Most high school students only take the SAT once even though there is no limit to the number of times you can take it. By doing so. they are risking missing out on future college and thus career opportunities. The SAT is the university standard for assessing the intelligence of their applicants. More prestigious colleges have higher average SAT scores and lower acceptance rates, while schools with higher acceptance rates generally have lower SAT scores on average. And the truth is that the students of these prestigious schools commonly take the SAT as much as possible.

According to College Board, the organization behind the SAT, roughly two out of every three test takers score higher on their second attempt than their first, and there are several reasons why. For one, the SAT is a timed test that can catch students off guard the first time they take it. Many also go into the SAT unprepared. According to College Board, based on their database of SAT scores, only forty-three percent of test takers are college ready. This is because students often don’t study or practice for the SAT nearly enough, and if you only take the test once, you have no opportunity to correct the mistakes that you made. 

According to www.manhattanreview.com, “The best approach for retaking the SAT is substantial preparation with an experienced SAT tutor or instructor. Many students receive disappointing scores on their initial test attempts due to inadequate preparation.” While an effective strategy, private tutoring is unrealistic for most students as according to www.tutors.com, the price of a private SAT tutor can range from 45 to 100 dollars an hour! There is an innovative solution to this obstacle, however. In the modern day, private tutoring likely won’t even cost you any money. Resources such as Khan Academy as well as many others offer learning which is directly tailored to your weaknesses. You are able to upload your previous test results in order to practice your weakest subjects at any time.

According to gse.harvard.edu, students who retake the SAT are more likely to enroll in four-year schools. This is because the overwhelming majority of colleges accept the highest SAT score the applicant has achieved instead of the most recent score. Some colleges even accept “super scores” which are the combined best English score and best math score a student has achieved even if they happened during different tests. 

SAT scores are an important part of applying for colleges. Just about every university in the United States accepts them and if you’re not meeting the average score for your dream school, it would be a great idea to try again. Though it’s already not an uncommon thing to take the SAT more than once, it would be even more common if everyone knew it was possible. Some students and parents are under the assumption that schools would look down on them for needing more than one try to reach their target score. This is a problem. It needs to be more normalized and more promoted that there’s really no drawback to retaking the SAT other than a $55 price tag.

 The SAT is thought of by many as an all-or-nothing exam that you take during your Junior year. Students across the country are left wondering how their classmates achieved such high scores when it seems they’ve prepared equal amounts. Meanwhile, their classmates are on their third, or fourth try! With practice comes progress, and If you’re truly looking to get the best score possible on the SAT, there is no drawback to keep trying.