SATs: How many retakes is too many?

<p>I took SAT I twice, SAT II chem and bio twice, and I’m considering taking SAT II writing again. Is this considered too many retakes? When the harvard admission rep. came to our school, he joked that harvard will look at repeated retakes as an extracurricular activity. So apparently he discourage retakes, but I don’t know if he meant retaking one test 4 times or retaking 4 tests each one time. Can anyone who has been in a similar situation tell me how many retakes is too many?</p>

<p>Generally they say three for the SAT I should be the limit...After that is DOES kind of look like an extracirricular activity.</p>

<p>The important thing is to know if you can improve SIGNIFICANTLY in the retake...if you retake it for the thrid time, and you go down 40 points in each section, then it looks like it was a waste...but if your score improves appreciably, then it will be to your advantage...If you really want to retake the tests, MAKE SURE that you review and study for them so that you can raise your score to what you would like it to be.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

<p>Thank you very much for replying. I feel the same way sometimes but it just keeps bothering me that Harvard might be very picky about the number of times I take each exam. I took almost every exam twice, perhaps I am just a very bad test-taker. I really hope that they don't use that to count against me in the admission. Thanks again for the reassuring message.
Does anyone else know anything about the number of exams we can take before it looks bad?</p>

<p>I say three should be fine. We sent a student to Stanford with a 1590 who got that score after three attempts.</p>

<p>There was a post recently about a speech or article or something by a Yale adcom who said twice was enough. However, I think common wisdom on CC is not more than 3 times. I don't think twice is too many, especially if your scores went up a good bit. I know a lot of kids take the SAT 1 or ACT more than once, but don't know many who take the SAT II's more than once. </p>

<p>My son took the SAT I three times and had very good luck with admissions. I'm not convinced anymore that multiple retakes are necessary unless you have a specific reason. My son retook what I thought was a very good score, but he did it for merit scholarship reasons more than for admissions.</p>

<p>I messed up on my Physics SAT II but if I still manage to get a 700+, is it worth a December retake?</p>

<p>I didn't pace myself and missed about 15 questions though I knew most of the stuff in there. I feel pretty confident that I can improve, but I just don't know if I should retake because I took the SAT I in Jan, again in June, 3 SAT II's in October, and am re-retaking SAT I in Nov. A December SAT II would be just a bit too 'obsessed'?</p>

<p>"There was a post recently about a speech or article or something by a Yale adcom who said twice was enough."</p>

<p>The article quoted Yale's dean of admissions saying that students who took SAT more than 2 times were "strange." Given the style of the article, I would strongly be suspicious that the quote was made up. The overall tone of the article sounded like it was written by a freshman who just took Journalism. It was unprofessional. But then, it's just my suspicion, so don't take my word too seriously.</p>

<p>I think quite a number of people take the SAT I more than once to prove consistency...But something really funny happened to my friend's friend's girlfriend...She got a 1560 on her first try, took it again, got a 1260, and then another score around 1250...kinda worked against her and implied that her 1560 was a fluke...or maybe she was nervous.</p>

<p>If any of you are thinking of doing this, you don't need to show consistency with test scores really. If good test scores are consistent with a strong academic record and solid teacher recommendations, once is fine. Just my 2 cents.</p>

<p>I've taken the SAT once each year since 7th grade for practice. Will this work against me? (In total, I have taken the SAT six times.)</p>

<p>Take the standardized tests as many times as you are comfortable with. I talked to a HYP adcom the day after the Christian Science Monitor article cited above by Over30 and Geniezclone. The adcom said not to worry about that kind of stuff. Take care of your needs and let the adcoms do the worrying. I just edited the rest of my post, since I don't know if this person might be reading this.</p>

<p>Well, I heard that if you take the SAT I more than three times, the college will take the average of your scores and this will definitely work against you if you did not do well in the first few exams.</p>

<p>All SAT records are erased for any test taken before the high school years (Collegeperson).</p>

<p>Can you take the old SAT three times and the new SAT three times?</p>

<p>o wow...from 1560 to 1200s yikes!</p>

<p>i'm taking math iic again, not for college but sort of as a personal goal. plus my mom is convinced that my math is getting rusty so she wanted me to take it too. i wonder if taking math iic for the second time would make me look like a spaz. the first time was sophomore year so i guess that seems slightly better?</p>

<p>Stop scaring yourselves to death, guys. If you don't get admitted, it will not, by any stretch of the imagination, be because you took the SAT ten times.</p>

<p>Serves her right for retaking a 1560.</p>

<p>I heard that taking the SATs multiple times will not hurt you in any way. There are many more important factors that will determine your admission or rejection.</p>