<p>Took the December SAT. Scores were:</p>
<p>CR: 800
M: 700
W: 730
W MC: 75
Essay: 8
Total: 2230</p>
<p>My target school is Stanford, target major History. Also planning to apply to UC Davis and Berkeley, and perhaps Pepperdine and UCLA. Currently a Junior who's also studying for his SAT II's. Should I retake?</p>
<p>Honestly? No. I mean admissions officers generally view 2200+ as extremely good scores. Get good scores on the Sat IIs and you have nothing to worry about, 2230 is an above average score for basically any school.</p>
<p>You must retake if you say yes to one of the following questions
1. you love spending money on useless things
2. you love collegeboard
3. you want to waste your Saturday mornings.</p>
<p>I agree with LessThanSamii. Your SAT score is already great with some good ECs, you're probably well backed. Good luck!</p>
<p>I disagree with the others. CR is arguably the hardest section to improve in/do well in, and you've already aced it. Math and writing are more straightforward and I'm sure you can improve. I say retake it (after you've finished with SAT II's of course). If you can bring up your score/superscore by ~100 pts, your chances at admissions will increase significantly.</p>
<p>If you look at some elite colleges' admission web sites, the percentage of applicants accepted with 2300+ is much greater than the percentage of applicants accepted with scores in the 2100s-2200s.</p>
<p>I'm more concerned about my essay score. Do you think a 700 math score will affect someone who's definitely not going into the pure sciences?</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you look at some elite colleges' admission web sites, the percentage of applicants accepted with 2300+ is much greater than the percentage of applicants accepted with scores in the 2100s-2200s.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>But nobody knows if that's just a correlation. I say retake if this is your first time; don't retake if it's not.</p>
<p>You've already got a very good shot at UCB, and UC Davis is guaranteed. However, you've still got the same shot at Stanford as everyone else with a score in the low 2200s--which is very low. </p>
<p>
[quote]
I mean admissions officers generally view 2200+ as extremely good scores. Get good scores on the Sat IIs and you have nothing to worry about, 2230 is an above average score for basically any school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The vast majority of applicants with 2200s are rejected from Stanford, are the vast majority with 2250s and 2300s. However, as your SAT score improve, so too do your chances at acceptance. There is a notion among many CC'ers that once you break [imput the score of the person espousing this theory] the SAT becomes less of a factor. And well, that's just simply not true.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you look at some elite colleges' admission web sites, the percentage of applicants accepted with 2300+ is much greater than the percentage of applicants accepted with scores in the 2100s-2200s.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Exactly. </p>
<p>
[quote]
But nobody knows if that's just a correlation.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Correlation does not imply causation. However, if you believe that in this case then you also believe that people with 2300s are 3 times more likely to have crappy EC's and GPA's than people with 2150s. (Do a search for the evidence I used for this. Don't feel like repeating it all).</p>
<p>
[quote]
I say retake if this is your first time; don't retake if it's not.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Now that's just pointless. Regardless of what attempt this is you should retake it if you're keen on attending Stanford.</p>
<p>Study for SAT II Math level II and you will find the math on the SAT really easy so you could increase your score to 2300.</p>
<p>I disagree with a lot of the people here. Sure it IS a fine score, but could it be better? I think its up to you to decide for yourself. Ask yourself whether you think this score reflects your abilities. You can gauge your own skill level better than anyone else on the forums. If you normally get 2200's on practice tests, and now you have a 2230, do not retake it. If you normally get higher, then retake it. Simple as that. And yes, a higher SAT score does indeed have an advantage. Of course there are many factors that go into getting into Stanford, but SAT's are a part of the whole, and a good SAT is important. Retake if you have 100% confidence in yourself to score higher.</p>
<p>Listen. take it again. Just dont make a big deal out of it. Get ur maths in order. Its low, u probably got three wrong. it will take time but u can almost be sure of a far better score. same for the essay. work it out. These are two components where if u spend time u can almost be sure of an increase. Why not a 2400? You are half way there already with the critical. but it'll take a lot of real papers.Good Luck</p>
<p>i would say if you could get highscore with confidence
you should go for it
since after all,
the safe zone for standford is 2300
ofcourse there are +/-
but generally it's good to be at the safe zone
i saw many cases where
ppl didnt make it in to standford with around 2200s</p>
<p>Yeah, retake it without stressing out. In other words, just don't let the SAT take over your life and drastically affect your normal routine. You might have made careless mistakes on the math section, which would have affected your score drastically. It is fairly easy to figure out and follow the rubric that college board graders use for scoring SAT essays.
Also, I know kids with all sorts of SAT scores that have been accepted to great colleges. I don't think anyone can simply say that a certain SAT score above 2150 will ruin one's chances of getting into a particular college. Nonetheless, a better SAT score would certainly help your admissions chances. Good luck!</p>
<p>Well, FWIW my son had a 2290 first time score and he never for a second considered taking again. He was admitted to Stanford SCEA and is considering a major in history. Feel free to PM me if you'd like more details.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>So, if I plan to retake the SAT in March, how should I prepare for it? Prior to my December one I've worked through PR's Cracking the SAT and most of Kaplan's SAT 2400.</p>
<p>2230? What makes you think that you would get an 800 the second time? Mind you, your 700 is quite on the edge. </p>
<p>I wouldn't risk it!!</p>
<p>PurpleTurtle, have you used the College Board's blue book? If not, then you should definitely use it to study. Princeton Review and Kaplan usually have practice tests that are easier than the actual SAT.</p>
<p>Yes, I take the Blue Book's practice tests. Should I just keep practicing on those and reviewing my mistakes?</p>
<p>I really would advise against retaking a 2230.</p>
<p>Would a 2230 hurt my chances of admissions into Stanford? I'm wondering if they will care very much about the math score for someone who isn't very math oriented anyway, and if the theory about big words + fill space = high score on essay is correct, they probably know that too?</p>