SAT above 1500- retake?

[Anonymous]

I looked at this last year after my DC took the SAT, and I found no hard data to suggest that retaking after you have gotten 1500+ is worth the time. Instead, I found many instances of admissions officers/counselors saying it does not make a difference once you get to whatever score the school deems sufficient. For an explanation of how this works, you may find this video helpful. It is a 2024 presentation on highly selective college admissions put on by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. The speaker is Paul Kanarek, co-founder of The Princeton Review. He does a really good job of breaking this down at around 30:30 on the video. I hope you find it helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m_d_vJCLqM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the 1500+ is the first try, sure you should retake. Don’t most kids increase their score after a couple tries?

But if it’s already after 3-4 tries or super scored to get to 1500, then don’t bother bc I have seen it backfire in more than one occasion. Some kids actually do worse by the 4th and 5th try due to testing fatigue and it could really sting their confidence. Also, as parents, we need to remember to put prestige aside. Do you really want to put your 1520 after 5 tries superscore kid in a room full of 1st try 1570 kids and make your DC compete like that for 4 years? Yeah yeah I know you’ll say athletes and donor kids also don’t have 1570 but they have other advantages and you know that’s true.

Plenty of kids do exceedingly well graduating from T25-100 colleges, including many at the top of their industries in our country. Give your DC room to spend time to cultivate other aspects of their app and their life, including their confidence and the innate knowledge that their parents think they and their accomplishments are enough.

Agree with all of this. If your kid wants to retake it and try for 1550+, then go ahead and let them. But if they've already prepped and taken it a couple of times and hasn't reached it and you are the one pushing your kid to retake it, then you're putting too much emphasis on the test and you are sending them the message that a 1500 is not good enough. Everyone here has said that it's just one factor and not determinative anywhere and even with 1550+, there's zero guarantee your child will end of at a T25 college. (Anecdotally, I personally know a 1590 who was shut out of all Ivy plus schools despite strong ECs, leadership, personal qualities, and the parents paid thousands of dollars to an independent college counselor).

What major was 1590? Any weaknesses?

Major was biochemistry. No weaknesses - all A's, was all state in a band instrument and was the band leader and had tons of volunteering experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the 1500+ is the first try, sure you should retake. Don’t most kids increase their score after a couple tries?

But if it’s already after 3-4 tries or super scored to get to 1500, then don’t bother bc I have seen it backfire in more than one occasion. Some kids actually do worse by the 4th and 5th try due to testing fatigue and it could really sting their confidence. Also, as parents, we need to remember to put prestige aside. Do you really want to put your 1520 after 5 tries superscore kid in a room full of 1st try 1570 kids and make your DC compete like that for 4 years? Yeah yeah I know you’ll say athletes and donor kids also don’t have 1570 but they have other advantages and you know that’s true.

Plenty of kids do exceedingly well graduating from T25-100 colleges, including many at the top of their industries in our country. Give your DC room to spend time to cultivate other aspects of their app and their life, including their confidence and the innate knowledge that their parents think they and their accomplishments are enough.

Agree with all of this. If your kid wants to retake it and try for 1550+, then go ahead and let them. But if they've already prepped and taken it a couple of times and hasn't reached it and you are the one pushing your kid to retake it, then you're putting too much emphasis on the test and you are sending them the message that a 1500 is not good enough. Everyone here has said that it's just one factor and not determinative anywhere and even with 1550+, there's zero guarantee your child will end of at a T25 college. (Anecdotally, I personally know a 1590 who was shut out of all Ivy plus schools despite strong ECs, leadership, personal qualities, and the parents paid thousands of dollars to an independent college counselor).

What major was 1590? Any weaknesses?

Major was biochemistry. No weaknesses - all A's, was all state in a band instrument and was the band leader and had tons of volunteering experience.

1. This is absolutely because they look at the apps holistically. People deny it but it is true. Once a certain threshold is reached, the very top schools are looking for kids who stand out by being both pointy interest and also broad in skills.

2. What you've listed is not "strong ECs." You've listed no impact, no national awards, no job, and nothing to connect the kid's academic aspiration of biochemistry to his ECs of music and volunteering.

3. Tons of volunteering is worth nothing for college apps without a focus, quantifying impact, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the 1500+ is the first try, sure you should retake. Don’t most kids increase their score after a couple tries?

But if it’s already after 3-4 tries or super scored to get to 1500, then don’t bother bc I have seen it backfire in more than one occasion. Some kids actually do worse by the 4th and 5th try due to testing fatigue and it could really sting their confidence. Also, as parents, we need to remember to put prestige aside. Do you really want to put your 1520 after 5 tries superscore kid in a room full of 1st try 1570 kids and make your DC compete like that for 4 years? Yeah yeah I know you’ll say athletes and donor kids also don’t have 1570 but they have other advantages and you know that’s true.

