I know that if you take the SAT for a second time colleges count your highest score, and so your score can only go up the 2nd time you take the test. HOWEVER i heard that colleges like ivy leagues and other top schools don't follow this rule? is it true? i need to clear my confusion about this
Answers
Generally, colleges evaluate your SAT scores on a composite basis. They take your highest score from each individual section across multiple exams to calculate a composite score. That means, when you retake an SAT, you cannot do worse than the highest individual section scores that you posted on your prior exam. For example, let's say you took the SAT twice and got: M-700/CR-600/W-700 the first time and then M-600/CR-700/W-600 the second time. Although your best score on one exam was a 2000, your colleges till take 700 from each section to evaluate you on a 2100 basis.I believe this is fairly standard practice across all top 200 institutions, including the Ivies.
Composite scoring - best performance on each individual section. Also, while we're on it, I would advise not taking the exam more than 3 times. Twice is normal. Take it a third time only if you no, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you will score higher. And, more than 3 at all costs. When you take it more than 3 times, this raises many red flags for your prospective colleges.
I'm kind of wondering about that too.