<p>Hello. </p>
<p>I'm applying to 1/2 of the Ivies, and I have taken the SAT 3 times... my highest scores are W: 800, CR: 730, M: 700 (2230 superscored). I also took the Math II and got a 790. </p>
<p>Would you recommend taking the test the 4th time in hopes of raising my math score? Or will the Math II score compensate (also have a 5 on the BC if that helps!)?</p>
<p>Try taking the ACT once instead. My D took the SAT 3 times & then the ACT once & scored higher on the ACT. Her profile (lower in math) is similiar to yours.</p>
<p>Retaking the SAT a third time with a 2230 would be insensible; what’s more, it would look bad. My advice is to apply with the scores you have now.</p>
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<p>Thanks for the suggestion; does a maximum score on the ACT require a lot of preparation? I have a time concern…</p>
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<p>Why do you say so? Wouldn’t a large improvement be favorable? Or are you saying this in the light of schools that do not superscore, but require all scores across the board?</p>
<p>I guess what I MAINLY want to ask is this: </p>
<p>Just how much does a 2230 differ from 2300 in the eyes of an admissions officer at Ivies and other top-tier universities? I mean can the 70 points really make a difference???</p>
<p>Difference in the ACT is that there is more a premium on being able to process the questions quickly (the faster a reader you are, the better). You are not penalized for wrong answers so getting them all answered can only help you. The ACT does have a science section which the SAT does not. My D didn’t really do anything different to prepare, I just think the nature iof the test played to her strenghts more.</p>
<p>If you chose to take the SAT a 4th time, I would not send all 4 test scores to colleges. I would only send your highest for each section. That is what score choice is about.</p>
<p>I do agree about taking the ACT, especially since it seems like you’d like to improve your math score. ACT math is more straight forward, but touches upon more advanced subjects.</p>
<p>D could not get higher than a 650 on SAT math, but did get a 33 on ACT math in two separate sittings. She did no additional preparation. I would do some practice tests for the science section though. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Adcoms tend to see it as a negative when candidates retake the SAT too many times, from what I’ve gathered. That was my point.</p>
<p>“Adcoms tend to see it as a negative when candidates retake the SAT too many times, from what I’ve gathered. That was my point.”</p>
<p>…I’ve read this a number of times before but no one has ever substantiated this to be true. Can anyone supply a link where this is on any college’s webpage or even if anyone has ever heard an adcom say it???</p>
<p>I have heard it said many times by different people. I would not send 4 SAT scores. I would decide which reflects my highest section for each of the 3 parts…which obviously you can do with 3 sittings…and only send those.</p>
<p>My D did sit for 4 SATS–September as a baseline before the PSAT and December, March and June. She is only sending March and June since those reflect her highest scores. She almost didn’t take June, but registered last minute. Her reading went up 40 points to 720 and her writing 10 points. So well worth the effort.</p>
<p>No school will ever know if you use score choice and most of then are okay with it anyway.</p>
<p>Ok those are amazing scores if you had taken them twice I might say take it again just to improve math bit you have that almost perfect sat 2 math score which is worth more than the sat 1 one. Maybe take the act but do not take the sat a fourth time it looks bad and I am pretty sure most colleges start averaging instead of superscoring after 4. At this point it I up to your grades and essay really. I knew a kid who got rejected from one ivy with a 2340 they are looking deeper</p>
<p>“I have heard it said many times by different people.”</p>
<p>…yes but we’re any of these people college admission counselors???</p>
<p>Absolutely. I can’t give you direct quotes, but yes! I have heard it from guidance counselors and admission reps. But I’ll say it again, you can take the test more than 3 times and then decide which scores to send. That is what Score Choice is. When my older D applied to schools 4 years ago, College Board automatically sent all scores. Now you can select which scores to send. They changed their policy for exactly this reason. It gives you the option to take the test more than 3 times. So more money for them, and more opportunity for students who can pay for additional tests to take them.</p>
<p>Did you automatically send your scores to colleges by using the free score report option? If you did, then you have a problem. But if not, for $10 a score report, you customize what scores each school will get.</p>
<p>Your SAT scores are fine. You may or may not get into the colleges you’re applying to, but if you don’t, it won’t be because of your SATs.</p>
<p>See this thread, especially post #13, as a kind of proof text: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1193457-esse-quam-videri-how-do-college-applications.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1193457-esse-quam-videri-how-do-college-applications.html</a>.</p>
<p>If you got a 790 on Math II, I would DEFINITELY take the ACT if math is your weakest SAT subject. I regularly got 720/730 on SAT math, got a 790 on Math II and then took the ACT a week later and got a 35 on math. I felt that the Math II prep was helpful for the ACT. I didn’t study for the ACT at all and got a 34 my first and only time while I studied for the SAT and had a 2080 superscore.</p>
<p>“I would decide which reflects my highest section for each of the 3 parts…which obviously you can do with 3 sittings…and only send those.”</p>
<p>What about schools that require that you send all of your scores? Many of the schools we have looked at claim that they want all of the scores and indicate that they will then consider the highest scores across all tests, but they want to see the trends.</p>
<p>Yes you need to retake your SAT. 730 CR and 700 M is <em>way</em> too low for Ivies considering if you’re not an URM. You should hit at least 750 in each section.</p>
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<p>Right, because that’s exactly the advice given by the MIT admissions guy in the thread that I linked to.</p>
<p>Oh, wait, no it isn’t.</p>
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<p>He’s applying to Ivies, not just MIT…MIT in general does not place that much importance on numbers.</p>
<p>Do Ivies prefer the SAT over ACT or does it not matter? </p>
<p>Thanks for the replies by the way!</p>
<p>ACT or SAT, they have no preference.</p>
<p>CPP, I think you’re just blowing smoke. I absolutely believe MITChris when he says, “*f you can clear 700 on the different sections of the SATs, then your scores will not keep you out of MIT (or anything else)” (emhasis added). And I think that’s the assessment of a lot of other admissions officers and Ivy alums on this board, too.</p>
<p>Clearly, one of us is wrong. I don’t think it’s me, and I expect you don’t think it’s you, either. But I am curious to know why you think an applicant to Ivies needs > 750/750/750 when the lower quartiles for Harvard are right around 700/700/700. I don’t mean to suggest that a 2100 puts an applicant in a strong position relative to the pool. But I do mean to say that the OP’s scores are already good enough that she doesn’t rule out, and that there is negligible advantage in raising her SATs.</p>