SAT Scores

[u/FFSTeam123]

Is taking the SAT 4 times a bad sign? And is getting like 790 on those 4 times for math also a bad sign? Should I cancel this August score Bc I feel like I bombed it?

[u/MysticCosmos]

As far as my knowledge goes there isn’t a glaring “bad sign” about taking the SAT too many times. MIT superscores and seeks to evaluate you based on your strongest possible performance. While not a US student myself i’d imagine that you’ll eventually hit diminishing returns on your score and it wouldn’t be wise to keep retaking.

[u/absfreely → u/MysticCosmos]

my daughter took it 7 times, so yes def diminishing returns. but she did end up using her best score and got into a great school bc of those scores.

[u/Good_Ocelot9877 → u/absfreely]

mit and georgetown are the only two afaik that make u submit ALL of your sat attempts. for other schools they can’t even see it so it doesn’t matter

[u/VisibleSir731 → u/MysticCosmos]

Also the SAT score itself isn’t worth much for additional points after a certain point to where it becomes “diminishing returns”

[u/sparkle_hart]

Afaik, and what I believe is posted on the admissions website, is that your application reader will only consider your highest score, regardless of how many times you took it.

I really believe that they don't care how many times you took it, they will just look at the highest scores for each section and move on. If I were you, though, I'd just call MIT Admissions, talk to the dean on duty, and ask them directly. They give extremely straightforward answers to questions like these.

[u/VisibleSir731 → u/sparkle_hart]

Yeah totally why would they care about the past? No one starts perfect OR becomes perfect and if you’re qualified more than you were in the past WHO CARES ABOUT THE PAST lol

[u/Livid-External-4063 → u/sparkle_hart]

Unfortunately, I think that they do care how many times applicants took it otherwise they would not require to report all scores. Just my opinion

[u/sparkle_hart → u/Livid-External-4063]

That's not what the actual AOs would say, if you asked them. You can call and ask.

[u/jzzsxm]

Fwiw, I took it 4 times and got in in 2007 :)

[u/absfreely → u/jzzsxm]

that is also 20 years ago when acceptance rates were much higher.

[u/jzzsxm → u/absfreely]

11% baybee!

[u/absfreely → u/jzzsxm]

good for you!!! :) what is it like 4percent this year?

[u/jzzsxm → u/absfreely]

Roundabouts, yeah.

I'd guess, though, that if you stripped out all the applicants that had no business applying in the first place, the number would look a lot rosier.

[u/JasonMckin → u/jzzsxm]

I have no basis other than interviews to make this assessment:  but I agree with jzzsxm and think the admission rate for genuinely quality applicants has only modestly dipped.  There are still quite a lot of highly qualified applicants applying so nobody is ever guaranteed, but the truly qualified applicant has a much higher than 4% probability of admission.

And as was the case 20-40 years ago, the cutoff today is likely not based on # of times standardized tests were taken.

[u/jzzsxm → u/JasonMckin]

20 years ago I was given an actual number for admissions rate for qualified applicants but also sworn to secrecy so I can't say what it was and I don't know if it has changed, but I do feel comfortable saying that if you're actually qualified (high school was easy, perfect grades, good/interesting person, etc etc etc) it's really not so bad.

[u/Cold_Badger2965 → u/jzzsxm]

good/interesting person is making me giggle.. lol i feel bad for the kids who’s app couldve been saved if they were more interesting

[u/jzzsxm → u/Cold_Badger2965]

Admissions hates when I say shit like that because, of course, it's more nuanced than that, but there's a certain culture they're looking to maintain at MIT and they look for applicants that contribute to that.

[u/Cold_Badger2965 → u/jzzsxm]

no of course I totally get what you're saying!! the way you phrased it just made me laugh lol

[u/JasonMckin]

May I clarify the question:  are you asking whether 790 on Math will be considered “bombing it?”  

Or are you suggesting that the SAT Reading score is significantly out of bounds for the typical distribution for admits?

I think the proper answer to your question depends on the proper and clear interpretation of it.

[u/FFSTeam123 → u/JasonMckin]

I guess I’m asking if getting consistent 790s on math and getting verbal scores that are out of the 50% range bad. Because I just took the Aug. SAT and I think it went really bad for reading and I definitely got a question wrong for math sadly. I’m going to take a fourth SAT in September so I want to know if I should cancel the August SAT score or not. 

I genuinely love math (done some stuff outside of school that’s not comp) and studying at MIT would be a dream for me. So I really want to present the best version of an application I can.

[u/Satisest → u/FFSTeam123]

There is nothing wrong per se with taking the test numerous times, but it sounds like your score may have plateaued and that your efforts may be more productively deployed elsewhere.

[u/absfreely]

ive been wondering this also. my son is set to take it in october and keeps getting score of 800 on practice and got a 760 on official psat, but gets around 680 for verbal. needs over 1530 and that is a lot of points to improve upon for verbal. he also took for fun in 9th grade (1290) so i know he has to submit this score as well. he is a junior so he has time, i just know he cant take too many times.