Retaking SAT?

My daughter is a freshman in college and she took it twice (thought about a third time just in case). I think she determined the scores to go to each college. I graduated high school in 1984 and I took it twice as well.

YES, you can re-take it as much as you want too. The University will look at the highest score. The same with the ACT, GRE, MCAT, you name it, retake it a second time if you feel you didn't do well on it.

I took the SAT twice - that was in 1987. It was very common for people to take it twice. So unless the rules have changed since then, then no, she's not lying about THAT part of the story!

Just about everyone takes the SAT more than once. I teach SAT prep and most of my students take it 2-3 times and some have taken it as many as 5. The test is offered, if I recall correctly off the top of my head, 7 times per year. Most schools don't offer every test date, but just about all, at least around here, offer the most popular dates (October or November, March, June).

ETA: The current scoring is out of 2400. Assuming that this woman took the test more than a few years ago, the maximum score possible back then would have been 1600. It is entirely possible to double a score if the first time she took the test she wasn't prepared or had a really off day. I have a student in my class now whose starting score was in the 900 range (300 per section, which would have been a 600 under the old scoring). His most recent practice test puts him at over 1600, an increase of more than 700 points.

Now is it likely that here score literally went from 800 -1600? Not very, but I suspect from what you wrote here that you don't have the exact numbers. But the bottom line is that it is standard practice to take the test more than once, and I see score increases of several hundred points all the time.

ETA 2: The scoring changed a few years ago so that each time a student takes the test, she or he can decide which colleges receive the scores from that particular test date. Before, if you picked a school, the school automatically got your scores from each time you took the test. Now if a student bombs a test or scores lower on a second or third test than on a prior test, no one has to know. Also, if a student sends scores to a college from more than one test date, the college will take the highest score in each section from the multiple tests, creating a composite score.

Going along with everyone else here... yes you can take it as many times as you want.

My daughter is a current Jr. She took the PSAT in the fall of 2011. So far this year, she has taken the SAT and ACT and per her request, wanted to do it again to go for even higher scores. She is scheduled for both again.

Do you have an account on collegeboard.org? You can get the list of test dates there and also you can sign up on the ACT website and get test dates.

The Sr High school my daughter goes to is in the top 1% of high schools in the country with 98% going on to college. The counselors suggests to the students to take it as many times as they want but don't stress over it.

The colleges receive the highest scores from the test you have taken.

Yes, you can take the SAT and ACT multiple times. It requires registration and payment each time.

That woman must have had the hangover from hell the first time she took the SAT to make 800 (I think you get a 400 just for signing your name!) and THEN make an 1800 the second time. Or is she trying to sell you a study course or something?

Of course you can retake the SAT. You can take it every time they offer it, and pay the big fee too. Your best math score and best comprehensive reading score (and writing, but a lot of colleges don't really care about the writing part) is what the colleges look at.

Btw, lots of college juniors take the SAT and then take it in October of the senior year in hopes of getting a better score right before sending off their college applications. They do the same thing with the ACT.

Now that you know that yes, people do take SAT's multiple times, your REAL question should be how on earth she went from 800 to 1800. If you read about the SAT, they will tell you how many points people can realistically expect to up their score the next time they take the test.

One of the reasons schools tell high schoolers not to skip math even though they don't have to have 4 years of it, is so that by the time they take the ACT and SAT, they haven't forgotten it and bomb their math score. Also, with the SAT, it's Scholastic APTITUDE Test - Aptitude being the important word here. How can this woman have an 800 aptitude and then have an 1800 aptitude?

I think she's blowing smoke up your skirt, to be honest. That doesn't jell with anything the experts say about this test.

Dawn

As long as you are willing to pay for it, you can retake the test as often as you wish. Your school may have only offered one testing date, but you could have gone to a different testing site.

It's pretty common at competitive prep schools to start taking the SAT Sophomore year, and continue to take it as often as it's offered. At my high school, we took it a minimum of two times. I took it three times. If you're trying to get into a top 10 university, you do need a near-perfect score, so unless your first score is perfect, it makes sense to re-take it.

I didn't take SATs but ACT, but you could take it as many times as you wanted. Maybe your school only had one scheduled date that was at your school, but you can take the test at any location as long as you register and pay for it beforehand. I actually took my ACT when my family was on vacation in a totally different location cause I waited too long and it was only the only scheduled exam date that I could make it to.

