Should I take 'em again?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>I just took my SAT for the first time as a junior and was pleased with my results. </p>

<p>740 M
800 CR
740 W, 10 essay</p>

<p>Total 2280</p>

<p>I was considering whether it would be worth taking the test again. It would mean a lot of effort and annoyance to get my score just a little higher (really only needs to be a question or two higher for math and a few higher for writing), and there's a likelihood that my CR would go down if i took it again. Do you think it would be worth taking again in a few months? </p>

<p>I plan on applying to higher end colleges (maybe some non-harvard-princeton-yale ivies), do they look at a 2280 much differently than say a 2320? I mean, you hear stories about people who get perfect scores and don't get in, so would a general rule of ~2250+ be safe for the really good schools?</p>

<p>thanks for your help.</p>

2

<p>100% stop. That's actually amazing.</p>

3

<p>No, you did amazing. If it might go down, I wouldn't risk it.</p>

4

<p>There is no reason at all to retake. You're satisfied with the score, it's a great score, and even a 2400 doesn't guarantee admission, so there's no point.</p>

5

<p>Thanks guys.. I probably won't.</p>

<p>Do you think it makes a difference that my M and W scores are equal? Like, would both 740 be preferable to a 720 in one and a 760 in the other?</p>

6

<p>All of the above posts are inane and beguiling. . . .</p>

<p>
[quote]
100% stop. That's actually amazing.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, that is an amazing score--99th percentile, in fact. Point?</p>

<p>
[quote]
If it might go down, I wouldn't risk it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, there is a possibility that your score will go down. Therefore, don't let it. Study all three sections (obviously not CR as much as the other two) and use your time between now and your next test date efficiently. Even if your CR score does go down, colleges superscore your scores automatically. There is some controversy about a fifth attempt superscore carrying less weight than a first attempt score, yet a second attempt is not a fifth attempt.</p>

<p>
[quote]
it's a great score, and even a 2400 doesn't guarantee admission, so there's no point.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I see three points, two inane and one beguiling. Let me address them in that order:</p>

<p>1) It's a great score. We've already covered that. There are thousands of "great scorers" out there, and while every one of them may have earned their reward cookie, most won't earn a seat in the Ivy League.</p>

<p>2) Clearly, there IS a point to taking it again, which is to raise a 2280 to a 2400.</p>

<p>3) A 2400 does not guarantee admission. I agree. In fact, around half of the applicants to Harvard with perfect scores are rejected. However, that doesn't mean that a 2400 and a 2280 have the same shot at acceptance.</p>

<p>Princeton</a> University | Admission Statistics</p>

<p>As you can see, an applicant with a 2330 (assuming the number of scorers of 2300-2400 nationwide is of the same proportions as the number of those applying to Princeton, the average of Princeton's 2300-2400 scorers scores a 2330) has a 26% chance of being admitted. And while there's not enough data for me to definitively say that a 2280 scorer has x% chance of admittance, as you can see by the data we do have to go on, it's going to be less than 26%. </p>

<p>Lesser-tier Ivies will obviously be less selective, and so if you do manage to get a 2330+, you'll undoubtedly have a better chance than 26%. However, as to your "2250 = safe" theory, here are some links of people deferred ED from Ivies:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5052208-post394.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5052208-post394.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3327525-post14.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3327525-post14.html&lt;/a> (there was a 2360 deferred, but I can't seem to find it)</p>

<p>Ugh, I don't what happened to all of the ED results pages. Just take my word that Penn deferred a 2360, Brown a 2370, Cornell a 2330, and Dartmouth a 2310.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Yes, there is a possibility that your score will go down. Therefore, don't let it. Study all three sections (obviously not CR as much as the other two) and use your time between now and your next test date efficiently. Even if your CR score does go down, colleges superscore your scores automatically.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>But that's kind of my dilemma. I don't want to spend the time reviewing just to bump up a little. I would like to concentrate on fixing my crappy SAT II scores which I seriously need to improve to have a chance at good schools, instead of wasting time improving just a little...</p>

<p>I'm not sure how many math I got wrong total-- i would assume 3 or 4, as I'm positive I got one grid in and one multiple choice wrong and probably made some careless error somewhere along the line. It isn't that more studying would have helped; one of those questions I just didn't know how to do, so maybe I could have studied that... but the MC one I got wrong was extremely stupid mistake. Want to know?</p>

<p>I did 2sqrt(2) - 2 = sqrt 2. Yeah. So I don't think studying would have fixed that. (This was the four circles problem btw, I did everything else right except subtract)</p>

<p>Writing I'm surprised, as I scored 80s on the last two practice tests I took before the real thing (got 71 on real thing). Nonetheless, if I don't have to worry about the test anymore I would prefer not to.</p>

<p>Of course you can come up with statistics about people with good scores getting deferred, it doesn't mean TOO much to me. If Penn deferred a 2360 then I wouldn't have had a chance anyway.</p>

<p>More feedback from both sides would be good, pro and anti "take it again"</p>

<p>@Godfather Bob, thank you for providing the information.</p>

8

<p>I agree with GodfatherBob. Some of the posts aren't using logic correctly.</p>

<p>"2400 doesn't guarantee acceptance" .. so even winning an Olympiad doesn't "guarantee acceptance" - nothing guarantees acceptance. But just because something doesn't guarantee acceptance doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, obviously. The higher your SAT score, the stronger that part of your application will be. Clearly a 2400 is a bigger boost to your chances than a 2200s score. 100% stop? Why, if he can improve? Ultimately it depends on how much you feel you can improve.If you think you've peaked, then go ahead and stop. However, also remember that just because you already have a good score doesn't mean it can't go up even more. I retook the SAT after the 1st time around I got a score even higher than yours and ended up with a 2400. If you nudge your score up 100 points you enter the ballpark for stuff like presidential scholars. </p>

<p>On the other hand, no I don't think a 2320 is much different from a 2280. But ultimately, it's not a question of "is this score safe for X school." It's a question of.. does this score strongly help your application, help your application, is it a neutral score, or does it hurt your app? So this is not a dichotomy, there are more possibilities than "safe" and "not safe." Yes, you are in the safe zone, but not all scores in the safe zone are equivalent.</p>