Assuming you are a junior planning to apply to selective/highly selective schools, what is the minimum SAT and/or ACT score that you would strive for so as not to have to retake?
Is this question about the SAT (as the title suggests) or the ACT (as the question itself states)?
@hsparent17
You need to look at the scores of students admitted to the schools you want to apply to. As a rough guide I would suggest you aim for a score at least at their 50th percentile. Obviously they admit half their student body with lower scores, so it’s not a dealbreaker. I’m just assuming you’re trying to maximize your chances…
@marvin100 I originally intended to ask about the SAT only but decided to include the ACT thus the “and/or”. Many ask on the site if they should retake the SAT when they got a 2370 and clearly they should not bother. My question is what is the minimum score one should receive to comfortably decide not to retake (e.g., 2200, 2250, 2300, etc.) Same question for the ACT. Just wondering. Thanks.
Without knowing the school, that’s a tough question but 2250 and 34 should be high enough for anywhere but MIT or Caltech. Students with scores above this level are rejected maybe 75 percent of the time for top colleges but it’s not because of test scores
Thanks!
@hsparent17 - For SAT I believe that once a student has 750+ in all three sections, she’s done. Analysis of scores and outcomes suggests that this is about the level of granularity adcomms should be comfortable with. Note that I’m not saying 2250 is “done” because 2250 could be 800/800/650, and that’s significantly less impressive than 750/750/750.
That is a good point about the breakdown.