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<p>It sounds like your son is on a good path to have some fine admission results. Because you are so concerned that your son get a good education, your worry is understandable, but I think it will not be risky for your son to take the SAT once more. Certainly it would be a bad idea to throw away scholarship opportunities just because college admission officers will see two sets of scores, one recent, rather than only one set of scores. College admission officers are used to seeing more than one set of scores from many applicants. </p>
<p>I have heard, from a man I know who is an experienced math team coach in another state, that in his state most of the young people who get the top scores in math competitions at middle school age (for example, MATHCOUNTS) have already achieved perfect scores of 800 on the SAT I math section by that age. (I know other examples of such high scores, from my state.) The interesting fact that he reports to me is that NONE of those students repeat their scores of 800 the next time they take the SAT I, even though they often increase their scores on the critical reading section. Those students have been so busy learning competition math and standard curriculum math beyond calculus that they are slightly out of practice in the junior-high-level (internationally speaking) math found on the SAT I math section. So those students score “lower” the second time they take the SAT I, but it doesn’t hurt them in gaining admission to the top colleges. My math coach friend knows quite a few students who get into HYPSM-level research universities and do fine there. </p>
<p>College admission officers are used to seeing young people who </p>
<p>a) have taken the SAT I more than once, and </p>
<p>b) are too busy to do test-prep at senior-high age, because they are doing challenging high school courses and extracurricular activities. Such students fare well in college admission. </p>
<p>You mention that your son is now a junior. This is a good year to attend lots of [college</a> information meetings](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=389155]college”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=389155) and meet admission officers from different colleges. Feel free to attend meetings to listen to questions about testing requirements and perhaps to ask those questions yourself. I think you will find out–tell me if I am wrong–that most college admission officers will think a student is “keeping up” if he takes challenging courses and does challenging activities and doesn’t spend all day just prepping for the SAT I test. </p>
<p>Also, it may be that your son will still get a high score the next time he takes the test. I’m still waiting to hear a story about a middle-school 800 scorer who gets a second 800 later–that is possible. </p>
<p>Good luck in the application process. Our oldest is a sophomore, so we are one year behind you here.</p>