<p>My Son has Carnegie Mellon SCS as his number one choice. His GPA is 3.85 unweighted, 4.85 weighted, ACT 33, strong AP classes in advanced Math and Physics. His extra curriculars are strong with Internship, National level swimmer, and volunteer work. However his Subject 2 test scores are: Math 1 (760), Math 2 (710), Physics (710). He took them cold without studying. Should He re-take subject tests to be more competitive for admission or will these due? Any thoughts.</p>
<p>His ECs would definitely help, but because he’s a male and generally it’s more competitive for males, he should have a bit higher test scores (and good AP test scores). But grades and ECs are not the only factors, so his application and essay will play a role in the final decision. So unless he can improve by a lot on Math 2 and Physics and probably get an 800 on math 1, he shouldn’t bother re-taking them and instead focus on putting together an excellent application.</p>
<p>To be fair, retaking the tests and putting together an otherwise good application aren’t mutually exclusive.</p>
<p>I would suggest that if he’s going to retake it, he should actually study. (Though at least part of improving one’s scores is just being familiar with the format of the test.)</p>
<p>Yes, I would try to aim for an 800 in SAT math II. SCS is big into a very strong math background, and the average scores for the math SAT II were 780-800.</p>