurt him.</p>
<p>I am just thinking, is it worth all the trouble? It seems like the SAT is just a way to show Princeton that you are competent to study there. Like, if you get into "the range", than they look at your app further and make decisions based on everything else. Or should I aim to get as close to 800's as possible?</p>
<p>Going down shouldn't hurt at all, and it is unlikely to happen. The College Board collects statistics on how test-takers do on their second test, and you should have seen those numbers on your last score report. IN GENERAL, scores go up, because the test-taker is older, more experienced with the test, and motivated to improve. For some test-takers with really, really high scores, the most likely second result, only because the only way to go is down. (Perhaps you've heard of "regression to the mean" in a statistics course.) </p>
<p>But this is not a worry anyway, because I think Princeton is like most other Ivy League colleges in giving you the benefit of your best section scores on college admission tests, section by section. (Check Princeton's Web site for a statement about this, which I know is the way Harvard compares scores.) So if you go up in one section, and down in two, you get to "keep" your earlier high scores and your current high score, for a combined score that is higher on a net basis than you'd get by taking the test only once. (Note: all the other applicants to schools such as Harvard get the same advantage, so you really might as well take the SAT I twice if you didn't like the first set of scores. All admissions officers know that anyone can have a bad day.) </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications. Don't worry too much about it.</p>
<p>Princeton does indeed take the best score of each section.</p>
<p>I'm retaking a 2290; 800 math, 800 CR, 690 writing. I know I could have done much better than that (I scored 80 on my PSAT writing) but the Error ID's were for some reason very difficult for me on the June administration (I got 5 wrong in a row). I'm aiming for a 750+ on writing, which will put me over 2350. </p>
<p>Some people had called me ridiculously obsessive for retaking, but I think there's no harm in retaking if I think I can do better. What wrong is there in motivation?</p>
<p>You should be more motivated in completing those five required essays and turning them into literary masterpieces than like a 50 point increase on the SAT.</p>
<p>The SAT only takes 4 hours on a Saturday morning. I think I can spare that much time away from polishing my essays.</p>
<p>when do you sign up for the PSATs?</p>
<p>There's no harm in taking them again. I think it shows motivation, and you are quite right to try and get that math score up. Truth be told, with a bit of studying you should be able to improve on the writing and verbal sections as well. Dumb luck can generally swing you about 30 to 50 points in either direction in a section depending on the day you sit and take the test. So if you are in fact capable of a perfect score, then your verbal and writing scores are rather low for that range, and improving them by even 20 points each will look much better for you and take minimal effort, since you may have just been unlucky on your first try. Good luck!</p>
<p>PSAT is administered by your high school in the month of October. You don't directly sign up with Collegeboard, as it is the case with SATs or SAT II's. </p>
<p>Notify your high school about a month or two weeks in advance (depending on your school) and they'll reserve a spot for you if they have extra spots.</p>
<p>In my school, the PSAT is mandatory for Juniors, so if one wants to take the PSAT as a sophomore or freshman it's based on a first come, first served basis.</p>
<p>Is anyone else retaking it this fall? Now there are five days untill the deadline, and I'm still not sure... :) I mean, I got a 5 on my AP Calculus exam; isn't that enough to show them that I can do math despite the 710 on my SAT?</p>
<p>Well I got 5's in 3 AP history exams -- which shows to a certain extent that I can write essays. I'm just bad at Error ID. =/</p>