I have taken the SAT 3 times. The first time I received a score of 1450 (770M, 680 R&W). The second time I received a score of 1450 again (740M, 710 R&W). The final time I took the SAT, and the last time I had the chance to, I received a score of 1420 (740M, 680 R&W). Obviously, these aren’t the scores I’ve been hoping for, especially since my scores have not improved and even decreased over time. Please be honest with me. How detrimental is this to my application if I am applying to Berkeley, UCLA, Georgia Tech, USC, and other schools similar in competition to them as an international student? The only consolation I guess is that my essay score increased from 15/24 for the first one to 20/24 for the third one, but I’ve heard that the SAT essay essentially doesn’t matter.
Don’t worry about this. Send the scores you have. Those kinds of changes can just be due to variability between the exam versions, and what you had for breakfast those days.
For the schools that superscore what matters is those two numbers 710 and 770. To those schools you will only send the two sittings and they don’t care for anything else. They do not look at the SAT as a progression or effort or history or whatever. The schools that accept best sitting you only send your first score of 1450 and that’s it. The only thing that matters is how that score compares with their averages etc. Of course for schools that want all score you send all and they pick what they like. Don’t put any more thought on your SAT. You have a 1450 or a 1480 depending on school policy. That’s it. Nothing else to scrutinize. See how those numbers compare to the stats of your schools of interest.
The UCs do not superscore. The other schools probably do, but be sure to check each website.