<p>Hi y'all!</p>
<p>I took my SAT II Lit exam without any prep at all because I was cramming for Bio. Anyway, I (seriously lucked out?) and scored 770, which makes me wonder if I should actually put in the effort to prep and try for an 800.</p>
<p>My biggest concern is some of the colleges I'm applying to do not allow score choice. Would it be frowned upon for an applicant to retake SAT IIs when their first score was <em>decent</em>? </p>
<p>no, don’t retake it</p>
<p>96th percentile isn’t bad. Is everyone else you know getting an 800? And what major are you planning on applying for?</p>
<p>Yes, it would be frowned upon to appear too test-focused- but if you’re in a situation where an 800 is basically expected, you’ve got to take the smaller loss.</p>
<p>nah</p>
<p>@dividerofzero I’m planning on applying for Philosophy and/or Mathematics at HYP, so I feel like I every miniscule point could make the difference between acceptance and rejection.</p>
<p>@WooTheDay: Sure, they look at every minuscule point but the thing is that studying and retaking the test takes time and money. Can you think of a way to spend that same amount of time and money better? Then do that.</p>
<p>Don’t retake. 770 is fine</p>
<p>No, don’t retake it. HYPS, etc., won’t care about those 30 points under any circumstances.</p>
<p>@dividerofzero If I’m honest, there isn’t a ton of other things I could do (particularly during the summer) that I’m not already doing… I’m working fulltime, but have my evenings free, so I don’t think it would be too much of a sacrifice (in terms of time and money) to put in the study time. My other SAT IIs and SAT I scores are fine by my standards. </p>
<p>@everyone Should I at least take a practice test and see if it’s realistic for me to aim for 800? The last thing I would want is to put in the effort, and then finish off with a 790 or something. (Oh, the horror… am I right? Hahaha.) </p>
<p>But in all seriousness, how bad is retaking seen by… for instance… Yale? Isn’t deciding not to use score choice more of a ‘let’s see if this applicant is crazy and has taken the SAT 10 times’ move on their part, or something? </p>
<p>You are overanalyzing. No need to retake it. It’s a very good score - even for the most selective schools - and a higher score on a SAT II won’t change the overall strength of your application. </p>
<p>Honestly, you should never retake an SAT 2, unless it is below 600 IMO… or 700 if you are aiming for HYP</p>