The same.

What if its flipped -- high verbal, lower math?

Retake, unless you are not native English speakers. That kind of score disparity is more common for international students.

I think you want to aim to get the verbal score over 700 for top schools. How was the writing score? How did he do on PSATs? Are the SAT scores consistent with that? How much prep did he do? If limited prep he probably could really benefit from some prep on the CR section.

Retake for sure. Some kids who don't do well on the CR portion of the SAT do better on the ACT. Might want to consider taking this too.

If he's scored higher in verbal practice tests, then he should retake the test. I know it's a pain and I wish they'd permit retaking the verbal part only but in this situation I think most everyone would recommend a retake.

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean, for example, he has one composite score were he scored 780 in math and 580 in verbal?

More like 780 math and 620 verbal.

Do you mean, for example, he has one composite score were he scored 780 in math and 580 in verbal?

Of course. Taking it 2 times is about the minimum at our school. And we've been advised that unless you've got a hook its dangerous to be under the median.

DS has mediocre scores for one SAT test and extremely high scores for the other, so that his combined score is quite good. Should he retake the test to try to raise the mediocre score? His grades are excellent, even in the subject where he had the lower score. He is interested in "tier 1" schools but not ivies or the most competitive. Think top 25 in rankings, not top 5. For the schools he's looking at one score is just below the "middle 50%" while the other is well above. I know there's no real downside to retaking them, but I think there is actually -- time spent studying and stress. Should he go through it?