Retake with a 2260?

TheBacchanal
Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:55:40 +0000

I’m definitely looking at highly selective schools such as Columbia, UPenn and UCLA, which is why I want to retake the SAT. I feel like I know the test very well by now, well enough to keep pushing my score up, but I can’t guarantee a definite increase or else I wouldn’t be having this dilemma and would just retake them. Is this Score Choice option foolproof now, as in the schools will definitely not see the scores I don’t want them to see? I’ve always felt like Score Choice is very unstable or unpredictable, like even if I did use it, some schools would still be able to access my previous scores. If I’m wrong and schools can’t access my less outstanding scores, maybe I should just retake them because what’s there to lose besides the $71 (I’m an international student) and a potentially lovely Saturday morning right?

I think my grades are good enough for highly selective schools that aren’t Harvard or Yale: I have a ~4.1 cumulative GPA, a rigorous academic curriculum (IB Diploma) with Chem, English and Econ HL, and good writing abilities so the essays hopefully won’t be a problem. My ECs are pretty mediocre though, no outstanding leadership roles or awards, which really makes me jittery when I see someone who is president of 15 different clubs and has awards galore posting his/her rejected status by schools like Princeton and Stanford. Without a 2300+ SAT score, do I even stand a chance in this ceaselessly growing pool of talent?