<p>I'm a junior in high school and I have always wanted to go to duke. The first time I saw their campus and everyone is very friendly there. I'm really interested in medicine so I would most likely have majored in Biology. I always had really good grades (4.0 or higher, do community service, currently in an internship at a science research place, and was involved in a program that sent a few kids from the US over to Australia and we talked about our experiences here and learned about their culture(there were also countries there) and then we reported back and I have to say the experience was life changing. Everything seemed like I might have a shot at Duke until SAT's came around. I had been studying but a couple of days later I got sick, I had the stomach flu accompanied with bad headaches. It only got worse as SAT day approached. The night before the test I was feeling worse and woke up a lot to go puke. Then I wake up that morning and didn't feel any better even though I had been on medicine the doctor gave me. I went into the test trying to ignore how I was feeling but throughout the test I had to get up and I was constantly feeling the headache which made it really hard to think. I was also trying to to puke on the the actual test. As soon as it was over I knew that I didn't to as well as I could have done, but had no idea what my a actual score was. A couple of weeks passed and I got my scores, 1660 :( I felt horrible, I now have one chance to re-take it and get it right. I seriously don't know if its even worth it anymore, I have to get my scores up at least 400 points to be at the bottom of their scale, I've personally heard of a 400+ point improvement. I'm taking SAT courses over the summer and then a private tutor two months before the actual test and hopefully I'll do much better.Well that's enough ranting, I just wanted to kind of get my feelings out haha if that makes sense.</p>
<p>don’t worry, you’re on the right tack. SATs can be retaken and most people take them at least twice. I was in a similar situation like yours. I started freaking out before my first SAT which I took in May of junior year. I didn’t go to sleep until 4:30 AM and I had to wake up at 6! As a result I performed worse that what I thought I could do 1410/2080. That made me so mad that I just gave up on the SAT and focused on the ACT. But then I decided to take the SAT in Oct just for the heck of it and got 2300+. I didn’t study because I didn’t plan on taking the SAT and was in a summer research program. The reason I retook the SAT was because I heard that it looks bad if you have a high act but low sat.</p>
<p>Anyways my point is that you shouldn’t give up. Being sick makes a great difference on your performance during testing because you are on medication and all the stress builds up. Just stick with it and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Thanks, so you scored a 1410 your first time around and then go and score a 2300+ second time around, that’s insane. I’m not giving up its just that I can’t really see myself scoring that well on the SAT. What’s the lowest you’ve heard of people getting and being accepted into Duke?</p>
<p>Are you an ESL learner? I am picking up subtle grammar errors, which may have been your downfall for the SAT.</p>
<p>If you’ll read the post you’ll see that I meant 1410 out of 1600. Um I don’t really know that many people going to Duke because I’m still in hs. There were two other kids in my high school who got in. One had like a 2100 and the other had a 31 ACT…but they were URMs. You should try the ACT. I think there is one in June.</p>
<p>Pick some other schools to love in case things don’t go well with your retakes.</p>
<p>“so you scored a 1410 your first time around and then go and score a 2300+ second time around,”</p>
<p>I think it was 2030 to 2300+.</p>
<p>^agreed with the 2nd post, I wouldn’t give up hope just because of a crummy SAT score. </p>
<p>Like cit said, in this case you had a mitigating circumstance in that you were legitimately sick. Personally, I would’ve just canceled my scores but you took anyway which probably gave you at least some practice. Take some comfort in knowing that that sitting is probably the worst that it could be and that it likely won’t happen again and focus on retaking. </p>
<p>Here are some encouragements if you need them:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>while a 400 point improvement is hard to come by it’s not impossible. This is especially true if you scored really low the first time. It’s always easier to improve when you start out low versus if you scored high on your first try. Same applies to most standardized tests. (Ex: on the MCAT, people regularly improve from a 25 to a 30 but an improvement from a 40 to a 45 is virtually unheard of)</p></li>
<li><p>There’s always the ACT. Duke accepts both and does not favor one or the other. The best part is that if you submit the ACT, you don’t even need to submit your SAT/SATII scores at all. So there no reason that Duke has to see that.</p></li>
<li><p>SATs are only part of your application (and the role it plays seems to shrink every passing year). Unlike postgraduate school admissions tests (LSAT, MCAT, DAT, GRE) where retaking is generally not encouraged or even frowned upon when done more than twice, you can take the SATs as many times as you need (don’t go overboard) and Duke will superscore. So as long as you’ve got time (you’ve still got at least 8-9 months left), you can retake</p></li>
