<p>Bluebayou is right in that it does depend on the college. It is true that some administrators even write the highest scores from each section on the outside of the folder.
The score report will go into the folder and most likely gets a quick glance by admission officers. Yes, a pattern might get their attention but the way I look at it however is that if the school really wants that applicant they are not going to look for an excuse not to take them. It is one thing if the applicant highest SAT scores on each sitting do not make the applicant competitive enough. But if the applicant took the SAT three times and some of those tests indicated scores that were not as high as others, but the highest scores in each section were competitive there is nothing to worry about.
What I do recommend is not taking the SAT more than three times. The reason is that by doing so the applicant might convey to admission officers that he or she does not have confidence in their scores. Taking it more than three times draws attention to the fact that the applicant is very concerned about the scores. After three times scores will probably not significantly increase anyway, and they could go down</p>