Anonymous
Post 04/17/2017 14:17     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If kid is interested in UVA, done with SAT. If kid wants top 20 USNWR school, take again.



I don't agree. UVA Parent here. UVA has gotten very difficult to get into, especially if you are applying from No. Virginia. OP's scores are spectacular but UVA, like every other school, reports their stats - 255 in my DD's class of 2020 had perfect SAT scores. 93% of her class were in the top 10% of their class. DD's gpa was 4.05. She received a 34 on her first ACT and SHE (not us) wanted to retake and did and got a perfect 36. Did that make a difference? I can't tell you. College admissions is now so quirky. What I can tell you that is you have a perfect score it does make a difference in reporting for some schools (to push themselves up the U.S. News & World Report and other listings). Also DD received many unsolicited scholarships from schools we had never heard of because these schools buy the lists of kids who have top scores and then contact them, usually by phone. If that's important to you, then maybe a retest. But only if your child wants to do it.


With a 4.0 UW GPA, a score > 1490 should not make a difference. I say this based on the Naviance data from my kid's NoVA HS. Across all the historical data, I don't see a single rejection with a weighted GPA below ~4.2
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2017 13:48     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:If kid is interested in UVA, done with SAT. If kid wants top 20 USNWR school, take again.



I don't agree. UVA Parent here. UVA has gotten very difficult to get into, especially if you are applying from No. Virginia. OP's scores are spectacular but UVA, like every other school, reports their stats - 255 in my DD's class of 2020 had perfect SAT scores. 93% of her class were in the top 10% of their class. DD's gpa was 4.05. She received a 34 on her first ACT and SHE (not us) wanted to retake and did and got a perfect 36. Did that make a difference? I can't tell you. College admissions is now so quirky. What I can tell you that is you have a perfect score it does make a difference in reporting for some schools (to push themselves up the U.S. News & World Report and other listings). Also DD received many unsolicited scholarships from schools we had never heard of because these schools buy the lists of kids who have top scores and then contact them, usually by phone. If that's important to you, then maybe a retest. But only if your child wants to do it.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2017 13:15     Subject: Re:Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
My DS got a 712. Combined. Yeah, so no.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2017 13:12     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:DS scored 1490 on first SAT. DS did receive some private SAT coaching (his girlfriend's parents got her a private coach and DS did it with her for most sessions). DS doesn't want to retake the test in the fall but I think that he should just because he is so close to breaking 1500.

How should I advise/convince him?

Do colleges look favorably on multiple testing or value the one shot at the test?

DS has a 4.0 unweighted GPA at this point.

Thank you.






According to UVA...Middle 50% NEW SAT score: 1330-1490

...so a 1490 score on the new SAT almost put him in the top quartile of applicants that got accepted.

Anonymous
Post 04/17/2017 08:55     Subject: Re:Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is Mensa membership still 1500?

Anyway - no. He might go down the second time.



I think most colleges look the best score from each section when a student takes it multiple times so it doesn't really matter if his score goes down in subsequent tries.


My supposition is that SAT/ACT score is a baseline for many colleges to do an initial cut. Cynically, and sadly, I think the superscoring for SAT is primarily for marketing/ranking info. So, if someone is in the range, it's probably only in the interest of the College Board to do multiple retakes.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2017 08:18     Subject: Re:Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:Is Mensa membership still 1500?

Anyway - no. He might go down the second time.



I think most colleges look the best score from each section when a student takes it multiple times so it doesn't really matter if his score goes down in subsequent tries.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2017 22:50     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:DS scored 1490 on first SAT. DS did receive some private SAT coaching (his girlfriend's parents got her a private coach and DS did it with her for most sessions). DS doesn't want to retake the test in the fall but I think that he should just because he is so close to breaking 1500.

How should I advise/convince him?

Do colleges look favorably on multiple testing or value the one shot at the test?

DS has a 4.0 unweighted GPA at this point.

Thank you.






OP, we were in the same situation (same score from the last SAT, without any preparation thought) and he same GPA. I didn't force, but encouraged to take January SAT. DD did some self-study this time.

I agree with PP, what is your child's goal? It is a very comfortable score for W&M and UVA (my kid has extracurricular and some National recognition too). She will be very happy in either state schools. But at this point, she just wants to explore other options, so why not to try higher.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2017 06:34     Subject: Re:Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is Mensa membership still 1500?

Anyway - no. He might go down the second time.



Does anyone actually join Mensa?
Mensa won't accept SAT scores from tests after 1994. In any event, whether you encourage your child to retake depends upon his/her goals (e.g., where he wants to attend, merit aid, etc.).
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2017 01:22     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Look to see whether a higher score would qualify him for merit scholarships at the schools he is interested in attending-- or rather whether his current score would be high enough for him to qualify for merit scholarships. Then decide if it is worth it. An unmotivated kid might result in a score drop.
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2017 00:26     Subject: Re:Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:Is Mensa membership still 1500?

Anyway - no. He might go down the second time.



Does anyone actually join Mensa?
Anonymous
Post 04/16/2017 00:24     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
Anonymous wrote:1490 is very good. Don't.


And if he doesn't continue to study, he is very unlikely to do better enough to matter.

Anonymous
Post 04/15/2017 23:58     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
If kid is interested in UVA, done with SAT. If kid wants top 20 USNWR school, take again.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2017 23:25     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
It depends. If he got in the 1500's on practice tests, or thought he had a particularly bad day when he took it, have him take it again. If the 1490 was fairly representative and in the range you expected, then maybe not.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2017 23:22     Subject: Re:Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
If the colleges he's interested super score, then no harm in taking them again.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2017 21:59     Subject: Would you encourage a kid to retake SAT after a 1490 score?
1490 is very good. Don't.