Should I retake my SAT (read more below)?

Question

I got an 800 on the reading and a 790 on the math. However, I got a 720 on the writing. I am aiming for the top schools (maybe even Harvard/Yale/Princeton). I know 720 is low for those types of schools.

What would happen if I got an 800 in writing the second time but a 700 in reading and math?

Would colleges just add the 800 in writing to the 800 in reading and the 790 in math? Or would they factor in my new, lower scores for reading and math?

Answer 1

If you really got those scores, congrats, those are fantastic.

Colleges take your best scores overall. So, if you get an 800 on writing the next time and worse on math and reading, you will still retain your high scores from before.

Although, to be honest, colleges don't look at writing that much. They look more and math and reading. Actually, to be honest, they don't look at SATs that much. As long as you do well (above 1500-1520) on the math+reading part, it will come down to extracurricular activities and high school rigor/GPA.

For example, I got a 1520 on my SAT (math+reading), aced the SAT IIs for Biology and Math II, and had a crapload of extracurriculars and took the most diffcult course schedule available to me and I still didn't get in to MIT. Meanwhile, a kid I met at a summer program got a 1430 on his SAT but had won National Science Bowl and went to a high school that offered more APs than mine got into MIT early admissions.

It's not going to come down to SAT if you did everything right in high school.