I have a 3.88 GPA and barely studied for the March SATs. I took one practice test in February and got a 1900 and another a few weeks later and got a 1920. So I was shocked to find that I got a 2110 on the real thing (I wasn’t even planning on studying) I got a 670 on math, 730 on writing, and 710 on reading. I could probably improve math to a 700. The others, Idk. I just don’t know if it is worth studying because I am sooo busy and have to study for AP and subject tests. Should I just take the 2110? Or try to restudy and risk doing worse? (since my practice tests were much lower). I’m interested in schools like Boston College, Amherst, Williams, Tufts, etc.
I think you will be fine with your SAT score. Higher would be better, but what you have will not preclude those schools. Is your GPA unweighted on a 4.0 scale? If so, your GPA is looking good as well. I would only suggest retaking the SAT if you will definitely study for the second one. If you dont have time to, you will probably be OK with your current score.
Yeah, my GPA is unweighted and I am in all honors and AP classes. I also have pretty strong ECs. I am worried about subject tests, and thought that I could steer my focus on them rather than doing more SAT (because in all honesty, I don’t have a lot of time for both) What do you think? Are subject tests important?
In general, I feel that SAT Reasoning is much more important than the subject tests. Some schools have subject tests as optional/recommended, while the Reasoning is required. That said, your Reasoning score is already good and not worth retaking if you want to make sure your Subject scores are good. Subjects scores do provide additional information about you and provide another way to evaluate your application, but they are usually factors that are considered after GPA, SAT, course rigor, letters of rec, and EC.
Okay! Thanks so much for the response! Do people every take just one SAT though, or is that unheard of?
Taking SAT just once is perfectly fine and lots of people do it. It is worse to take it multiple times and not improve at all! Silly thing, back in the days of my high school years people (i.e. my friends and classmates) used to say that colleges will not let you take more than three (you can take as many as you want). I took four. I should have stopped at one.
My dd took it once only. Like you she was very busy and didn’t want to retake. He score was very good. Sure it could have been better because she is always a 00 percentile scorer on testing and she didn’t ‘study’, but she didn’t want to–too busy. The only reason for you to retake is to break 700 or bit more on the math. But since you were pleasantly surprised and could do worse next time by bad luck, you are busy, and I doubt your current score will put you out anywhere, I would move on. Contrats at your excellent score!
I have to respectfully disagree, especially with what I have seen this year. Are Williams and Amherst test optional? If not, then you should try to get your scores up. I frankly don’t understand your cavalier attitude towards preparing for the exam. This is a giant piece of the puzzle that the admissions reps are discussing when looking at your application. I also think you are low for Tufts , especially if you don’t apply early decision. You need to research whether these schools are score choice, too. Why wouldn’t you want the benefit of super scoring? You also have the whole summer to prepare for the SAT in the fall. Your GPA is unweighted and is excellent. Give yourself the best chance to get into a school that deserves all of your hard work and ambition. Don’t let the meter run out now! Many kids take the test in the fall.
I wanted to finish with best of luck to you regardless of what you decide!
Educateddarcy: I am worried about doing significantly worse and having colleges see that score and discredit the one I have now. I would love to study all summer, but am not sure how much it would help, because room for error is so small to beat a 2110. I guess I will take a few more practice tests, and maybe the ACTs, and study over the summer if my practice tests are now in the 2100s and not the 1900s. Thanks!
It’s a balance game. You need to make a list of the schools that you are interested in and see where they stand with score choice and super scoring. If most score choice, then I would take the risk. Williams is small and highly, highly selective! Kids with much higher scores are going to be your competition. You should definitely give the ACT a shot as well. My daughter found that taking practice tests and then going to look at the answer key helped her A LOT. I know two very smart kids who got denied from most of their top tier schools because one was missing extracurriculars but had fantastic stats and the other had a higher SAT than you but didn’t break 2200. The latter had everything else. It was a very tough year.
Agreed, I would take it again. I initially had a similar situation (scored a 2130 my first try) and retook it to get a 2210 which superscored for a 2280. Study, and you’ll do better, as well as have a good chance at getting into a more selective program. Best of luck!
I’m a little split on this one. For Boston your scores are pretty good, and I’d focus on other parts of your app. For the other three your math score (despite being very impressive) weighs you down a little. I’d retake to try and improve the math score, and others if you can of course. However, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t.
Well personal anecdote here, but I got a 2110 my first time too and I never studied. So, I never studied again, and raised it to a 2270 the second and final time.
…Sometimes I wish I studied for tests
Hahahaha I hope that happens to me!! How far apart were the two tests? A few months? And gdlt234: What do you mean ‘for boston’?
Ohh… boston college. I understand. Thanks!
It never hurts to take it again. I can see if taking it again would push on your third try, but second try doesn’t hurt a fly. 2110 is good enough for those places, but higher is better in any circumstance. I went from a 2020 to a 2130 only in the matter of a few months. The difference doesn’t seem that drastic but scholarship-wise, it helped.
The difference was 6 months for me. I didn’t take a math class my senior year, or a science class, or a history class (god, how did I get into college), so I felt really relaxed the whole semester. That might have been it. My biggest improvement was math going from 690 to 800.
Oh, and that’s May vs November
I would take it again if you’re aiming for Williams and Amherst. Take a look at their middle range SAT scores here:
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/williams-college
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/amherst-college
But you’re right, the subject tests are also important. Definitely study for those.