Hello,
My son took the SAT multiple times and while his single-test scores are in the low 1500s, his superscore is 1560.
A friend’s daughter is in the same class and her single test score from this past April is 1580.
So when a top tier school that uses superscoring looks at these SAT scores, do they assign 1560 to my son and 1580 to my friend’s daughter? She has 20 points more than my son and I understand that. Do they peg my son’s score down since he did not get 1560 in the same attempt? (going against the superscore rule)
The other question is do schools figure that a 1580 is “better” than a 1560? Or are they of the opinion that as long as a kid gets over their threshold (say 1550), they are evaluated on other criteria and SAT differences no longer are important?
I know there are several other factors like grades, ECs that come into play, my question is about SAT only.
If a given school superscores, your S will have a 1560 and friend’s D a 1580. IMO many schools will see those as virtually equivalent, and not give a bump for a one and done. The 1580 could have been the 8th time the student took the test and most schools (beside Georgetown) have no visibility to how many times a student took a test.
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You are angsting over tea leaves, and there is no single answer. The amount of weight any given school puts on a specific SAT score varies a lot by school. One school said at an info session that they batch the scores in a bell curve, but that exactly what number is where on the curve can vary a bit from year to year. A rep from a different school said that for the students that they really want the SAT is indeed a check mark- over a given threshold and it’s fine, but for a marginal applicant it might be looked at more closely.
Imo, 20 points difference in SAT scores is unlikely to be a deal breaker, but there is no way to guess how much weight a given score might have for your son.
tl;dr- there is no point worrying about this
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From the many AOs with which I have spoken, they will see scores of 1560 and 1580. Superscoring is either automated or done by a clerk in the office. The AO won’t see the individual test date scores.
So there’s no “penalty” for superscoring at a school that superscores.
IMO, once you are at or over 1550, any scoring differences are pretty much irrelevant. Other than edge cases like an 800EBRW/750Math vs. a 750EBRW/800Math at MIT, for example.
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your kid got a 1500+ - if he/she has great rigor and a great GPA, your “reach” schools can be any in the country.
You are over evaluating - they are at 99% in the country.
Breathe…it will be fine.
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There is so much more to college admission than a close SAT score. My D “only” was 98th percentile for her standardized tests but got into schools that rejected friends with higher scores because the strength of the rest of her application.
Focus on crafting a well balanced college list and all will be fine.
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