How many times is too many to take SAT?

[Anonymous]

Here first score was very good.

Work with getting her to understand that great is plenty good, and perfection is not a healthy goal.

[Anonymous]

Ultimately I think it’s her choice. She’s nearly an adult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges won’t know how many times you took it. Just report the two that you use to super score. Is her second one is worse than the first for both sections? If not, you can use the best section scores to super score. Now, my impression from doing a lot of research is that there is zero difference between 1520 and 1550 for the purposes of most college admissions but I don’t think it would hurt to take another test. There is randomness to it. My kid had 1520 on the first try. Didn’t prep at all for the second and got 1570.

OP here. 770 verbal on both, 750 math on first 730 on second. Focused most of her prep on improving math between 1st and 2nd but didn't pan out. Doesn't want to major in STEM. We (including DD) all agree that really no difference between 1520 and 1550 but with all the focus on "what's the middle 50%" for various schools potentially on the list, that's where we get a little tripped up. 1520 puts her in the middle 50 but not at top or above for some schools.

Of course this is all a little nuts--I get that. DH and I both scored in 1300s 30+ yrs ago and were thrilled- hate that there is so much pressure on these kids that 1520 doesn't feel like a home run. Nonetheless, thanks to all offering opinions. It actually is very helpful to read others' thought processes and experiences.

Your job is to be a voice of reason. To balance out her neurotic peers or insecurities.

Unless you are caught up in listening to the status conscious parents and can't model for your child that her goal should just be to do her best (not to keep up with others, or surpass them).

[Anonymous]

I disagree with posters saying not to retake. If she can get over 50% for schools she wants to apply to, why not?

You should advise according to this student's goals, not your own belief system.

If you want to say, she doesn't need higher math if she is non-STEM, and here is why I think that, that's a different thing.

[Anonymous]

Look, OP, the bottom line is that girls generally do worse on the math portion of the SATs than boys. Your daughter's scores are almost perfect when gender is taken into account, and since she's not interested in STEM this isn't an issue. There are very few non-STEM schools that I know of where the middle 50 percent of math scores are lower than a friggin 730. If you and your daughter think that a 1500+ on the SAT is going to keep your daughter out of any school then, yes, you're neurotic.

Get a grip, OP.

[Anonymous]

Depends. Mine took a baseline with no test prep (never took PSAT due to covid, so had no idea how it would pan out), then took a class and score went up. Two weeks after the second test, the school had SAT day for free so why not - in our minds it was like another chance, and her score went up again. So three times, but in my brain was really only once. She got in all of her targets and two of her reaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends. Mine took a baseline with no test prep (never took PSAT due to covid, so had no idea how it would pan out), then took a class and score went up. Two weeks after the second test, the school had SAT day for free so why not - in our minds it was like another chance, and her score went up again. So three times, but in my brain was really only once. She got in all of her targets and two of her reaches.

and you have no idea whether taking the SAT three times had any impact whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges won’t know how many times you took it. Just report the two that you use to super score. Is her second one is worse than the first for both sections? If not, you can use the best section scores to super score. Now, my impression from doing a lot of research is that there is zero difference between 1520 and 1550 for the purposes of most college admissions but I don’t think it would hurt to take another test. There is randomness to it. My kid had 1520 on the first try. Didn’t prep at all for the second and got 1570.

OP here. 770 verbal on both, 750 math on first 730 on second. Focused most of her prep on improving math between 1st and 2nd but didn't pan out. Doesn't want to major in STEM. We (including DD) all agree that really no difference between 1520 and 1550 but with all the focus on "what's the middle 50%" for various schools potentially on the list, that's where we get a little tripped up. 1520 puts her in the middle 50 but not at top or above for some schools.

Of course this is all a little nuts--I get that. DH and I both scored in 1300s 30+ yrs ago and were thrilled- hate that there is so much pressure on these kids that 1520 doesn't feel like a home run. Nonetheless, thanks to all offering opinions. It actually is very helpful to read others' thought processes and experiences.

This is more than a little nuts. It is a ridiculous waste of time and completely undermines your stated concern about "so much pressure on these kids."

Stop indulging and engaging in nonsense.

How is OP indulging nonsense? Sounds like her daughter and both parents understand her score is fantastic and don't think she really needs to test again but are trying to navigate the same stuff that a bunch of us are trying to sort through. I've got similar questions. it's all changed so much since when we applied. I don't even know anyone who had a score in the 1500s from my HS but plenty of us got into t20 schools. Our DS has also gotten that whole Middle 50% thing drummed into our heads as well and have heard that if he isn't at >75th % for certain schools SAT/ACT range don't bother applying, or apply without test scores. And he is comfortably above 50th for these schools! It is nuts. But it's reality.

Ok? Teenagers need someone who says, "Enough" to this BS. Handwringing over the possibility of raising one's score a few points is ridiculous, as is the obsession with "t20." That is what I mean by indulging nonsense.

