The Official "should I retake" Thread

<p>Well this isn’t really much of a question and most people are going to be annoyed at me. </p>

<p>BUT, I got:
800 W
800 CR
780 M</p>

<p>I missed one question on math. Which is annoying because that is my best subject. I took SAT II Math II after Frosh year and got 800 and got a 5 on the AP BC after soph year. </p>

<p>If I took the SAT again I know I could/would get a perfect score. I know it would only raise my score 20 pts but is there anything to say for a perfect score? I think I shouldn’t retake it again. I actually definitely won’t. But that’s the question. Is there anything inherently better about 2400 than 2380 other than the 20 point increase?</p>

<p>Oh, and this was my first sitting. And last.</p>

<p>^ You’re darn right, people are going to be annoyed. I’m one of them.</p>

<p>“Oh, and this was my first sitting. And last.”</p>

<p>Don’t post in a discussion about retaking when you’ve already decided you aren’t going to retake, especially when you’re only twenty points short of a perfect score. Go look for ego satisfaction elsewhere.</p>

<p>I got:</p>

<p>750 CR
700 M (previously 710, so superscore applies)
780 W</p>

<p>Would it be worthwhile to retake with my scores? I do plan on applying to some Ivies, for what it’s worth. And I also scored 800 on Math II (thanks to the curve), but my percentile was relatively low.</p>

<p>Witty:</p>

<p>If you’re going into a math or science field, you’re definitely going to want to retake. You’re fine for liberal arts though. Extra points in math would be a bonus in that case, but not a very big one.</p>

<p>I got a 2300 - CR: 740, M: 800, W: 760 with mc score of 72 and essay of 11. It’s my first time taking it, and I feel I can get a 20-40 point improve in writing and a 20 point improve in critical reading. Is this small increase very important if say, I want to apply to Harvard or Penn (going for Wharton!)? What’s the real difference between 2300 and 2350?</p>

<p>@WittyWonka. Well, that was quite harsh. But, you are right. I should have phrased it differently. The real question I am looking for is does a perfect score worth more than the sum of its parts because of its “perfectness”? Or would 3 790s be virtually equivalent to 3 800s.</p>

<p>^I hope so.</p>

<p>There is virtually no difference between how colleges view a 2300 as opposed to a 2400, because at that point it’s just a matter of stupid mistakes.</p>

<p>^ but what if the breakdown was 700/800/800?</p>

<p>Alright, my dilemma is for the October SAT (I didn’t realize there was a thread on this).
I got CR 760, M 800, W 730 (8 essay).
Now, I realize this is a good score and I’m not totally anall about perfection on the SAT. However, the essay topic that was thrown at me (is humor the best way to deal with difficult situations) totally slaughtered me (as all my practice examples were all relatively serious books and events). Additionally, my experimental section was CR, so my first 3 sections went Essay, CR, CR =(
Should I retake for a better essay (I know I can score 11-12 with a reasonable topic) and writing score?</p>

<p>xiaojingteng: That’s possible, but then it would probably depend on what you wanted to major in.</p>

<p>It’s ironic how people who got 2300+ are stupid enough to ask about retakes. Do you seriously think that universities are that superficial when it comes to admissions? When they choose between a student who got 2300 and a student who got 2400, they’ll start looking at other areas of the application than scores because they’re in the same score range.</p>

<p>The only exception that there might be is if you got 800/800/700 where the 700 was iin math, and math is your intended major.</p>

<p>I got a 2390, hopefully I’ll be able to raise it 10 points on Dec 5. lol…</p>

<p>Are you really going to retake the SAT after scoring a 2390? Wow!</p>

<p>On my first SAT on Nov 7 I got: </p>

<p>CR: 710
MA: 790
WR: 730 (77MC 8 Essay)</p>

<p>composite: 2230</p>

<p>I was actually expecting a 2300+ so this is a huge disappointment</p>

<p>CR is way lower than expected, I got a question wrong in MA (I’m Korean) and the 8 essay on WR kinda killed me. </p>

<p>Just hope I can improve a lot in two months. I would have to raise the scores for all three sections</p>

<p>Okay. I realize a bunch of people are going to think I’m ■■■■■■■■, so please read through.</p>

<p>800 CR / 800 W / 770 M (Single Sitting)</p>

<p>I don’t want to retake for applications, b/c obviously 2370 and 2400 are essentially the same thing. HOWEVER, my school district bases their 2 Student of the Year awards on SAT/ACT scores. One of my guidance counselors offered to pay for me to take the SAT again to aim for a 2400 or take the ACT to aim for a 36. </p>

<p>The question: Will retaking make me look like a perfectionist/will it hurt me in terms of applications? I obviously have a perfectly good score, and may likely go down on my retake, but there is still the possibility of the mystical 2400. </p>

<p>Thanks a ton for the input!</p>

<p>I mean, do you really think someone else in your district has a 2380, 2390, or 2400? Think how rare those scores are; I think you’ll be fine.</p>

<p>Wittywonka, really?</p>

<p>The top 15 in my class all have 23+; some others ranked 15-30 have a 23+ as well. His 2370 may not be safe.</p>

<p>I got a 2320 on Nov.
800/730/790
I studied a whole lot for math; didn’t touch CR or W. Kinda sad… but all in all, happy. I went up from 690/720/790. Fixed my focusing problem in CR, as you can see, I guess. W I really should have tried for an 800 on, I didn’t study at all. I was expecting a low 700 this time around…</p>

<p>660-W
660-M
730-CR</p>

<p>How much can I realistically improve math and writing in 2 months time?</p>

<p>“Wittywonka, really?”</p>

<p>Clearly we come from different backgrounds. Many people in my district don’t even know that 2400 is the top score.</p>