<p>“Also, will retaking the SAT seem bad? Do colleges even know if you retake the test?”</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with retaking the SAT if you believe you can do better. Many students take it several times. Colleges will know you retook the test, but that’s not a problem. When you ask College Board to send your SAT scores, they automatically send all scores from all sittings. Most colleges, however, will “superscore”: In calculating your scores for admissions purposes, they’ll count the highest subscore you’ve earned in each area (CR, Math, Writing).</p>
<p>ACT is different: You specifically ask ACT to send only the score(s) you want. But most colleges will not superscore the ACT. (There are a few exceptions). They’ll look at all the subscores from the best single sitting you choose to send them.</p>