The effects of score choice

<p>say I scored really well during one SAT testing, but did poorly when i retook it…how does this affect the adcoms perception of me? do they look negatively upon it? if they truly only look at your best scores, why are they so adamant on having students send in all of their scores? thanks in advance and i apologize if this question has already been answered.</p>

<p>Why they insist on sending all scores?</p>

<p>Well I do not have the actual link with me but I read that they want to discourage unhealthy patterns for one (taking the SAT 6 times would generally be considered unhealthy)</p>

<p>They also want to level the playing field as concerns number of times the test was taken, like some people cannot afford to take the test more than once. Should this applicant be at a disadvantage to one who has taken the test 10 times and has a lower initial score but ultimately a higher final score?</p>

<p>Off the top of my head, this is what I can remember.</p>

<p>I think that they are just trying to weed out the people who scored high only because they took the test 8 times. 2 times is not excessive at all. I think you’re ok.</p>

<p>Lack of score choice was good for me cause I got a 2400 on the only time I took it :D</p>

<p>thanks for all of your responses so far.</p>

<p>^ what about if you took it 4-5 times?</p>

<p>say first time was really bad. second time was great. third time wasn’t as bad as the first, but lower than the second. and the fourth/fifth was REALLY great?</p>

<p>Though I can’t say much on the matter, my personal opinion is any number over three is excessive. First time you do okay but second time is to strive for a better score. Third time is if you really feel you can do better one more time (or to make up for the second if you did poorly). SATs are important, but they’re not so entirely essential to your application that taking the test over and over is appreciated.</p>

<p>^ thanks for your input on the matter thus far</p>

<p>I agree with kimathi, but retaking exams isn’t going to neccesarily hurt your application. CC member christiansoldier got into Stanford, and even though he had [ridiculous</a> stats](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064429157-post53.html]ridiculous”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064429157-post53.html), he did take what some may consider an exccessive number of tests.</p>

<p>^Actually, the example of christiansoldier is exactly what came to mind when I read Op’s post. Christiansoldier wanted to go to Harvard and was rejected. If I remember correctly, he wrote that he felt that his excessive number of tests is what kept him out of his dream school.</p>

<p>Well I doubt it would necessarily hurt an applicant directly. But it has the potential to make a lower score scored by a single test taker look better, if I am making any sense (sorry, I’m sleep cc’ing). lol! It’ll add to the context of the application.</p>

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<p>I don’t think the situation is necessarily the same. While CS retook his tests numerous times, he was always consistent across the board in scoring high on the SAT. My situation deals more with an extreme fluctuation of scores.</p>

<p>IMO, they might mildly question the fluctuation, but as long as it is not so extreme as to indicate foul play (like some one taking the test for you), I doubt it will be something they will base an entire decision on.</p>

<p>What is the thought on steadily increasing scores. I practiced and raised my 30 to a 34 by the fourth try. Also, what about individual categories? I raised both my reading and English scores by eight points by the last test. I guess I am just fretting right now.</p>