SAT score questions

[Smegma]

Its a little past midnight and im freaking out about my SAT scores (which were just posted).

heres my question for those of you who are in college or know anything about college acceptance polices.

My frist SAT score was pretty good (1380), but apparently i did considerably worse on my second test, a hundred points worse. Do colleges care if your grade drops from test to test? I know that they normally expect improvement, so is this a bad thing?

Will it affect me much in the application process?
Should i be really worried about it?

I know i havent posted here in a really long time, but this is the only place i could think of where i would get good answers from good people. Thank you.

[bleachit]

well 1280 is still pretty good.. depending on how selective your school is and how much weight they put on your SAT score it may affect you.

and just for the heck of it, why would you want to retake your SATs after getting a 1380?? IMO that is a pretty darn good score...

[nippinout]

I wouldn't worry about it.

My school sent off only my best SAT and best ACT score.

I dropped 40 points when retaking the SAT. That's a difference of only a handful of wrong answers.

Colleges care more about a massive drop in your last sememster's grades.

[digitard]

Did you know you can sleep through 1/3 of your SAT due to being sick and still get an 1100

While yes, I hate the fact when I was 17 I got an 1100 on it I was still accepted to any Arizona college and I did catch up on those ZZZZ's

[Jaasper]

Well, I know on the old SATs before they changed it. a 1200 and above could pretty much get you into any college you wanted as long as your grades were there. This is from way back when , before they changed the test around. (I got a 1250.)

[devildog]

Originally posted by bleachit

and just for the heck of it, why would you want to retake your SATs after getting a 1380?? IMO that is a pretty darn good score...

sat scores are only good for 4 years, unless they changed it

[Smegma]

good, thats a relief. I feel a lot better now, but still dissapointed.

(im trying to get into a college with an rotc program, i want to go marine corps aviation)

thank you for all the help
(any one else have anything to add?)

[BobTheCow]

I'm going through exactly what you are right now, don't worry... 1380's hella good, and unless you're trying to get into Harvard or MIT or something, and your grades are decent, you'll be fiiiiiiine (don't worry about dropping on the second time).

Just out of curiousity, where are you planning on applying?

[Dryden]

I wouldn't sweat it a bit. 1380 is very good, and 1280 still places you among the top high school graduates in the country. Your school should provide the higher of your two scores.

Really, you should be able to get into just about any state school with anything above an 800.

The only place where the drop could affect you is if you're applying for scholorships. A 1280 from a 1380 is a huge difference there. I'd say talk to your school's guidance counselor regarding the scores though if you're really concerned. It's the only way you're going to get an authoritative answer.

[magnj]

I got 1110, I'm pretty happy, damn your 1300+

[MagmanLee]

Colleges do not look at your combined score of 1380 (btw I just got a 1380 too, congradulations us huh?...its still not good enough for Duke though...). They look at the separate math and verbal scores. What they allow you to do now is to take the test as many times as you would like, although colleges will probally be suspicious if you took it 6 or 7 times. From the tests (in your case, 2 tests), they will take the highest math and verbal scores. This means that if you got 800 on math and a 580 on verbal, and on the next test you got a 780 on math and a 720 on verbal, the college you are applying too will see that you got a 800 on math and 720 on verbal. So your combined score would be 1520. So don't sweat it. Getting a lower score on subsequent tests will not hurt you.

[Smegma]

cool, if they go that way i acutally got a 1400.

for the person that asked, im thinking of applying to San Diego, Washington, OU, and some schools in New York.

[NJPaint]

MagmanLee is right. Unless you take the test more than 3 times... (which will perk some eye brows) doing worse won't hurt you.

[magnj]

yea thats great that you can mix match your verbal math scores.

[Kevmaster]

i've always wondered what college admissions people SAY and what actually occurs. They're riht in saying the admissions people officially look at the highest of each component...so i guess thats all we can assume they do...although you do have to wonder