Plenty of kids do exceedingly well graduating from T25-100 colleges, including many at the top of their industries in our country. Give your DC room to spend time to cultivate other aspects of their app and their life, including their confidence and the innate knowledge that their parents think they and their accomplishments are enough.

Agree with all of this. If your kid wants to retake it and try for 1550+, then go ahead and let them. But if they've already prepped and taken it a couple of times and hasn't reached it and you are the one pushing your kid to retake it, then you're putting too much emphasis on the test and you are sending them the message that a 1500 is not good enough. Everyone here has said that it's just one factor and not determinative anywhere and even with 1550+, there's zero guarantee your child will end of at a T25 college. (Anecdotally, I personally know a 1590 who was shut out of all Ivy plus schools despite strong ECs, leadership, personal qualities, and the parents paid thousands of dollars to an independent college counselor).

What major was 1590? Any weaknesses?

Major was biochemistry. No weaknesses - all A's, was all state in a band instrument and was the band leader and had tons of volunteering experience.

1. This is absolutely because they look at the apps holistically. People deny it but it is true. Once a certain threshold is reached, the very top schools are looking for kids who stand out by being both pointy interest and also broad in skills.

2. What you've listed is not "strong ECs." You've listed no impact, no national awards, no job, and nothing to connect the kid's academic aspiration of biochemistry to his ECs of music and volunteering.

3. Tons of volunteering is worth nothing for college apps without a focus, quantifying impact, etc.

DP. Ever consider the possibility of PP not listing every accomplishment their child has, so as to not bore everyone out with the laundry list? You sound like a know-it-all. "Tons of volunteering is worth nothing." A big fat nothing, really? Your post would have been more credible if you weren't so absolute certain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the 1500+ is the first try, sure you should retake. Don’t most kids increase their score after a couple tries?

But if it’s already after 3-4 tries or super scored to get to 1500, then don’t bother bc I have seen it backfire in more than one occasion. Some kids actually do worse by the 4th and 5th try due to testing fatigue and it could really sting their confidence. Also, as parents, we need to remember to put prestige aside. Do you really want to put your 1520 after 5 tries superscore kid in a room full of 1st try 1570 kids and make your DC compete like that for 4 years? Yeah yeah I know you’ll say athletes and donor kids also don’t have 1570 but they have other advantages and you know that’s true.

Plenty of kids do exceedingly well graduating from T25-100 colleges, including many at the top of their industries in our country. Give your DC room to spend time to cultivate other aspects of their app and their life, including their confidence and the innate knowledge that their parents think they and their accomplishments are enough.

Agree with all of this. If your kid wants to retake it and try for 1550+, then go ahead and let them. But if they've already prepped and taken it a couple of times and hasn't reached it and you are the one pushing your kid to retake it, then you're putting too much emphasis on the test and you are sending them the message that a 1500 is not good enough. Everyone here has said that it's just one factor and not determinative anywhere and even with 1550+, there's zero guarantee your child will end of at a T25 college. (Anecdotally, I personally know a 1590 who was shut out of all Ivy plus schools despite strong ECs, leadership, personal qualities, and the parents paid thousands of dollars to an independent college counselor).

What major was 1590? Any weaknesses?

Major was biochemistry. No weaknesses - all A's, was all state in a band instrument and was the band leader and had tons of volunteering experience.

1. This is absolutely because they look at the apps holistically. People deny it but it is true. Once a certain threshold is reached, the very top schools are looking for kids who stand out by being both pointy interest and also broad in skills.

2. What you've listed is not "strong ECs." You've listed no impact, no national awards, no job, and nothing to connect the kid's academic aspiration of biochemistry to his ECs of music and volunteering.

3. Tons of volunteering is worth nothing for college apps without a focus, quantifying impact, etc.

DP. Ever consider the possibility of PP not listing every accomplishment their child has, so as to not bore everyone out with the laundry list? You sound like a know-it-all. "Tons of volunteering is worth nothing." A big fat nothing, really? Your post would have been more credible if you weren't so absolute certain.

PP. No worries, I am basically using this example to prove the PP's posting that the SAT score does not matter to top schools after you reach a certain threshold. 1590 is not different from a 1520 for the tippy top most selective schools - in holistic admissions, it's what else the student brings to the school. My kid is fine with where they ended up, even if it's not "elite" - kids and parents get over that quickly.

OP - don't stress about a 1510 or 1520 or whatever - your kid will end up where they are meant to be and junior year grades and rigor are more important so have them focus on that.

[Anonymous]

Above a 1500 is fine , if all else is good, it seems to suffice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the 1500+ is the first try, sure you should retake. Don’t most kids increase their score after a couple tries?

But if it’s already after 3-4 tries or super scored to get to 1500, then don’t bother bc I have seen it backfire in more than one occasion. Some kids actually do worse by the 4th and 5th try due to testing fatigue and it could really sting their confidence. Also, as parents, we need to remember to put prestige aside. Do you really want to put your 1520 after 5 tries superscore kid in a room full of 1st try 1570 kids and make your DC compete like that for 4 years? Yeah yeah I know you’ll say athletes and donor kids also don’t have 1570 but they have other advantages and you know that’s true.

