Testing Do colleges look at how many times you take the SAT?

[AVReidy]

Hey everyone, I'm a junior in high school and I have yet to take the SAT or even the PSAT. I want to clarify the one thing that makes it seem stressful to me. I remember reading that if applying to Harvard after taking the SAT more than twice, your chances of being accepted are severely lowered. I don't plan on applying there (of course), and I know that this isn't the case for most schools, but it's still stressful to picture only having two chances to do well on the SAT.

Is this really the case for Harvard or any other schools? I've also heard that some schools average your scores if you take it numerous times, but I'm not sure about the validity of this. So for certain schools, is it true that they look at the amount of times you take the SAT and the scores you receive on each?

Please clear this up for me, thanks!

 

[Ivan92]

I believe most schools look at the best score. I am not sure about schools like Harvard. However if you take it more than 3 times, it will seem odd in your application. Yes they will have access to both scores.

 

[n.schwab]

I haven't heard of many colleges that don't superscore these days-- I'm pretty sure even the Ivies do.
Pretty unrelated to your question but I'd also recommend taking the ACT when the time comes as well as the SAT if you happen to do better on it-- some people test better on one than the other.