should I retake my SAT?

Hi I am a junior at a public high school in PA

My SAT score is 1500 ( 720 R, 780 M) and my weighted GPA is 4.3 and my unweighted GPA is 3.9.

My dream schools are Georgetown, Barnard and Cornell but I am open to any suggestions that you might have. Also, another question I have is whether or not I should retake my SAT given my dream school? Thank you so much for answering if you do.

Why are these your “dream schools” ? Important if seeking other school suggestions.

What do you plan to study ?

No need to retake a 1500 SAT score. If you would like to highlight a particular base of knowledge related to your future major, then considering taking an SAT subject matter test.

Do you have a reason to expect you’ll improve your score - practice exams, looking at the QAS, etc?

1500 is at the 75th percentile at Barnard and above the mid-point of the 25-75, but below 75th, at the others. So it’s certainly sufficient for any of the three. Higher is always better, but any increase would be of small marginal benefit.

If you’re fully prepared to take it, and have reason to believe it would increase, it’s not going to hurt to take it again (other than financially). But I wouldn’t spend a lot of time preparing to take it - time better spend on classes, ECs, etc.

Hi, I’d like to either major in Psychology or Public Health hopefully! I would even consider Neuroscience as a major but preferably Psychology or Public Health!

I’ve taken a bunch practice tests and my range on the SAT seems to be around 1480-1540. Would you reccomend that I take it again? I think I have pretty strong ECs and a GPA to weigh it out but I’m not against retaking it if I have to.

You certainly don’t “have to”, as noted above. But if you’ve taken several practice tests, that implies that you’ve been preparaing and are ready to take it.

If so, then, other than the testing cost, there’s no downside to taking it. A lower score will just be ignored.

Remember that Georgetown wants to see ALL your exams, even now, when they are test-optional, so retaking it is not completely risk-free for that school.

You are probably fine with a 1500. Congrats, that’s a great score!