<p>I took the SAT and got 2270. 800/770/700 breakdown. I totally messed up on the 700 (scored 800s in practice all the time). I am applying to the very top schools and figured I might as well give myself whatever edge I can have. Will retaking and bumping it up to 2350+ make any real differance?</p>
<p>No. With a 2270, you've already shown you're smart, and smart enough to do the work. Raising it really wouldn't make you more attractive as applicant. Your SAT score doesn't bring anything to the college. But your skill as a musician, a scientist, an artist, whatever, does. </p>
<p>Unless of course, your 700 was in math, and you're applying to MIT/Caltech, then I'd recommend retaking it to simply to raise the math. If not, well then, don't bother. Enjoy your Saturday.</p>
<p>If your 700 was in Writing and youa re applying to the top IVY schools,
you should retake...?</p>
<p>My advice is to retake since 700 in Maths or writing is not good at all.</p>
<p>Don't retake unless you have the time. I had a 2270, and I'm at Caltech now (790/750/730). Make sure the rest of your app is good.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>
[quote]
800/770/700 breakdown
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What's your strategy for improving the two section scores that have room to grow? (Only one of those section scores can increase SIGNIFICANTLY.) If you are applying to the very top colleges, you might barely have warrant to retake if you are really, really sure you'll get a higher score next time, but perhaps your time is better spent strengthening all the aspects of your application that don't have to do with test scores. </p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377882%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=377882</a> </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>
<p>I'm applying to the very top schools and my 700 was in writing. Wasn't planning on spending too much time on it, just do some practices to pick up some of the more difficult grammar type techniques.</p>
<p>If your essay was < 12 getting a 12 will boost your overall score by
as much as 30 scaled points ( from say a 9) depending on your MC
mistakes.</p>
<p>The CB essay can be pure drivel :D as long as it follows their rubric.
This was a shocking insight for me, since I originally concentrated
on writing real essays.</p>
<p>Barrons writing workbook rocks :) for the MC part</p>
<p>That's interesting Arwen. My son got a 750 on English, yet only a 9 on essay, so he must have done really well on the MC? He's not retaking a 2290 cause he hasn't taken the subject tests and the other dates don't work for him, but I didn't realize cranking out the standard five paragraph drivel made such a huge difference. I remember when writing used to be creative, that's how old I am!</p>
<p>crazy mom - the College Board score report has subscores for Multiple Choice and Essay. My son scored 750 with 78 on MC and 8 on essay. I am guessing that means he missed one MC?? Whatever - I wish he had known the "formula" before taking the test (but I hadn't discovered CC yet :) and he didn't study for the SAT.) He's not re-taking his 2350 just to raise the essay score, though. </p>
<p>For the OP, keep in mind that many schools discount or ignore the writing score, and it seems like your 770 in CR will provide assurance that your writing skills are fine. 2270 is a very good score for a single sitting, so I wouldn't re-take it unless you are fairly certain you can increase writing a lot without dropping too much in the other sections (I know, they superscore, but still, there's something nice about a great single-sitting score.)</p>
<p>rainmama- wait, do top schools discount writing too?</p>
<p>and btw, i can gurantee if i retake my 800 won't go down, though my 770 might drop a bit.</p>
<p>Writing was introduced apparently after a lot of push from harvard and
top ivies as well as the West Coast colleges being unhappy with the SAT.....</p>
<p>Here's the latest CC discussion on this topic. If you are applying to MIT, the article is a must-read.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=395185&highlight=sat+writing%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=395185&highlight=sat+writing</a></p>
<p>Since Cal Tech will take the ACT without writing, I'm guessing they don't care about the essay either.</p>
<p>I think the push to add the Writing section came primarily from the West Coast (i.e. California), not as much from the Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>Retake it man. Unless you're really busy, it's just a 3 hour test, and you have nothing to lose since colleges look at composites anyways.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think the push to add the Writing section came primarily from the West Coast (i.e. California), not as much from the Ivy League schools.
[/quote]
That's because the UCs were threatening to drop the SATs as a requisite so that CB would lose a lot of cash.</p>