SAT Scores -- Combined or Individual?

Test Preparation
1

<p>I am wondering whether colleges ask for your highest COMBINED score of the three sections (Math, Critical Reading, and Writing) or whether they look at your highest scores for each INDIVIDUAL section.</p>

<p>For example, if you took an SAT I test in November and got a:
Math- 800
Critical Reading - 800
Writing-400</p>

<p>Could you re-take the test in March, with the goal of improving your writing score, receive an 800 on the writing, and say you got an 800 Math, 800 Critical Reading, 800 Writing? Or are you required to provide your highest total score?</p>

<p>Thanks very much. :-)</p>

2

<p>They look at individual scores. The combined score means nothing alone, because as you say, you could have one section much lower than the others.</p>

3

<p>writing isn't important if you are class of 2006 but I'd try to get above 600 on writing just in case. For 2007 then i'm not sure what they are doing.</p>

4

<p>Okay, thank you. It's a relief they look at the individual scores!</p>

<p>So, the collegeboard sends your SAT marks to the universities you apply to, right? </p>

<p>If so, then would they send ALL your section-scores from a certain test, even if you are only submitting ONE of those section-scores to the university?</p>

<p>Not sure how clear that was ^ but I hope you can answer :-)</p>

5

<p>You have to send all your "section scores" as you say. They send everything, although colleges GENERALLY only care about your highest.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for your responses!</p>

7

<p>This might be late, but i just called some colleges on this. Here is the answer: private schools take the highest scores from different tests (math, cr, and writing) whereas public colleges take the highest scores from a single sitting test. So if you took the SAT twice and got a 400 on all three sections the first time, and then took the SAT again and got a 600 on all three sections the second time....your score would be a 1200 for public schools and a 1800 for private schools.</p>

8

<p>uh, no, in your example, both publics and privates would interpret your score as 1800. but I think we know what you were trying to say.</p>

<p>It is not quite true that all publics look only at the best results from one sitting. some follow the lead of the privates. UVA, for example: <a href="http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/profile.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/profile.html&lt;/a>. but I think you're right that very few publics mix and match. UVA may be the only one (that's worth mentioning). </p>

<p>I can't think of any privates that will only take your best score from one sitting, but there may be a few out there.</p>

9

<p>The UC's only look at the score from the highest sitting. Dunno about other publics. OTOH, every private I've researched takes the best individual score regardless of sitting.</p>

<p>btw: the UC's will consider the writing component this year.</p>