it's up to your kid to decide if it's worth it to retake it a bunch of times. most colleges won't care, so s/he needs to do the cost-benefit-time analysis themselves.

some students plateau by 2 times. but if your student is still improving it's up to them if they want to take it 3 or even 4 times.

personally, I can't imagine wanting to take it 5+ times but to each their own! I have heard it's not nearly as important as GPA so do let your student priortize that.

For my kids, I'd probably say that 4 or more times is too much. But it's not because of any concern about the optics for AOs. It's more about DC using their time effectively. Having to study and take the SAT is time consuming and I think it'd be a better use of DC's time to do other things. And I certainly wouldn't urge DC to take the SAT more than twice if DC scored 1500 or above.

FWIW, my DD took the ACT with no preparation at all (her school has everyone take the ACT for some reason) during fall of her junior year. She got a 31. After a busy junior year, she studied for about 6 weeks during the summer and got a 35, which was definitely good enough. She got into three T20s and 2 WASPs.

Anonymous wrote:My kid took it 5 times but never improved after the 3rd time. 1290 + prep = 1530, 1520, 1500, 1490, 1500.
I've heard several kids that this happened too. I think there is a limit to improvement unless you start doing some new and drastically different/intense prep which my kid did not have time or inclination to do after already taking it mutiple times and having a 1530 score.

i.e. most kids see an initial bump after doing prep (vs taking it cold) but it's really hard if not impossible to chip away at those last 50 points.

No such thing as too many times. They'll never know and everyone is different.

My kid took it 5 times but never improved after the 3rd time. 1290 + prep = 1530, 1520, 1500, 1490, 1500.
I've heard several kids that this happened too. I think there is a limit to improvement unless you start doing some new and drastically different/intense prep which my kid did not have time or inclination to do after already taking it mutiple times and having a 1530 score.

Anonymous wrote:My kid took it 6 times. Started out with 1290 PSAT, worked hard and made it to 1520+ with a lot of studying and helpful tutor.

Similar story here. I forget what the PSAT was, but it was probably around that. Took SAT 6 times and ended up at 1540.

Anonymous wrote:DD got 1520 first time and then dropped to 1500 second. She is debating whether to take again. Does it look bad to colleges to take it three times, esp if she doesn't improve?

Colleges DO NOT CARE how many times you take it. Do what you need to do.

DS improved significantly between junior and senior year. There is no harm in taking it again.

No limit

there are few main parts of the application you can shift meaningfully months before the apps are due. testing is one you can.

my kid stopped prepping a year before she stopped talking the test. (prepped for a few weeks august before junior year, took last SAT august before senior year).

Trying things a second or third time to achieve a difficult goal doesn’t indicate perfectionist tendencies. It could simply indicate grit or commitment to learning and improving.

The idea that any kid that is taught to work hard will have an unhappy life feels like a major stretch.

No more.

Don’t encourage perfectionist tendencies, They are not healthy and do not bode well for future happiness.

people here assume retakes means more prep. for many kids, they just go in and take it again. that's what mine did. moved from 1500 to 1560 superscore over 4 Saturday mornings. worth it.

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.

This is the correct answer

My kid took it 6 times. Started out with 1290 PSAT, worked hard and made it to 1520+ with a lot of studying and helpful tutor.

As many times as you want. Don't listen to some of these posters. Schools don't care how many times you take. That's just dumb.