<p>I took the SAT 3 times my junior year and I'm wanting to take it a 4th time, but I was wondering if this looks really bad.</p>
<p>My 3rd time is my highest in all 3 sections: 2110 (620 reading, 740 math, 750 writing)</p>
<p>Retaking, I would aim for an 800 math & 650 reading to put me at 1450/1600 and 2200/2400.
I have 800 Math II/730 Physics for subject tests already.</p>
<p>Is it worth it to retake or would this look really bad? Top schools I'm applying to are Duke (early decision), Cornell, Penn, WashU, Northwestern</p>
<p>I know people on CC will incessantly tell you to retake for 2200, 2250, 2300, whatever number they decide. However, keep in mind the amount of studying you would have to do and think about whether all that time would be better spent writing fantastic essays and keeping your first semester grades high.
Also, for the record, Cornell and UPenn are going to see ALL your test sittings anyway, and I have heard that taking the SAT over three times looks poor. (I have also heard that taking it over two times looks poor but I’m going to be generous here, hahaha.) Basically, with Cornell and UPenn what’s done is done in terms of whether your number of sittings is going to look excessive.
I’d say taking it a 4th time would do more harm than good, but you will probably get different opinions from others.</p>
<p>Also a common pearl of wisdom is that with every time you retake the SAT the likelihood that you will do better goes down, but don’t hold me to that.</p>
<p>I think you’d benefit far more by working on other aspects of your app–essays, ECs, grades than one more time taking the test. Perhaps try the ACT if you really want one more test.</p>
<p>Test scores really aren’t that huge of a deal unless they are significantly lower than the average of the schools you’re applying to, and even at some top schools you should be fine so I’d say to focus on making other aspects of your apps strong.</p>
<p>If you can reach your target in 3 attempts, it is not likely to make any big difference in the 4th one. If you can do something to improve your score a lot in the 4th attempt, why didn’t you do that earlier? Anyway, if you really need a higher score, there is nothing can stop you. Statistics just shows there is little difference after the third attempt, but there are always cases out of the line.</p>