<p>We have a smart kid that has a hard time focusing at school. We think a lot of it has to do with chronic insomnia…we’ve had him to the doctor, then a sleep clinic, no help.</p>
<p>In any case, he spent about 20 hours studying for the SAT, first sitting managed a 2110. He was pretty disappointed with his writing score (710) and is sure he can improve. On practice tests, he was scoring high 700s, so I’m sure he’s right. He can probably improve math and reading 50 combined…so in the end, he has a good chance to break 2200.</p>
<p>Having said that, the gap between his gpa and sat performance is already large and I’m not sure widening the gap is going to help him. On the other hand, maybe a higher sat may win him some merit money?</p>
<p>Is he a B+ student across the board, or is he an A+ student in some areas and a “C- flirting with D’s sometimes” in other classes? Is he a B+ student in the most difficult classes in his high school, or a B+ student in regular classes? The SAT score is already great. If you think there a big disconnect between grades and SAT scores you woukd be better off in the long run addressing the source of the disconnect before he goes to college.</p>
<p>thanks, much appreciated, he has low Bs and As. He is not taking the most difficult load in the school but he is taking 3 AP classes. We’re been trying to address the disconnect for about 12 years.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d file the SAT score away as good enough, and focus on whatever underlying issues are behind the insomnia. </p>
<p>As an aside, (and speaking only as a parent) any kid exhibiting anxiety (insomnia), who is fretting about a 2110 SAT not being “good enough”, combined with a parent who thinks that with some more work he could reach a 2200 has way too much pressure in his life.</p>
<p>(One college graduate, one college junior, one high school junior. SAT scores ranging from 1830 to 2250. None of them is looking at a lifetime of failed dreams.)</p>
<p>I don’t think it hurts to take the SAT twice, however good the first score was, since there is enough fluxuation with some kids that they’ll do much better in a section a second time around. Will it make a difference? It’s hard to say, but I don’t think it hurt my B+ kid in the admissions department that he had a 790 on the CR section of the SAT. He certainly did better with admissions than we expected.</p>
<p>Retaking seems reasonable to me. My son took it first time as a sophomore and scored 2090. This year, as a junior, he scored 2230. He’s done and doesn’t need to go for 2300 even if he probably could do it.</p>
<p>I like the idea of getting at the cause behind insomnia if there is one.</p>
<p>And that gpa isn’t a deal-breaker. There are no Ds, and sounds like no Cs. He actually sounds really promising if you can address the health issues.</p>
<p>just to be clear, we don’t see the value of a second sitting. we think the time spent studying for the sat would best be used elsewhere. However, he’s pushing us to take it again as he’s thinks he can do better and we tend to agree so it probably won’t be a fruitless/negative experience. We’ve done some education with him using naviance to analyze his target schools and he’s going to take a couple of months to think it over.</p>
<p>In the end, our main fit criteria for him in order of priority is support, small class size, student engagement and lastly academic reputation.</p>
<p>As a general proposition, I see no reason why someone shouldn’t take the SAT twice. That said, if he has any specific colleges he’s interested in, I’d check to see whether they take the writing score into account and, if so, how much they weigh it. There are colleges that don’t consider writing at all, and if the schools at the top of the list are in that category, there’s no reason to retake UNLESS he thinks he could also improve his M +V scores. </p>
<p>If it were the reading or math score he thought he could improve by a lot, I’d say definitely retake. Writing is “iffier.” </p>
<p>Sorry I misread the originsl post, and I’m glad you aren’t pressuring him to retake it. If he wants to retake it, and he doesn’t see it as something to worry about, then sure, he could retake it. It isn’t going to hurt one way or another. Is he going to be upset if he takes it and his score goes down? </p>
<p>np, and yes, he’d be very upset if there wasn’t any positive movement and it could definitely happen. IMO, there’s limited score upside (50-100 points), little upside in terms of college choice and down side in terms of time and risk to his self-image if he moves down.</p>
<p>as I mentioned in the op, we do wonder if merit might be in the cards if he does improve. His brother improved to 2200+ (with a much better gpa) and we think, though of course can’t be sure, that resulted in more merit.</p>