<p>Hi, I'm a senior applying to Yale and the University of Pennsylvania (among other schools, but those are the two I'm most interested in).</p>
<p>I'm not too worried about my ECs (extensive and varied), my GPA (4.0 unweighted), or my class rank (5/330). Plus, my dad went to Yale for undergrad and Penn for graduate school, so I'm hoping for a slight legacy advantage, as well.</p>
<p>But anyway, my SAT (superscored) is a 2160. 790 CR, 690 Math, 680 Writing. I'm happy enough with that score, but I'm somewhat worried by all the fuss over getting 2300+. I don't have time to retake it again for Yale Early Action, but I do for Penn regular decision. Is it worth it? I'd really rather not take it again, but if it might make a great deal of difference, I could try.</p>
<p>The SAT is only one portion of your app. If you think you can improve significantly and are willing to study hard between now and then, then maybe you’ll want to retake it. But if your application is otherwise strong and you know you won’t have time to study between now and the next test or know you won’t bother to actually study, then it likely isn’t worth it. You have to decide in which category you fall.</p>
<p>Your SAT score is NOT “fine”… for Yale and, to a slightly lesser extent, Penn. It puts you in the lower range of the applicant pool. This is not to say it isn’t a very respectable score-- just not so much for these ultra-selective schools. I personally think you will need to be somewhere in the 2250 range.</p>
<p>Your SAT score will not be viewed in a vacuum. Your CR score is wonderful and will be more heavily weighed if your ECs, essays, and prospective major is in the humanities. Most of the highly competitive schools don’t look at the writing score, but it look s as if that is the area where you could improve most easily. If you are not a math person, it may be difficult for you to show a lot of improvement inthe math SAT, but we have no way of knowing. Only you do. If you have the ability and inclination to really prep hard and get that math SAT up by 50 points or so, it might do you some good. You do not have to, however. That 790 is a sweet score than any school would be proud to send to U.S. News & World Report.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone. I don’t think I’ll take it again because I’m not sure I could improve significantly. I forgot to mention that I also made a 33 (composite score) on the ACT. Do colleges care more about one test over another?</p>