If I have not taken my SAT yet should I sign up to take it even though it is optional this year?Answered
Hello, I am a rising senior and I am wondering if I should take the SAT since it has now become optional for many schools. I was supposed to take the SAT in March and then again in the summer, but due to the quarantine, I have not taken it yet. I am having trouble making a decision because I do not do so well on time tests and when I took the PSAT my score was 1030. Which is counterintuitive to my GPA.
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5 answers
Take it. Use this time right now to study your butt off by using resources such as Princeton Review books and Khan Academy. At this point, I believe it can only help your application (if you score well).
If you're concerned about not being able to register for the upcoming SAT test dates, know that the CollegeBoard is prioritizing the registration of seniors, so they can get a spot at the test center. Just a heads up that if you do end up registering for it and taking it, and receive a score that could hurt your application, you could always just NOT send it in.
Hope this helped, feel free to leave a question if you have one!
It depends on what your target schools are and how much drive you have to improve. If your ideal schools are top 20 schools with SAT scores of 1450+, it will take a lot of work to improve your score. If your ideal schools have an average score around 1100-1300, it wouldn't hurt to try! Either way, take a practice test on college board or Khan Academy. If you believe you can significantly improve your score, you should go for it!
i'm an upcoming junior so i'm not in that difficult position right now, but if i were, i would definitely still take it. this is all new so we don't really know what "optional" means right now. if it really IS optional, taking the sat will show that you're hardworking and that you took an additional step for admittance that wasn't compulsory.
if you are going to take it:
you should start studying now through khan academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/sat). link your college board and khan academy accounts so that khan academy has access to your psat. this allows the program to assess your score & help you with your sore spots. i have been using khan academy to study for the psat & sat. it actually surprised me how helpful it is! you can make an entire schedule through the website and take loads of practice tests.
if you're exceptionally good at writing, i would recommend that you also do the essay portion. scoring higher on that might make you look better by showing you perform best individualistically.
see if your school has an sat prep class/club! if not, maybe join one outside of school or form your own if you really think that will be helpful. (if you study best in groups, this is something i'd recommend.)
give yourself reasonable goals & try to stay motivated. take your sat in the late fall so that you have enough time to prepare. here are the 2020-2021 dates: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/register/dates-deadlines (i recommend you take it december fifth!) if none of those dates work for you, you should contact your school to see if they're hosting an sat testing day.
as long as you study and brush up on your testing skills, i'm sure you're going to do amazing! :)
Take a mock test and check your score. If you already do reasonably well, then study a bit to improve and do take it. If you feel that you don’t have the time to come to a good score in relation to the school you want to go, then focus on other things. Best of luck !
Hello, I am not on your position but I think that you should take the SAT, I believe that it is important for a lot of schools even if it is optional now.
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Thank you so much for the advice and the resources to get started.