<p>A couple more thoughts after reading all the posts. </p>
<p>JonDavid: Glad your son is retaking SAT and also taking ACT. Some do better on one than the other. A point I hadn’t seen mentioned here: something to think about. You do not have to have the scores sent to MOC or USNA until you see them. On our third retake, we did not send scores until we had seen them. Son mentioned that it “might look bad if scores did not go up…” I agreed he had a good point. Strategy, I guess. After we saw scores, we sent them on to USNA and MOC. </p>
<p>On the whole philosophical discussion as to whether a “natural 1000” is at a disadvantage compared to a “natural 1500,” well, maybe not. My oldest “naturally” scored quite high and went off to school, living in the honors dorm, biomedical science major, etc. He had to learn to study as he had done very well in high school with very little effort. His fellow students in the honors dorm, many with the “natural 1500,” could not survive because they had virtually no study skills. Many did not return for second semester or sophomore year. </p>
<p>My middle son, the USNA applicant, took the SAT three times to get a 1350, still 50 points short of his older brother’s initial effort. Yet, he has built study skills through high school that will serve him well in college. He had to apply himself a bit more to achieve similar results as big bro, but we parents think he is better equipped for a demanding program such as USNA because of it!</p>
<p>I can tell you that scores, etc are so important to you right now. In three years, you won’t remember even what they were! Once they get in to SA or wherever, no one ever speaks of those scores again. Just another arbitrary measure colleges and universities use to evaluate students. Useless to debate whether such measures are fair, they are a fact of life. </p>
<p>I’d let that MOC and Senator know you are still striving for an appointmemt. Good luck!</p>