Just got my sat scores back and got a 1540 (800 on math, 740 on english). I think if i retake i could bump it up by 20-30 points but is it worth it? Does such a small difference really matter? Aiming to get into a uc berkeley or ucla level school if that makes a difference. Also didnt do too well on the essay (18 out of 24), how much does the essay matter in admissions?
Your score is fine for UCLA/UCB (and any school what so ever … except perhaps Caltech!).