<li><p>It’s just a test, mitigating circumstances aside, it’s designed for and graded on a bell curve so that a majority of the people are guaranteed to do OK. That mean you’ll be fine. And since you sound like a smart person, with a little studying, you’ll do well. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Keep at it and good luck!</p>
<p>Also, Duke lets you do that new thing where you report only your highest SAT score (like what the ACT always let you do). So to begin with, if you do better on your retake no one will even see that first score. You have a clean slate. Forget about the last test and just start over.</p>
<p>Have you taken practice tests? How are you scoring on those? If your scores are pretty consistent on those tests, then provided you feel fine on the day of the test that’s probably around what you’ll get (though the studying you mentioned will improve the score, of course). </p>
<p>As people mentioned, give the ACT a shot. I did MUCH better on the ACT than the SAT. Using Duke’s middle 25-50% scale, I think I scored around 25-30 percentile on the SAT and above the 50 percentile on the ACT.</p>
<p>And if you’re still not convinced, I woke up feeling horrible on the day of my ACT. I was so sick I couldn’t eat, and when I don’t eat I get migraines. I took the test and got a 28ish, I think. I retook it and got a 35 with NO further studying. I think that improvement on the SAT scale would be around 400 pts.</p>
<p>Good luck, and don’t give up! You’ll be fine. And anyway, if you don’t score as well as you’d like in October, apply RD and take the test in November! =)</p>
<p>Well since the SAT is very time sensitive, I’d hazard a guess and say that you will do a lot better your second time since presumably you will not be sick. What have you been getting on your practice tests? They were a pretty good indicator for me. Unless you’ve been doing horribly on those too, you shouldn’t worry too much.</p>
<p>As for the lowest score that I’ve heard, it is 1800, but they were URMs. I suspect that it would even go lower for athletes. I have no idea if you have anything like that going for you.</p>
<p>And by the way, I love Duke, but it’s possible to be happy elsewhere. Sure, try as hard as you can to come here, but even if you don’t, I’m sure things will turn out fine.</p>
<p>Thanks, makes me feel much better. I used to play soccer and tennis, and got good at both of them but then I hurt my knee so I can’t play anymore. Any other suggestions to make someone standout on their application?</p>
<p>Study, practice, and retake the SAT. You are not out of the game yet!!! It is absolutely definitely and totally in your best interest to repeat the SAT I. </p>
<p>Why do you say you only have one more chance? You do not have to take the test at your high school. Any venue the College Board offers should be available to any student.
There should be at least three windows of opportunity before the admission app deadline.</p>
<p>Most schools will take your best SAT I score even if they don’t superscore (take best sections fom different seating).</p>
<p>If you do not need financial aid, go early decision. </p>
<p>If you are a girl, you are a little whiney. If you are a guy you are too whiney. (Don’t bother to tell me I am a sexist pig. I have heard it before.)</p>
<p>I think on a forum where people discuss their problems and issues, everyone will bound to come across as a bit whiny at some point…</p>
<p>SBR,</p>
<p>Valid point. I should not have been judgemental.</p>
<p>I was hoping to encourge the OP to put the past behind and go all out to do better.</p>
<p>You actually have more than one chance, Duke accepts tests taken during senior years, if you want. Study for SAT/ACT and take it the first date in the 2009-2010 period (I think october?) but yeah you still have a shot, study hard. You’ll be find</p>
<p>For early decision, Duke has in the past accepted scores as late as the first test date in November. </p>
<p>For regular decision, I’ve heard that the first date in February is the last one accepted (I could be wrong). </p>
<p>Since Duke gets scores electronically from the CB, as long as you list Duke as a school to send scores to when you register, Duke will get the scores as soon as you do (sometimes maybe even earlier). Of course the flip side is if you bombed, you don’t get a chance to withhold that score unless you canceled.</p>
<p>Whatever the outcome by retaking it you might raise your scores and open up as many options as you can for Duke or other schools.</p>
<p>Don’t freak you can definitely take it again. Personally I think the idea that admissions officers frown upon people taking the SAT multiple times is nonsense. If your score truly improves that shows growth and determination. Plus there’s the score choice option now. I’m pretty sure there’s at least 3 times you can take the SAT before ED’s due</p>
<p>When you fill out the Common Application, there is a space to describe special circumstances. I will be sure to describe your situation that you were sick that entire week and that you were sick on the day of the test as well. Also, be sure to tell your counselor to mention your situation as well in his/her rec letter.</p>
<p>Don’t stress out, this will not hurt you as long as you explain your case in the application.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t waste the space in recs and special circumstances section to justify a low SAT score. That just makes one sound OCD and whiny. There are better ways like submitting ACT, Score Choice, or even just the fact that Duke will take the highest score regardless. </p>
<p>The only common things that needs to be explained are major illnesses that has impacted grades, criminal history, etc. An SAT score isn’t a big deal.</p>