S*a*t* / A*c*t*

mardad
Sat, 15 Jul 2006 17:47:58 +0000

Your GPA shows that you are a good student. The function of the tests is to show that your school is not super easy or that you are an overachiever. In other words they validate your grades. Your current tests are enough to validate your GPA. In other words you are a candidate, but because of the large number of applicants it is still a reach, just less of a reach than it is for some other applicants. Admissions will look at the rest of your application.
I don’t think you have anything to gain by retaking. The validation function is the reason they take your highest SAT or ACT. Retaking will not affect your AP test grade, but alot of AP results depend on the teachers teaching to the test. I think that that is how I would interpret low scores from someone who is otherwise a good student and test taker. My younger daughter goes to a school that gives honors courses but no APs. You may want to suggest this to your school as the APs are becoming less important. This frees up the teachers to teach more challenging courses to the better students without having to conform to a particular program. Her chemistry teacher uses three texts in three different classes: a simple text for those not headed to college, an more advanced HS text for those headed to college and a college text for the class made up of those who are one year or more ahead in math and are recommended by the math and biology teachers.