Should I retake a 1530 SAT?

Answered

I think your result is pretty good. If you aren't sure about your essays, rec letters, extracurriculars, GPA or anything else you should focus on them. But if you're confident in all of the things I listed, have the opportunity, think you'll get a higher score; then go for it. As I said, it's pretty impressive as it is. Hope this helped.

Hi @ellielb,

This is a good question. There are a lot of factors that would contribute to a decision on whether or not to retake the SAT. A couple of things to consider are what your demographics are (Ex. 1500 is less competitive for upper-mid class Asian males but more rare for other demographics), what schools you will be applying to, intended major (STEM or Humanities to know which section score should be highest), and the amount of time you have to increase your score.

Personally, I think that, if you have enough time and money to pay for another, you should study and retake the test. A slightly higher score never hurt anyone, and you may even be able to Superscore the test on your applications (Ex. Report 800 Math Score from March Test and 750 Eng. from April Test). You can also look at the PrepScholar article on setting a target SAT Score at the link below to help you make your decision.

In addition, since this was your first time, it would be great if you could get an even higher score the next time. You wouldn't be penalized for taking the test a second time, and (if you score higher on both sections), you could just report the second score instead of trying to Superscore. So, in that scenario, it would basically look like your first score for schools that don't request all scores.

In closing, retaking is always a great option with numerous benefits, but I implore you to consider the three factors that I mentioned and what you think is best for your circumstances.

Also, remember to keep things in perspective and keep your mind objective. A good way to do that is just trust that, in the end, everything will turn out okay because you are capable enough to make the right decisions to get where you need to go in life, even if this one proves to be a temporary setback.

Hope this helps!

PrepScholar Article on Target SAT Score: https://blog.prepscholar.com/what-is-a-good-sat-score-a-bad-sat-score-an-excellent-sat-score

PrepScholar Article on Whether or Not to Retake SAT: https://blog.prepscholar.com/should-you-retake-the-sat-or-act-3-step-process

I retook three times and my score went up 90 points on the third try. I also experimented with a little coffee before the test. At that time they used the highest score and did not use the lower scores from my first two tries. Not sure if that's still the case but I think it is.