The Official "should I retake" Thread

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>Spend your time being an interesting person and writing effective essays. Do not chase the last few points.</p>

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<p>yea… i show empathy with you too. :\ </p>

<p>i thought i did much better than last november… uh oh!! I’m buying an ACT study book and gonna study for the september ACT test. here’s where i “improved”:</p>

<p>NOVEMBER 2008:
CR - 600
Math-580
Writing-570</p>

<p>JUNE 2009
CR-610
Math-580
Writing-590</p>

<p>I only have one chance left to retake the SAT I (im plannin on doing literature and math II and us history on October. ) I must break 2000. :&lt;/p>

<p>justaverage010, I give you my luck. ;)</p>

<p>GREEN LEMON</p>

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<p>Gosh, thank you for the advice aluminum and haavain! I don’t think I’ll retake it, then. :slight_smile: How cool! I’m done!</p>

<p>It’s mostly because I got 800 CR and 720 Math that I considered retaking it… I’ve just always struggled with Math, but when so many people here seem to get 800’s in it, you can’t help but wonder if you could bring it up, too… But I was super psyched for test-taking that day, and it felt like the Math sections I got were all surprisingly easier than usual. I kind of get the feeling that taking it again, there’s a good chance Lady Luck would turn around and kick me in the bum instead, haha.
I’m so happy though. 2280! :slight_smile:
Good enough for me!</p>

<p>Good luck everyone!! Your scores are great. Don’t be so hard on yourselves. Numbers only mean so much! Remember to find your passion, and it will show. Don’t stress too much.
Not that I’m not guilty of it too. :)</p>

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<p>^Thanks!</p>

<p>I’ll trade 40 of my Math points for 40 of your CR points (lol :)).</p>

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<p>Some retake advice-
I called Yale’s admissions office, and they told me that if you have scores in each category that are statistically similar to 750 (about their average), your sat scores won’t be shown in the second round of admissions, which can make your ECs and essays more of a factor and make them stand out. Needless to say I’m retaking!</p>

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<p>@Python: Lol. :slight_smile: Deal!
Pass 'em under the table, no one will see…</p>

<p>@Dancer: Wow, that’s a very interesting insight. Makes a lot of sense, though- really seems to reflect the patterns in the Decisions threads. Very interesting.</p>

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<p>First time I got
CR: 690
M: 720
W: 630 Total: 2040</p>

<p>With 2 hours of a tutor for writing I got this for the second time
CR: 690
M: 760
W: 800 Total: 2250</p>

<p>I’m applying to mainly schools that have strong engineering programs. Should I retake just so I can try to improve my CR score? And any tips on how to improve my CR will be greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>Done! :D</p>

<p>On a more serious note, I’d guess that high Math II (for you) and Literature (for me) would offset the average-ish (only for CC, lol) sectional scores we got. I think I heard once that colleges rate the SAT IIs more highly, since they’re harder to coach for and more “specialized”.</p>

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<p>For subject tests,</p>

<p>750 - US History
780 - Chem
800 - Math 2</p>

<p>Are these scores sufficient for HYPS?</p>

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<p>@dancer</p>

<p>could you please clarify that tidbit about yale? do you mean that yale admissions officers see no difference between a 740 and a 790? or are higher scores still an advantage?</p>

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<p>My old scores were:</p>

<p>CR: 680
M: 690</p>

<h2>W: 630</h2>

<p>2000</p>

<p>June Scores:</p>

<p>CR: 680
M: 780</p>

<h2>W: 660</h2>

<p>2120</p>

<p>I’m really interested in HYPS, BU, GT and UGA for instate, and I’m looking for other northeastern schools or schools with a seasonal climate that give good scholarships (I need to compare with the hope to go out of state haha). </p>

<p>Any suggestions for schools? Should I retake, or should I just focus on other stuff?</p>

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<p>@bubblegnome - I honestly don’t know about higher scores! I would say that if the score is about 20 points either way of 750, it wouldn’t been seen, but anything else would. I would think a 780-800 would still be shown, but I didn’t ask!</p>

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<p>@dancer Thanks haha it’s such a mystery!</p>

<p>I’m on complete opposite spectrums… an 800 on CR and a 710 on math. So I guess that wouldn’t apply to me anyways ohhh the confusion</p>

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<p>and come to think of it…wouldn’t the admissions officers know by the lack of test score that the person has about a 750…oh well</p>

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<p>THE<code>HAIRY</code>LEMON – I thought I did so much better too!! Well, thanks, and good luck to you too. I might do the same thing.</p>

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<p>To everyone who’s posted asking for advice- I’ll try to post something late tonight. I’m really busy. </p>

<p>Other people can help too. It doesn’t have to be just me… Hint hint :)</p>

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<p>bryceeferguson – That are really good for BU, GT and UGA. uh, Depends on how much you studied, if you didn’t/barely did I would retake but if you put countless hours into it, I don’t think you could get much higher? just, imo. they’re really good in general, too.</p>

<p>Powerbomb – those are good.</p>

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<p>@Python: Good idea. I did take Biology M with a 780 already (I’ve never really been a perfect-score type, which is why my SAT score was so exciting), but I was actually intending to take Literature and Spanish Language next. I’ve been debating between Literature and Math II, because I’m inclined to believe I would ace Literature, but I imagine that with a hard-core run-through of Barron’s, I could (maybe kind of sort of probably perhaps?) get an 800 in Math II. I hear the curve is fairly generous. But Lit would require almost zero studying, so I’ve been leaning towards it… But I already have AP Language on my score list, don’t want to be repetitive… Ah! Decisions!
Anyway.</p>

<p>Well, for the advice thing, I actually just answered a PM about CR and W help, so I guess I could post that! I’m too lazy to edit it to be more context-appropriate, but someone might get something out of it:</p>

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<p>Yeah, uh… I’m pretty rambly. And as noted, I’m no test prep expert; this is just how I (think) I got my score. Take it as you will. :slight_smile:
One thing I forgot to mention, though, is that not long after the first time I took the SAT, I started exercising daily and balancing my eating habits. My mind has been way clearer since, and while I suppose it’d be a bit extreme to start for no other reason than test scores, I think that was a main factor in my improvement. Again, take it as you will! Haha.</p>

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<p>Prussia, Lit is actually relatively hard. Unless you took AP Lit, you may not know a lot of the terms. It’s not like CR at all… the passages are much more difficult.</p>

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<p>Really now? Well, I know I’ll be sifting through practice tests and prep books to finalize my decision before I take it for sure, so I guess I’ll see how bad it is. That’s all the way in October, though, so I’ve got some time to look into it. Pretty busy juggling a number of other things right now.
And yeah, I’m in AP Lit next year. Not taken yet.
Thanks for the advice. :)</p>