Mysonsdad

Another teacher and I were discussing whether or not it looks bad to take the SAT multiple times. I told him that to top colleges it most likely only want to see one or two sittings. Other schools most likely won't care. He said it doesn't matter to any school how many times you take (within reason). Anyone on here have any experiences with this, my students want to know also.

Running10

I have always been taught that three times is the maximum. I think three is acceptable, but after that, it doesn't look too good.

Mysonsdad

I have heard that too, I have also had students who took it and would not send their scores to colleges until they saw what they were and then if they were good would send them.

2112rush

SAT addiction is a tough habit to break. The buying of Kaplan study guides, the incessant worrying, the timer on your coffee table ticking away as you furiously work through the CR and math sections... it's an addiction that's as hard to break as a nicotine addiction.
Then comes the rush that hits you in the year you take SAT test #4. "Will the exhileration hit me as hard as it did the previous years when I took SAT #1, #2, and #3?" you think to yourself. "My God, I need that rush!"
Sitting alongside other kids in the testing room as you hear erasers furiously rubbing away at wrong choices; the smell of the burning rubber from those erasers filling your nostrils as you got less than five minutes left on your essay that isn't even half way completed...
Aaaaah. Ambrosia! What a high!
I wonder if the rush will be this intense next year, when I take test #5? I wonder if I can get this kind of a rush by taking the ACT?

McKinster

I just took #3, and if I don't get the scores I need for Merit Aid, I am wondering if I should keep tutoring and go for #4. I've already been accepted to my #1 college, but really need that $8000 per year merit aid.

jennieling

Most colleges accept Score Choice--not all (Yale, Pomona, williams and Weleyan are a few that do not)--but most. So with Score Choice, YOU decide which SAT scores to send. It can be done this way w/ the ACT too, but they don't use the term "Score Choice". Thus, the college has no idea that you took it 5 times if you sned in your best 2 or 3. It's an easy solution, so I am always confused when I read the posts of these students who say "3 is the max". No such thing, fortunately!!

glido

I high ranking admission officer at a top 20 university told me that they expect every student to take the SAT twice because a very high percentage of SAT test takers do better on their second sitting. He also said that they accept a lot of applicants who have taken the test three times. He said it is very rare for a student to do significantly better by taking the test much more than that. Any more than 3 and they start to wonder why the applicant doesn't have something better to do with his/ her Saturdays. He added that the SAT scores are a lot less important than most applicants and parents think they are.