Plenty of kids do exceedingly well graduating from T25-100 colleges, including many at the top of their industries in our country. Give your DC room to spend time to cultivate other aspects of their app and their life, including their confidence and the innate knowledge that their parents think they and their accomplishments are enough.

Agree with all of this. If your kid wants to retake it and try for 1550+, then go ahead and let them. But if they've already prepped and taken it a couple of times and hasn't reached it and you are the one pushing your kid to retake it, then you're putting too much emphasis on the test and you are sending them the message that a 1500 is not good enough. Everyone here has said that it's just one factor and not determinative anywhere and even with 1550+, there's zero guarantee your child will end of at a T25 college. (Anecdotally, I personally know a 1590 who was shut out of all Ivy plus schools despite strong ECs, leadership, personal qualities, and the parents paid thousands of dollars to an independent college counselor).

What major was 1590? Any weaknesses?

Major was biochemistry. No weaknesses - all A's, was all state in a band instrument and was the band leader and had tons of volunteering experience.

1. This is absolutely because they look at the apps holistically. People deny it but it is true. Once a certain threshold is reached, the very top schools are looking for kids who stand out by being both pointy interest and also broad in skills.

2. What you've listed is not "strong ECs." You've listed no impact, no national awards, no job, and nothing to connect the kid's academic aspiration of biochemistry to his ECs of music and volunteering.

3. Tons of volunteering is worth nothing for college apps without a focus, quantifying impact, etc.

DP. Ever consider the possibility of PP not listing every accomplishment their child has, so as to not bore everyone out with the laundry list? You sound like a know-it-all. "Tons of volunteering is worth nothing." A big fat nothing, really? Your post would have been more credible if you weren't so absolute certain.

PP. No worries, I am basically using this example to prove the PP's posting that the SAT score does not matter to top schools after you reach a certain threshold. 1590 is not different from a 1520 for the tippy top most selective schools - in holistic admissions, it's what else the student brings to the school. My kid is fine with where they ended up, even if it's not "elite" - kids and parents get over that quickly.

OP - don't stress about a 1510 or 1520 or whatever - your kid will end up where they are meant to be and junior year grades and rigor are more important so have them focus on that.

Tippy top? Are you 3 years old? Can we speak like adults here?

[Anonymous]

A lot of coping and bad advice in this thread.

[Anonymous]

:mrgreen:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of coping and bad advice in this thread.

Which advice is bad? Honest question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I looked at this last year after my DC took the SAT, and I found no hard data to suggest that retaking after you have gotten 1500+ is worth the time. Instead, I found many instances of admissions officers/counselors saying it does not make a difference once you get to whatever score the school deems sufficient. For an explanation of how this works, you may find this video helpful. It is a 2024 presentation on highly selective college admissions put on by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. The speaker is Paul Kanarek, co-founder of The Princeton Review. He does a really good job of breaking this down at around 30:30 on the video. I hope you find it helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m_d_vJCLqM

Great video I had not seen before -- thanks for sharing -- to quote, "Once you go north of 1500, you don’t take these tests again…you’re not going to get any additional advantage."

[Anonymous]

This topic is rage bait for the parents who fight like hell insisting that a 34 / 1500 is just as good as a 36 / 1600 and that a 3-attempt superscore is just as good as a one-and-done.

[Anonymous]

It’s remarkable how widespread the consensus is that top colleges do not want top students.

What do you suppose happens to all the unwanted high-scoring students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This topic is rage bait for the parents who fight like hell insisting that a 34 / 1500 is just as good as a 36 / 1600 and that a 3-attempt superscore is just as good as a one-and-done.

It's not as good on a pure measurement basis (one is obviously stronger)...but it is as good for holistic college admissions at most T20.

Don't conflate the two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This topic is rage bait for the parents who fight like hell insisting that a 34 / 1500 is just as good as a 36 / 1600 and that a 3-attempt superscore is just as good as a one-and-done.

It's not as good on a pure measurement basis (one is obviously stronger)...but it is as good for holistic college admissions at most T20.

Don't conflate the two.

+1 (parent of a kid with a one-and-done 36 ACT)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This topic is rage bait for the parents who fight like hell insisting that a 34 / 1500 is just as good as a 36 / 1600 and that a 3-attempt superscore is just as good as a one-and-done.

It's not as good on a pure measurement basis (one is obviously stronger)...but it is as good for holistic college admissions at most T20.

Don't conflate the two.

+1 (parent of a kid with a one-and-done 36 ACT)

+1 (parent of a kid with one-and-done 35 ACT in junior year and consistently told not to put any energy/emotion/pressure into testing, the "hurdle is cleared" for every school)