Should I retake the SAT?

Pajkaj
Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:34:53 +0000

Hello all. Thank you ahead of time, for responding if you do.

I am looking at a number of schools, with my sights on some sort of engineering – as for what specialty, still undecided. My top school at the moment is Harvey Mudd, with Stanford close behind. Let’s, for arguments sake, say those are the only two schools I’m applying to, just because the other ones I’m applying to are not anywhere near as difficult to get into.

I took a statewide ACT, without writing, and got a 33 composite:
M-35
S-35
W-28
R-32

I also have taken an SAT:
M-750
W-660
CR-600

My question is this. I plan to take the ACT again, because HMC won’t take it without writing, and I don’t think Stanford will either. My ACT scores carry well more weight than my SAT. My question is this: In particular for admission at the two aforementioned schools, is retaking the SAT to get my CR and W scores up going to be a make-or-break at either school? Or do my ACT scores stand strong enough that not doing any better won’t make a difference?

Currently, I’m planning on taking it again to try anyway; it seems foolish not to. But any quantitative estimates of how much better I need/should do would be helpful.

Other transcript info:

Full International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Candidate
Loc: Denver
Rank: 2 of 468
GPA: 3.97 (UW) 5.10 (W is out of 5.2)
SATII Math II: 800 (As a sophomore)
SATII Bio-E: Pending (June 26th)
NHS and SHS
Varsity Tennis (Captain, senior year)
A bunch of other small clubs that won’t hold much weight.
Work experience: Lifeguard at U of Denver for 16 months

Any and all thoughts and what I’m aiming for on the SAT would be appreciated.