<p>Should I retake the SAT (2120, 680M/740CR/690W) or take the math level 2? (I have taken level one and got 680) I'm an international Senior so I don't have the time or money for both.</p>
<p>Bump</p>
<p>Where are you applying?</p>
<p>Tufts, Cornell, JHU, RPI and Emory</p>
<p>Alright, @dumbkid. Unfortunately, I don’t have the required knowledge to answer your question fully-- I just know that the info above is necessary for anyone to answer your question (the strength of scores is relative to the institutions you apply to). </p>
<p>My best advice:
- Check the 25th and 75th percentile scores for the biggest reaches on your list.
- Identify which of your scores are furthest away from the ‘safe zone’ of roughly 50th percentile.
- Retake those tests.</p>
<p>Can anyone else with better knowledge of those institutions help him with more specific advice?</p>
<p>I know I need to take either math 2 or retake the sat, I need to know which one is more important</p>
<p>They are both important, but it depends on where you are applying, and in some cases which school. But seriously, if you are applying to college you have to be able to look this stuff up yourself. It takes only a few seconds. I do know at Cornell, for example, that if you are applying to the engineering school you must take subject tests- both math and science. So in that case the subject tests for you would be “more important” because you haven’t taken them yet and therefore haven’t even reached the minimum test requirements. </p>
<p>But just look it up; you should not be coming here at this late date asking such basic testing questions! If the subject tests are required, you have to take them. The other option is to apply to schools that don’t require subject tests, and then you could take the SAT reasoning test again. Your choice.</p>
<p>I have taken all my subject tests, I’m just wondering if a 680 on math 1 will kill my chances @mobius911</p>
<p>Fair enough. All I can offer is the conventional wisdom that “above a 700” is the desired target. Of course it will depend on your planned major; it’s not going to be as big an issue for a humanities major as for engineering. I would suggest looking at the requirements for your schools, and checking where your SAT I scores are relative to the 25-75% range as suggested above. Your M + CR score is above 1400, which is good. But as I’m sure you know the bar is high for internationals. If you are in decent shape then the SAT II retake may be the better option.</p>
<p>Another question would be where you think you can improve more- the SAT I or the Math II? Perhaps that should be your determining factor here. If you think you can focus on the Math II test and improve significantly, then do that and the high score will help offset your fine but relatively lower SAT I math score.</p>
<p>Edit: For what it’s worth, the Academic Index (AI) described in Michele Hernandez’s book on admissions assigns equal weight to the SAT I and the combined average of 2 subject tests. So that would suggest that the math subject test (being 1 of 2) is slightly more important than the math part of the SAT I (being 1 out of 3). So that would say you should focus on the subject test. The AI is purportedly used by the Ivies; originally to determine athlete eligibility but now supposedly used to rank the academic chops of all applicants. There is some question about how much weight is placed on the Academic Index, and schools outside the Ivy League may use a different formula, or none at all.</p>
<p>You can play with the AI here on CC. There is a link to it somewhere on the home page.</p>