How many times can you take the SAT?
Updated
You can take the SAT as many times as you want: College Board sets no limit. It recommends taking it at least twice, in the spring of junior year and again in the fall of senior year.
College Board says most students get a higher score the second time, and that most colleges consider your highest score, so taking it more than once doesn't count against you.
Do colleges see every attempt?
Only the scores you send. Your scores don't go to colleges unless you choose to send them. With Score Choice, you pick which test dates go to each college. You send a whole test date, never one section of it. Score Choice doesn't apply to the free score sends you pick when you register: those colleges get that test's scores.
Some colleges and scholarship programs require all your scores. Check each college's score policy on its admissions website. When you send scores, College Board also shows the policies of the colleges you picked.
What is a superscore?
A superscore combines your best Reading and Writing score with your best Math score, even if they come from different test dates. Say you score 650 in Reading and Writing and 700 in Math in March, then 710 and 680 in October. Your superscore is 710 plus 700, or 1410.
Colleges superscore, not College Board. College Board sends your scores by test date, and each college decides how to use them. Some superscore, some take your single best test date and some review every score. Many colleges that superscore encourage you to send all your scores, and some require it.
What a retake costs
Each SAT is a new registration:
- Registration: $68 in the US. Outside the US, there's also a $43 international fee.
- Late registration: $38 more, if you register after the regular deadline.
- Fee waiver: if you're eligible, you can take the SAT for free. See College Board's fee waivers page.
- Score reports: each weekend registration includes 4 free score reports, which you can choose until 9 days after the test. Each report after that costs $15.
These are College Board's test fees through June 2027.
How many times should you take it?
There's no right number for everyone. A common plan, and College Board's suggestion, is a first SAT in March, May or June of junior year, then a retake in the fall of senior year, when scores still come out before many college application deadlines. See When should I take the SAT?
Give yourself time to prepare between tests. Your score report shows how you did in each content area, so you can see what to work on before the next one.
Plan a retake on Aniko
Set your next SAT date as your Test date in Study Plan Settings, and your plan rebuilds toward it with your past work saved. See Change your study plan settings.
Aniko is an independent SAT prep platform and isn't affiliated with College Board.
Frequently asked questions
Only if you send them every score. With Score Choice, you choose which test dates each college gets. Some colleges and scholarship programs require all your scores, so check each college's policy.
The same as a first SAT: $68 in the US, plus a $43 international fee outside the US, through June 2027. If you're eligible for a fee waiver, you can take it for free.
No. College Board sends your scores by test date. Colleges decide whether to superscore, which means combining your best section scores from different test dates.
You don't need to. Score Choice lets you leave a test date out of what you send, unless a college requires all scores. Cancelling is permanent, and for a weekend SAT it must happen by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time one week after the test, before you see your score.
Yes. If you take SAT School Day, you can also take the SAT on a weekend test date, and the other way around.
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