I have heard different answers from multiple people; For example, Penn wants you to send all scores.
So if I took the SAT three times and they went like this:
first time: CR 630, M 750, W 670 (2050)
second time: CR 670, M 790, W 790 (2250)
third time: CR 620, M 740, W 770 (2130)
a) What is their opinion when they see on your third try you did worse across the board? Also, their opinion when they see you tanked the first one (by Penn standards)?
b) Is it true they really only look at highest score as in their computer just chooses the highest scores from each section and presents it as “best score”, or do officers have the whole list in front of them and may be swayed by the other scores in the testing history?
Do not send that third score.Please. However sending the first shows improvement, so it can’t hurt. If they see that you tanked the third, the second score might seem like a sham
It depends on Penn’s requirements–do they require you to send all scores or do they just recommend it? If they require you to send them all then you should and must send them all, but if they only recommend it, then I agree with ADonkeyFly that you should just send the first two.
Yes for Penn they require all scores. On their website they do say they will look at your highest scores from all sections, but the fact that they still look at all the scores kinda makes me antsy. (i literally took the SAT the third time just to get my CR up, but idk what the heck happened lol)
For my EA school, they allow score choice so i of course didn’t send the first or third take of my SAT
Back in the old days some peon in many admissions office would make a file and things like your scores would be recorded on the file, using only the highest one in each section. I think it’s more common now for the files to be read on laptops and such. I think when they say they count the highest score you should take them at their word, but being human they may still be a little swayed by the lower ones.