I have DD who is a junior. Her SAT is 1530 but UW GPA will be around 3.8 (93%). She wants to retake SAT but we feel that she should focus on bumping up her GPA. Very confused as to what to do. Highly competitive high school with all IB and few AP.
Focus on finding good match and safety schools with her current stats. Most schools will be thrilled to have her.
The reach schools will be reaches even if she had 4.0/1600.
Thanks @momofsenior1. yes, I too think that even if she retakes SAT and gets a 1550 it is not going to make or break it. Rather she spend that time focusing on her AP tests and class exams.
But this is my first one so it’s a very new process. I don’t want to dissuade her either with my decision 
Also say she retakes SAT and gets a lower score, will that affect her chances? A lot of colleges want all scores reported and then they say they superscore. So they do see all score anyway right?
What major is she looking at? If undecided it helps but make sure she can then get into all the colleges in the univ. some restrict internal transfers.
Those are great stats. She has nothing to worry about. Her stats are high enough that they won’t be a deciding factor. And slightly higher stats won’t likely tip the scale.
Agree with @momofsenior1 that she should focus on finding a good range of schools (likely-match-reach) where she would be happy to attend. You can find stats of admitted students for schools and see how your D’s stats compare. Make sure she keeps her grades up junior year. No need to retake the SAT.
Maybe have her speak to her guidance counselor about retaking the SAT. If she’s anything like my Ds, she’ll trust someone else’s opinion above mine.
From our high school, those stats got unhooked kids into Vandy, Rice and Johns Hopkins all early decision.
She want to go BME or Chem Engg. Or BioInformatics – in those areas
Thank you @momzilla2D, yes a good GC would have helped. However the GC of her school is not that involved, very generic advise is given. She worries because the hs is a top-ranked magnet and her peers are super competitive with high test scores and gpa!
Wow @roycroftmom, given her school I don’t think her stats will meet those colleges.
She does understand that given her school, the top 20 colleges are a reach and she probably won’t get in.
Not anymore. Only three colleges still require all SAT scores to be reported (Yale, CMU, Georgetown).
But, it’s hard to imagine there is significant marginal benefit for a slightly higher SAT score in this case.
Does your school have naviance? If so, that can be helpful
She should focus on keeping her GPA, if it goes up thats good, but she definitely doesn’t want it to go down. Her SAT score is good as long as its not lopsided with the math portion a lot lower.
In some schools, the fact that she is a female and wants to go to engineering will give her a boost. I really recommend looking at schools now, if you haven’t already. Top engineering schools are different schools than what non-engineering kids want to get into, and her choice of retaking the SAT could be dependent on what school she ultimately is hoping for.
I also feel for you on the GC part, we went through this last year. My son didnt have a GC for his junior year, so I understand the struggle of a first time parent being the GC for your child. CC helped me quite a bit, so don’t hesitate to ask questions here 
Thank you @mamabear1234 . She had 800M and 730E on the last summer SAT. She doesn’t want to go any expensive school so in-state Rutgers or UMD, Purdue etc. are the ones she will probably target. Her choice is Biomed or Chem Engg. I think she would love to go to some of the better ones like Johns Hopkins,Georgia Tech, Vandy etc but low chance there (are those called “reach”?).
Yes, we have Naviance but as I said kids from her school do have higher GPAs and a few with almost perfect SAT as I see from the sactterplot, so it’s kind of hard on her.
See on naviance where kids get in with her target schools. I have a friends daughter that has the exact score with a unweighted 4.0 GPA. She also wants to retake it. Here’s the deal… If it’s going to eat away at her or possibly blame you for not retaking the Sat and she’s motivated then have her take it one more time. Then she’s done. As stated keep her grades up while taking courses with rigor her senior year. With those majors she can’t let up and have senioritis. She’s getting prepared for college at that point.
What is senioritis ? They don’t get to chose. It’s an IB school so have to take all IB classes to graduate high school.
“If it’s going to eat away at her or possibly blame you for not retaking the Sat” – yeah this is my issue, but she is still a kid who thinks 1550 will open doors that 1530 won’t. As may parents are saying here, I don’t see the merit of a retake right now either
Because the SAT score of 1530 includes an 800 on the math portion, your daughter does not need to retake the SAT since she is applying as a STEM major & the 800 math should help.
But, if confident that she will improve her score while maintaining the 800 on the math portion, then let her get it out of her system.
Instead of retaking the SAT, why not focus on SAT subject tests or on the ACT ?
She will take subject SATs in May I think. Probably Math and Chem. Another reason, I want her to spend time on that instead of SAT retake again, because to improve in this range, she needs to practice hard and that means time commitment. Isn’t that so?
Don’t have her switch to the Act. Two totally different tests. Many do better on one vs the other. Same question again from a family I am helping now . She’s evidently very good on the Sat and has a 34 Act equivalent which is the sweet spot for just about any school in the country. Focus on the Sat subject tests if she needs them for her target schools. Let her take the Sat again to satisfy her urge. Nothing wrong with trying to “go for it”. Getting a higher score could help with merit money at some schools. At University of Alabama it could mean a free ride… Free money is good money BTW… Lol.
I wouldn’t take the SAT again, and would focus on school/grades, AP tests, and subject tests.
Her stats will qualify for her for merit at many schools…her GPA coming from a highly competitive HS and IB program is very good.
Most public colleges do not offer much merit to OOS applicants…it will be tough to get merit at Purdue and Maryland. Some publics that do offer merit to OOS students are Alabama, UAB, Miami Ohio–take a look at the merit grids on their websites.
Did your D take the PSAT? Will she be a National Merit Semifinalist?
Decide what you can/will pay for college and then run the net price calculators on each school’s website to get an estimate of costs. NPCs may not be accurate if parents are divorced, own a business, and/or have real estate beyond a primary home.
Posters can suggest schools broken into reach/target/safety categories, if you give us some more parameters…size, geography, etc.
@DS2021… Some kids think they can lay off senior year and not try as hard. This usually results in lower grades etc. I get the IB but just saying.
@momofsenior1… Do you know about OOS merit at Purdue? Seems this young lady might be going into your daughter’s field. From what I know it seems to have been a great experience for her and the women’s engineering groups seems to be great there.