I need advice about the SATs

[victoria116]

So I just got my scores today from the October test and was wondering what I should take in December (my very last SATs EVER).

Writing-630 (dropped to 570 today)
US History-660
Math 1C-690

Sat I:
Verbal: 600
Math: 650

I am thinking about taking writing again and the 2c test. Or maybe I should just take SAT 1?

Btw, I am also in AP Calculus right now so does taking the math 1c look bad? I took a look at the math 2c book and I don't remember much of it = /

 

[shopbruin]

depends on where you want to go. please list your target schools and you can look at their scores and plan from there.

 

[edro]

Are those average? I know that 1400 is perfect, but I never took the SATs.

 

[axelfox]

Originally posted by: edro13
Are those average? I know that 1400 is perfect, but I never took the SATs.

eh, 1600?

 

[Albis]

i think edro means a 1400 is pretty much all you need for most schools and is the "perfect" score you should aim for

 

[victoria116]

I'm shooting for UCLA (but I doubt it) so more realistically, I am looking at UC Irvine or UC Davis. My GPA is about 3.7.

 

[maddogchen]

if you really want UCLA you should take SAT 1 again.

 

[amoeba]

its not that hard to improve in SATs.

go and memorize vocab for 2 months. take it again.

 

[shopbruin]

ai. a 1250 SAT might not get you in now, especially since your sat ii's are low. especially your writing. my sister is a 1310/700 something in writing, 600 something in math, and i totally forgot what she got on her third sat II which i think was chem. i'd like her to get into ucla (woot bruins for life) and it looks pretty feasible right now, when combined with her activities.

you are more realisitically going to get into uci or UCD. ucla might be a reach for you with your numbers, especially with your low gpa. what is it weighted? do you have activities and service? won some awards?

there was a chart my sister showed me off the UCOP website but i can't find it right now.

if you're going to retake either, you MUST improve your score. going down on your writing is not boding well so far.

 

[victoria116]

Are SAT 1 or 2s more important? I think my weighted GPA is about 3.8-3.9. I don't really have many extracirriculars. I also have ELC (top 4 or 5% of my class) status if that's any help.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

dont bother taking any more SAT IIs unless the schools where you are applying to require them for placement or admission.

i would recommend taking the SAT I as many times as possible. the best preparation for that test is to learn its tricks and the best way to do this is to practice it. in the worst case, you will just do as well as you did before (which is pretty good). im willing to bet your score would improve though. mine jumped 230...

 

[Scarpozzi]

Ahh...don't take them. Drop out of school and join a band. College is overrated.

 

[amoeba]

SAT Is are more important.

SAT 2s aren't that important.

 

[shopbruin]

Originally posted by: amoeba
its not that hard to improve in SATs.

go and memorize vocab for 2 months. take it again.

she only has 2 weeks, not two months. the last SAT she can take and still have it count for admission for next fall is december.

 

[StevenYoo]

2 weeks is a VERY short amount of time to improve ur scores.

id say take it if you've been studying really hardcore since that last exam.

otherwise, i don't think you'll see a significant difference

 

[shopbruin]

Originally posted by: victoria116
Are SAT 1 or 2s more important? I think my weighted GPA is about 3.8-3.9. I don't really have many extracirriculars. I also have ELC (top 4 or 5% of my class) status if that's any help.

ELC from what i heard, guarantees you admission to the UC. but with your GPA you're practically guaranteed admission to UCSC and UCR anyways.

SAT I is very important, however the UC's also count the SAT II's. for example, ucsd uses an index to admit students.

i'll tell you - i was admitted into UCLA in the fall of 1999. my sat I was 1250, my sat II's were 670, 660 and 600. not spectactular, but i had activities up the wazoo. student leadership, club presidencies, sports and honor societies along with community service and other awards i won for academics. my gpa weighted was about a 4.2. admissions have become more difficult in the last five years. UCLA only admits about 25% of all applicants, berkeley slightly higher. davis takes about half. irvine takes about 60%. UCSD i think is around 35-40%. hitting the target numbers is always good so you don't have to go through "comprehensive review."

speak to a college counselor at your school, they might have the updated admissions numbers to the UC's.

also if you're out of state, you can almost forget it. although your profile says you're instate.

 

[victoria116]

I just looked at the UC catalog and UCLA admits 53% of the students w/ ELC so I guess I have hope = /

 

[cmdrmoocow]

SAT I is much more important than SAT II.

However, once you get above a 1300, its an exponential decay of diminishing returns for higher scores: 1000 to 1100 is a far better improvement than 1300 to 1400.

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: amoeba
SAT Is are more important.

SAT 2s aren't that important.

This may change as more and more UCs are placing importance on the SATII; I've read that some extensions (and quite possibly the whole UC) are thinking about changing the requirements about SATs and SATIIs to only require the SATII.

 

[victoria116]

I think I have a good chance of improving my SAT 1 score since I got 640 on verbal and 600 on math the first time I took it. Then the 2nd time I took it, the scores reversed. So hopefully if I take it again, I'll get 650 on both.

 

[Bacardi151]

take the SAT 1 again. it won't hurt to take it over again, and by now you should feel more comfortable about what's going to be on it. but i suggest the time you have, you should study hard for the verbal part, since that's pretty much unpredictable due to the wide range of vocabs and what not. the math part you should feel much more comfortable with, and if you know your math then you shouldn't go wrong with it. and yeah, the worse that can happen is that you wasted a few hours on a saturday by not getting a higher score, whereas you can still submit the highest of the three tests taken. and you know what the upside is of course.. :]

 

[astralusion]

just a clarification, i believe ELC will get you into A uc , in otherwords you don't get to choose, personally i got into irvine i believe, but it may have been riverside....there are plenty of people who get into UCLA with SAT scores like that, but if you were working on improving I or II's then def go for the I unless you think that you can get your writing above (i think it's) 680 to avoid subject A's , but otherwise def go for teh one's again

 

[Zeeky Boogy Doog]

Originally posted by: axelfox

Originally posted by: edro13
Are those average? I know that 1400 is perfect, but I never took the SATs.

eh, 1600?

its up to 2400 this march, theyre adding a writing section and taking off the analogies or something

 

[victoria116]

crap, i just checked the collegeboard website and the deadline to change tests was this Wednesday. I already registered for the SAT 2s. So now I have to decide whether to take 1c or 2c. Maybe I will take both.

 

[konakona]

its up to 2400 this march, theyre adding a writing section and taking off the analogies or something

yeah, i am glad i was done with it when it was easier...
in my experience, the more you try, the better scores you get in general. be it improved confidence or vocabs, i did improve 50 points every time i took the test. when i managed to get the highest score, i made a lot of educated guesses in the verbal section which must have helped me quite a bit. in the end, i ended up getting 680/770.