<p>S didn't get as good a score on his first SAT as was predicted by his PSAT, and we really wondered if he should take it again. His first attempt was a perfectly respectable 1350/2080. After a lot of thought, he retook it in December and raised the score to 1480/2110...exactly his predicted score.</p>
<p>If the admissions office sees first scores in the 740-760 range, taken 11th grade or above, and a kid keeps taking the test to get an 800....they will frequently look negatively on this repeated test taking.</p>
<p>A few "bad days" of a 740 vs 800 isn't what the admissions office considers a bad day.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If the admissions office sees first scores in the 740-760 range, taken 11th grade or above, and a kid keeps taking the test to get an 800....they will frequently look negatively on this repeated test taking.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>2boysima-
Is this based on some documented information, or just your personal opinion?</p>
<p>To repeat:AT college night at our high school one Ivy League admissions officer spoke and the other 7 nodded along. Taking the SAT three times is NO PROBLEM, more than that and they start to wonder. Taking the SAT shouldn't be your EC. :)</p>
<p>I have the same question as post #23: is that a personal opinion, or is that something college admission officers have gone public saying? </p>
<p>After edit: Agreeing with post #24, there are lots of things young people can be doing on Saturday mornings that are more productive than taking the SAT a lot of times. My son has debate meets on weekends in the autumn and winter, and math meets or math team training (or soccer training and soccer meets) on weekends in the spring and early summer. Taking the SAT I two or three times to ensure a good score: harmless. Not taking the SAT I any more than that to ensure time for other activities: priceless.</p>
<p>From other CC posts and scattergrams I decided that 1450 was the threshold number for top tier schools--with both scores over 700. I told S2 he only had to take it once if he could get over that number.</p>
<p>In these days of coddled kids taking it three and four times a single sitting looks impressive and sane--so says me.</p>
<p>He did retake the Lit SAT II and raised it 50 points to get over 700.</p>
<p>This brings back my q as to whether s should take it again.. He did well in his first 9and only, so far) sitting, but his highest score was on the Writing section, of all things (that was a shocker!) which was a 780. The Cr reading (740) and Math (mean curve-- 1 wrong was a 770) give him a 1510, which is great, but some of the merit $ we hope to be in contention for want to see a 1550. Now if he was spending his Saturdays actually attending a math team event (hes onthe team but rarely goes) or some other meaningful thing, I'd cut him some slack. But sleeping in or going paintballing just doesnt seem as important. Today he is working his minimum wage job, but that's usually later in the day or on Sunday. So... to retake or not to retake.. that is the question...</p>
<p>If he needs a 1550, it seems to me a good reason to re-take it. Otherwise, 1510 is an excellent score.</p>
<p>jym, you've answered your own question.</p>
<p>If indeed, he is competing for merit scholarships given by entities that value a 1550 over a 1510, taking the SAT again makes good sense.</p>
<p>cheers, your post puzzles me. You say you wanted your son to break 1450, and he did on his first try. (Congrats!!) But what if he didn't? Would he take it again, and again, and again? Then would he be a coddled kid? After having gone through this twice, I'd tell someone to take it until they get the highest score they believe they're capable of, or get sick of it.</p>
<p>My counselor told me that I should take SAT I AT MOST once a year, but at least twice unless my first score is really high. According to my standard, that 2340 is really, really high. I only got 2310 and I don't want to take it again. The only reason that I can think of for taking it again, after getting a 2340, is to get a perfect score, so that you will have a shot at the Presidential Scholar. I don't think I could ever get 2400. So I will put my energy elsewhere.</p>
<p>My SAT Math II score was not on my last year's SAT report, because I took it when I was 12. I should have waited for another year. My physics score on the other hand was on the report, because I took it a few days after my 13th birthday.</p>
<p>My mom contacted collegeboard and was told that the score was not gone forever or anything. We just have to have it sent seperately. I think I am going to send an official "before-13" test report to one school (e.g. the early action one). For the rest of schools, I will probably just send a copy of it with a note "official report is available upon request."</p>
<p>To add a little confusion to the mix here: </p>
<p>Some high schools include these standardized test scores on one's transcript. Most colleges won't accept these scores as official for admission purposes, from what I understand, but it's a good idea to check with your school's registrar/GC to find out exactly what goes on the transcript. Hve heard of folks who wanted to submit only their good ACTs and found out later that the transcript included their lower SAT scores.</p>
<p>I would also check with each college's admissions office about the math score and whether or not they required an official score report or not. You don't want your application stuck in limbo due to a technicality.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Just to get a reality check here, what was your grade designation ("eighth grade," "ninth grade," etc.) on each occasion? I THINK that the College Board procedure for removing scores from records has more to do with grade designation than with age, but I'm asking you to check.</p>
<p>I think you may be right. On my math2 report the grade level was <8, while on my recent report the grade level was 9 for physics.
Does that mean all SAT scores since 9th grade will be on one report and all of <8 scores will be on another, regardless of age? In other words, had I take the exam before turning 13 but after starting 9th grade, my SAT scores would have been included in the 9th-grade-and-thereafter report. Right?</p>
<p>The scores for SATs taken before 9th grade are not reported anywhere unless by special request from the student. For example, S has a friend who scored 1550 in 7th grade and decided not to take it again. She specifically asked that the score be kept and reported to colleges when it came time for her to apply.</p>
<p>Yes, the default College Board practice is to remove scores from your record of scores if the tests were taken under ninth grade. That has nothing to do with Talent Search, really, and nothing to do with whether the test was an SAT I or an SAT II (as I found out with my son's SAT II Math Level 2 score last year). I am an example of a parent who was able to get my son's eighth grade scores restored to his record, but it took three months of being told that the scores were "purged" and irretrievable before I reached a supervisor who knew how to restore the scores. To College Board, any test-taker in eighth grade or a lower grade doesn't want to keep his scores--perhaps because of misconceptions about the effect of lower scores that I am trying to challenge by opening this thread.</p>
<p>My post #22 is not based on personal opinion, but past professional experience in university admissions...as well as recent info received from college admissions officers (similar to comment Mathmom reported in post #24.) Marilee Jones of MIT speaks, and writes, about Perfectionism vs High Achievement. (Strong concern about perfectionists, strong preference for high achievers.) How do you think she and her staff look at a junior year 1510 re-taken multiple times? </p>
<p>If a student with a 1510 is taking the SAT multiple times for the purpose of a specific scholarship, and they send the test scores after the 1510 to schools, they might want to consider explaining why they took the test so many times.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My post #22 is not based on personal opinion, but past professional experience in university admissions.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Are you comfortable with saying at which schools in which role?</p>
<p>Threads on the same issue on the MIT Forum </p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=295954%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=295954</a> </p>
<p>and on the Caltech Forum </p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=295958%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=295958</a> </p>
<p>seem to be reaching the same conclusion of "don't worry about it." Few colleges select more stringently on the basis of SAT I scores, so if they don't worry about it, I don't worry about it.</p>