If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ultimately I think it’s her choice. She’s nearly an adult.

Yep, but not on my dime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges won’t know how many times you took it. Just report the two that you use to super score. Is her second one is worse than the first for both sections? If not, you can use the best section scores to super score. Now, my impression from doing a lot of research is that there is zero difference between 1520 and 1550 for the purposes of most college admissions but I don’t think it would hurt to take another test. There is randomness to it. My kid had 1520 on the first try. Didn’t prep at all for the second and got 1570.

OP here. 770 verbal on both, 750 math on first 730 on second. Focused most of her prep on improving math between 1st and 2nd but didn't pan out. Doesn't want to major in STEM. We (including DD) all agree that really no difference between 1520 and 1550 but with all the focus on "what's the middle 50%" for various schools potentially on the list, that's where we get a little tripped up. 1520 puts her in the middle 50 but not at top or above for some schools.

Of course this is all a little nuts--I get that. DH and I both scored in 1300s 30+ yrs ago and were thrilled- hate that there is so much pressure on these kids that 1520 doesn't feel like a home run. Nonetheless, thanks to all offering opinions. It actually is very helpful to read others' thought processes and experiences.

Your job is to be a voice of reason. To balance out her neurotic peers or insecurities.

Unless you are caught up in listening to the status conscious parents and can't model for your child that her goal should just be to do her best (not to keep up with others, or surpass them).

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with posters saying not to retake. If she can get over 50% for schools she wants to apply to, why not?

You should advise according to this student's goals, not your own belief system.

If you want to say, she doesn't need higher math if she is non-STEM, and here is why I think that, that's a different thing.

The very question being asked by PP is driven by a belief system. A belief that scoring 2% higher on the SAT really makes a difference on one's application. A belief that attending a school that is rated top 20 on an absolutely bullsh*t calculation by a defunct magazine is a meaningful reflection of one's worth or predictive of one's future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ultimately I think it’s her choice. She’s nearly an adult.

Yep, but not on my dime.

So better to control her through money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges won’t know how many times you took it. Just report the two that you use to super score. Is her second one is worse than the first for both sections? If not, you can use the best section scores to super score. Now, my impression from doing a lot of research is that there is zero difference between 1520 and 1550 for the purposes of most college admissions but I don’t think it would hurt to take another test. There is randomness to it. My kid had 1520 on the first try. Didn’t prep at all for the second and got 1570.

OP here. 770 verbal on both, 750 math on first 730 on second. Focused most of her prep on improving math between 1st and 2nd but didn't pan out. Doesn't want to major in STEM. We (including DD) all agree that really no difference between 1520 and 1550 but with all the focus on "what's the middle 50%" for various schools potentially on the list, that's where we get a little tripped up. 1520 puts her in the middle 50 but not at top or above for some schools.

Of course this is all a little nuts--I get that. DH and I both scored in 1300s 30+ yrs ago and were thrilled- hate that there is so much pressure on these kids that 1520 doesn't feel like a home run. Nonetheless, thanks to all offering opinions. It actually is very helpful to read others' thought processes and experiences.

This is more than a little nuts. It is a ridiculous waste of time and completely undermines your stated concern about "so much pressure on these kids."

Stop indulging and engaging in nonsense.

How is OP indulging nonsense? Sounds like her daughter and both parents understand her score is fantastic and don't think she really needs to test again but are trying to navigate the same stuff that a bunch of us are trying to sort through. I've got similar questions. it's all changed so much since when we applied. I don't even know anyone who had a score in the 1500s from my HS but plenty of us got into t20 schools. Our DS has also gotten that whole Middle 50% thing drummed into our heads as well and have heard that if he isn't at >75th % for certain schools SAT/ACT range don't bother applying, or apply without test scores. And he is comfortably above 50th for these schools! It is nuts. But it's reality.

Ok? Teenagers need someone who says, "Enough" to this BS. Handwringing over the possibility of raising one's score a few points is ridiculous, as is the obsession with "t20." That is what I mean by indulging nonsense.

If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Right. I hate when people act so passively in the face of unhealthy trends. You and your family really can be better (and that does not mean getting into a higher ranked college).

[Anonymous]

If she wanted to do engineering or CS, I would say bring up math. But a 750 in math for a non-stem major is more than enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends. Mine took a baseline with no test prep (never took PSAT due to covid, so had no idea how it would pan out), then took a class and score went up. Two weeks after the second test, the school had SAT day for free so why not - in our minds it was like another chance, and her score went up again. So three times, but in my brain was really only once. She got in all of her targets and two of her reaches.

and you have no idea whether taking the SAT three times had any impact whatsoever.

Totally true. But she had several options, and all of them were good, and that’s all she cared about. So it didn’t really matter, to her.