Yes you can retake it, my stepson did a few years ago.

They now have to score higher then they used to but I am not sure what that current perfect score is.

Absolutely . . . I have several friends with children who took the SAT more than once. My son was going to do it, too, but changed his mind after he saw his score (which was fine for what he wants to do).

I'm not sure I've ever heard of anyone raising his/her score that dramatically but I suppose it is possible.

PS: My teen is a homeschooler and elected to take the SAT at a high school where another homeschooling friend was taking his test (and this school is not our district school). Most people take it at their home school but apparently you do not have to do it that way.

http://sat.collegeboard.org/home

Nope kids start taking them their sophomore year through their senior. On the ACT you can actually take your highest in each subject to make a higher composite score.

It is my understanding that many kids take it twice: once as a junior and then again as a senior and most of them will see their scores improve... so yes, it is quite common.
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoni...

I took the SAT three times I think. I earned my highest score the 2nd time.

I'm not sure what the rules are anymore about declaring scores to colleges or the policies of individual colleges as to which score to accept.

You can take it as many times as you want, but most colleges average results.

And SAT scoring must have changed since I took it last, used to be perfect score was 1600.

Unless she was hungover or had the flu first time, I can't imagine how she improved so dramatically. I used to teach SAT & GRE prep classes, and never had a student double their score.

Oh yeah, it happens a lot. You have to pay for it twice, which is probably why most people only take it once, or at least aim for that. I do agree that it seems like a big jump in results, but hey, maybe she studied this time! ;)

Catwalk is probably right, it's been a long time since I've had to worry about SATs, but I thought that they averaged your scores together to give you a final score, but perhaps not, either way, you don't get to pick and choose what is seen by prospective colleges.

yep. You just have to pay for it each time. And they do offer multiple times a year to take it, you just have to research it, and sign up before they fill up.
Heck, my son took it as a 7th grader as part of Duke Tip. He'll definitely be taking it a 2nd time. And probably a 3rd! lol

You can take it as many times as you want. I took the ACT twice in high school to get a better score. The story sounds very believable to me.

Our high school guidance department highly recommends and encourages students to take it at least twice. One of my daughter's friends recently took hers for a 2nd time.

Check with the high school guidance dept. or at www.collegeboard.org for testing dates. I think the next date coming up is June 2nd. You can take the test wherever you like, it doesn't have to be at your high school.

You can take it as many times as it is offered and you are willing to pay for.

I took the SAT twice. They don't care how many times you take it. They submit your scores regardless. All they care about is if you PAY for it! LOL!

while i am 45, i remember some friends taking it twice.

You can take it as often as you want. The school sets up times to take them, but you can always go online with SAT and find out other testing places/dates and retake it. Could be you were sick the day of your test, or under studied and want to improve. So if you're willing to pay the money, go for it.

Yes you can take it as many times as you want. In the old days nobody did but now they do quite a bit. You have to pay for it and sit through it and most people don't want to. The part that is hard to believe was her jump in scores unless she was sick during the first one or something. I would google and see what a perfect score is, not sure 1800 is possible.??

There were several exam sites around the nearby city. You could take as many times as you were willing to pay for the exam. As for the scoring- it has changed many times over the years. It's not the same now as it was when I took it. Hope this helps!

i took the psats and theni took sats twice.. its kind of crazy that she went from an 800 to an 1800 but i guess its possible
-you would take it the first time in school if u wanted to retake it you had to find somewhere else to take it. .the second time around i took mine at a highschool a few towns over on a saturday morning

The SAT is not a required test. I think you might be confusing it with the required RAjA test or now, STARR test. The SAT can be taken many times and they take the higher score. The SAT is a test they use to get you into college.

Without her saying something like she was sick, or someone had just died when she took the first test and scored so low - they might have made an exception then. The other thing in my home state is we took an ACT test administered at a local college which my parents had to pay for me to take. I could also see someone re-taking the ACT test since it was apparently not a scholastic program.

Hi A.-

Yes, you can re take the sat...BUT scores from 'both' tries will be sent to perspective colleges...and they will take into account 'marginally' higher scores as part of just re taking the test.

However...if someone does REALLY poorly...then takes a sat prep class...and THEN retakes it...perhaps it is worth it.

Best Luck!
michele/cat