SAT - Should she take it again?
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Anonymous
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My DD got a 2180 on the SAT
670 English 800 Math 710 Writing She wants to go to Vanderbilt, Duke, or MIT Should she take it again. She is worried that lightening won't strike twice on math. Haha |
Anonymous
Ha, I would have exactly the same concern 
Well, can she have 800 in English and Writing? |
Anonymous
hard to tell on the internet when someone is being facetious. |
Anonymous
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Most schools will "superscore" the SAT - taking the highest section scores if the test is taken more than once. I don't know if Vandy, Duke, or MIT do this, but it can't hurt to take it more than once if she thinks she can improve those English and Writing scores.
I am fairly certain that if your DD's GPA is within each school's range, that she will have no problem getting into V or Duke but may have more trouble with MIT, though the 800 in math will definitely help since MIT is slanted toward math/science/engineering etc. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Yes, the question is should she take again. Not facetious. She's not sure she can do better on reading. Such a crapshoot. She has a 4.0+ but no special angle. |
Anonymous
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Nope. I wouldn't take it again. She's got a decent shot at MIT. Her scores should get her in everywhere else.
Tell her to relax and enjoy the scores. Well done. |
Anonymous
| Go to the college websites and confirm that they superstore. If they do, the Math will stay 800 in any event. Then she can decide if she wants to work on improving her CR score (although I don't know if that's necessary -- again, I'd look at the college website and common data for the schools she's interested in). |
Anonymous
| OP, if your daughter can improve her critical reading or writing score by taking some practice tests at home, under test-day conditions, then I would have her take it once more to improve the critical reading and writing scores. Most schools superscore, and I think that she will be better off raising the CR and W. |
Anonymous
| OP -- I just looked up MIT's and Duke's scores and that reading score is slightly below their 25th percentile of their accepted students, so since you say she has no special angles I would have her prep hard and try to get that score up for at least those two schools unless she is going to blow them all away on the science side. I think MIT is much tougher to get into than the other two (which are both very tough themselves) -- go to their web site if you haven't yet and you can see. Also, remember that for MIT your child needs very specific SAT IIs in certain math/science subjects. Before deciding whether to retake the SAT, make sure she's got a good plan in place for the SAT IIs. I don't want to sound negative, but you have to realize that there are many, many kids with 800s in math who apply to MIT so that gets a kid in the conversation but you need more to raise the odds. . |
Anonymous
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For MIT, she is in the middle 50 for math, but below the middle 50 for reading. That is probably going to be well under the realistic range for MIT.
DD had a similar SAT composite and did not get in to any top 25 schools. http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats |
Anonymous
Same here. My DC was in the same range but everything over 700. W/L at Vandy. Not in range for Duke or MIT. Definitely need to bring the CR up to be in range for those schools unless she's got something spectacular going for her. Suburban kids need to be at 2250 for those schools. |
Anonymous
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MIT is pretty much the last place where it is an advantage to be a girl instead of a boy. Everywhere else...boys are getting in places with lower scores than the girls.
I work at a local college OP. We'd need a lot more information about your child to be able to give a good "guesstimate" on her chances of admittance. Public or private h.s.? Do they have class ranks? Has dd done any national or at least local science fairs and won. Published anything? Special activities? Race? Economic class? First in family to go to college? Full paying or FA student? Etc. |
Anonymous
So your DC had every measure, CR, M, and W, all over 700, and they were W/L at Vandy? What does a child need to get in? |
Anonymous
| At least 2250 composite and luck, if no really outstanding extracurriculars, hooks or academic achievements besides good grades. Has a chance perhaps at Vandy, but doubt Duke and no way MIT. Really no harm in taking again. The math score won't go away! Even if drops to say 780 or whatever, anything over 750, they just want to see how you do on the best day. My DDs scores were even more skewed first SAT attempt, also 800 math, lower verbal and writing, and she did some prep (Prep Matters) and her total score went up 300 points to 2350. Got in early action to her first choice Ivy |
Anonymous
| OP -- Your child's scores are very, very good. It's just that the schools she's looking at have so many very, very strong applicants. For the vast majority of colleges and universities, her scores would be great. The conversation you need to have with her is to delve into what her safeties would be. If she doesn't want to take the test again to improve her chances of admission to her top 3 choices, that alone should tell her and you something about whether those are the right places for her because there are kids -- our DC was one of them --who do the research on their own and decide that their insanely high scores (in my view) don't seem high enough to give them good odds, and they retake to improve their chances. There is really almost no risk here in retaking because of super scoring at most schools. But if your child improves CR and manages to duplicate the 800 in math, that would look impressive. Good luck. |