<p>Is this a good or bad idea? By junior year, I mean the beginning of Junior year so December or before that. Currently, I average about a 2080 (not the best score but I believe strongly that score will drastically improve during the real deal). Also, if I took it during November or December, I would have improved a lot by then, so it would be a lot higher.</p>
<p>Is there a benefit of doing it at a younger age or no? The scores will count towards colleges, correct? There is no age minimum or whatever to take them? Sorry if these are stupid questions. I'm just making sure. I'm a somewhat of a perfectionist.</p>
<p>Thanks! Also, just to clarify, colleges (ivies and highly ranked schools) will see ALL of your SAT scores, correct? You can’t choose? Does it look better if I get one test that is 2300 rather than three different times where it is 2080, 2200, 2380?</p>
<p>Some schools take score choice, some don’t. Either way, they only consider your highest score. However, some schools look at all your scores, take the highest sub scores per section, and add them together. This is called a “superscore.”</p>
<p>Yes but do colleges think it is better if you have one score that is really high or just a bunch of tests where they all range? Would they be more impressed if let’s say one student got a 2300 first time and stopped rather than if that same student took the test four times, with varying scores such as 2010, 2090, 2200, 2380 - although the last score is the best one?</p>
<p>It makes no difference to the colleges whether you got your top score on 1 try or on 3 or 4 tries. Some people say that taking a given test over 3 times may give the college the idea that you are obsessed with scoring high to the exclusion of other things. However, if someone gets that 2360 or 2400 on the 4th try, I’m sure the college does not look down on them. Bottom line- it only makes sense to take it more than once if you have the time and money. Also, definitely take the ACT, too. Some students do better on the ACT than on the SAT and vice versa. I took the ACT 3 times (top score- 34; superscore- 35). I have taken the SAT once and got a 2230, a bit lower comparably than my ACT. I plan to take the SAT once more. Almost every college (every one that I have seen in the books) accepts either the ACT or the SAT, although I’ve heard that a few big state universities want the ACT. Finally, most colleges accept Score Choice, meaning that you can CHOOSE which SAT sittings you want to submit and not submit those you dislike. There are only a few colleges (Yale is one of them) that do not take Score Choice.</p>
<p>Just my two cents:
I would highly recommend taking your SATs early on in your junior year-- October is great because the materials that you studied over the summer will still be (relatively) fresh in your mind, the curve is (reportedly) pretty generous in October since there are so many seniors taking it ‘last minute’ for ED/EA applications, and you’ll be able to prepare for the PSAT at the same time, thus killing two birds with one stone.</p>
<p>As for taking the test multiple times, generally the guideline is three sittings as the maximum. Going off of your hypothetical situation, I don’t think a 2300 would be worth retaking. From an admissions standpoint, it would be more beneficial to spend the time that you would have spent preparing to retake the already relatively high score on something else (such as getting ahead on academic competitions or working hard on extracurricular activities)</p>
<p>Just a word of caution- November and December are generally extremely busy (and stressful!) months for juniors. If you’re planning on taking a heavy AP/IB course load, you likely won’t have that much time to do a lot of studying during this time.</p>
<p>A very selective college could fill its classes with students who had 2400s. No college does.</p>
<p>Instead of spending your time on raising a test score, do something academic. What’s your favorite subject? Read extra books that aren’t required. Learn about subjects you find fascinating. Share your enthusiasm with a teacher who also is interested. See whether you can talk about it at a club meeting or a community group or a middle school.</p>