1st SAT : 650 reading, 770 math, 23/24 essay (1420 total)
2nd SAT : 730 reading, 780 math, no essay (1510 total)
Should I consider retaking the SAT to get a higher score or should I focus on other things (GPA, EC’s)? Is there much of a difference between a 1510 and, say, a 1550?
Also, since I only took the essay for my 1st SAT, I have to superscore just to submit my essay scores, correct? (even though I got a higher score on both sections on the 2nd SAT).
I’m kind of bummed that I might have to superscore - sending a 1510 single test seems much better than sending the same score superscored (bc of essay).
Are there any colleges that don’t superscore the essay section?
Thanks!
None of your questions can be answered until you research the policies at the schools you are interested in.
Some want ALL scores sent.
Some have score choice
Some require essay, some reccommend essay some don’t ask for it at all.
You need to research your school, make a spreadsheet of the requirements re: testing and see what the answers are.
don’t take it again, three SAT scores will send a flag that you’re too test focused, which you may be, but you don’t want to convey that to colleges.
My D took SAT 3 times over two years and it didn’t hurt her. OP, you may need to take it again because as @CValle said, it depends on the school. Some schools will completely ignore a test without the essay in other words it would not count for a super score.
I have never heard of the above statement being true. If a school requirees the essay, you will have to send the test with the essay. It doesn’t mean they will ignore your better test. She is done testing, IMO.
I’d hate to be that person, but I would take it again with the essay. You might get better than a 1510.
I Think you would be ok superscoring. Also, many schools wont require the essay.
Thanks everyone!
@theloniusmonk yeah I agree, plus I don’t really want to take it again
@AimingTop50 I doubt it lol. I took the 2nd SAT at my school so that might explain why I did so much better. Also, my practice tests were never that high either.
@Lindagaf @rofikicafe so if a school requires the essay, I can send both tests? And they will see it as a 1510 and 23/24 essay?
Also a general question for everyone : for top LACs, does a 1510 really make a difference from a 1550? I don’t think it would, because it would only put me up like 1 percentile.
Yes, you can send both tests.
Actually, there is a difference between a 1510 and a 1550, but it won’t matter too much unless you are planning to apply to tippy top schools, where it might possibly have a marginal effect.
@Lindagaf when you say “I have never heard the above statement being true,” I presume you are referring to my statement that some schools that require the essay will ignore scores that don’t have it. I was intentially vague “some schools” and chose some over most on purpose. But, that is straight from an admission counselor’s mouth on one of our visits when I asked this question.
I don’t remember for sure which one it was a top private university. A state university said as long as one has essay, they will take others. There is no substitute for calling the school a student is interested in. My D took tests with the essay everytime so she was covered at all schools to which she was applying. The exception was a school administered test that didn’t include the essay. That test is what prompted me to call the college because essay wasn’t an option.
@Lindagaf Will a 1510 v 1550 matter to schools like Vassar, Swarthmore, Lafayette, Bard, Haverford?
@Lindagaf Did not intend for my reply to be harsh so I apologize if it sounds so. I realize we are both just trying to help.
Just don’t want to give OP a false sense of security when I had a personal conversation with a school that they didn’t consider scores without essay. I’m 90% sure I know which school but won’t say because I don’t want to guess.
I agree with Sportsman. I have definitely heard of some schools only superscoring the same test. They would treat SAT + Essay differently than SAT.
Not only that, not all schools superscore.
http://brandcollegeconsulting.com/which-colleges-superscore-the-sat/
Look here to see the policy (and verify on the schools’ websites) of the schools you are interested in, then decide.
If you think your 1510 was partially due to luck, I would not take the SAT again. Getting a 1500+ is extremely hard and you can only get a handful wrong. Again, if you think it was somewhat of a fluke, do not retake it.
No. At that level, there’s really no difference between that and a higher score.
@AimingTop50 @Sportsman88 Do you know of any LACs that treat SAT + Essay differently than SAT? Or just any schools in general? Thanks
@Pokeman1 No, I one and done’d on SAT with essay. My SAT score was better than expected. Essay not so much. Not worth the stress of going through it again, though, especially for an essay score. Check out that link I posted earlier, though. It seemed to be pretty worthwhile.
@AimingTop50 I just looked at the link and Texas A&M was the only college that only consdiered SAT + Essay in that list.
Swarthmore says :
“Swarthmore College allows students to use Score Choice, a College Board option to submit select test scores.”
“We require scores from either the SAT or the ACT. We do not require the optional essay section of the SAT or the optional writing section of the ACT. If you submit scores from those sections, they will not be considered in our application review. Swarthmore College superscores your SAT results. That is, we only consider the highest section scores submitted from multiple SAT test dates.”
Does this mean they’ll superscore SAT + Essay with SAT? I’m assuming they do bc they don’t mention it explicitly.
Also does the College Board Score Choice superscore SAT + Essay with SAT? (not very familiar with the collegeboard website yet!)
One more question lol - for essay optional schools, is it worth superscoring to show them my essay grade?
I would think it is for schools that recommend the essay, but what about essay optional?
Again, thanks. You’ve been really helpful 
Sorry, I can’t help you on LACs because my D didn’t look at any. We stuck with the high aid privates and merit schools.
From what you posted on Swarthmore it looks like they will superscore across the two but it never hurts to call. As to College Board, they just report the scores to colleges as is. Any superscore is up to the college.
@Pokeman1 No problem. I’d send both of your scores to schools.
Your previous score was not necessarily bad, and they know that people often take their first one without practice. Your essay score was outstanding, and the fact that you took the essay originally may show that you go hard. After taking an exhausting test, you chose to take on an essay, and you killed it. I don’t think the essay scores are that important, as they are highly subjective, but it absolutely won’t hurt.
Score choice means you pick which scores to send. Some schools require you to send all of them. The ones that say you can use score choice mean that you can pick which ones to send. It has nothing to do with superscoring.
Swarthmore does supercore, as you have shown. They will superscore your SAT with your SAT and Essay.
They just won’t look at the essay. You can still send them the SAT w/ Essay score, of course.
Since Swarthmore clearly says they don’t consider the essay, just send the score without it, a lot of selective schools do not consider the essay or the SAT writing in the old 2400 scale, for a number of reasons. For essay optional and required schools, send both.