Scores on this test taken in the junior year are used to identify National Merit semi-finalists, who are then invited to compete for national scholarships. Many states and colleges also use SAT scores as the basis for awarding merit based financial aid. Many use formulas involving grades and test scores for initial screening of candidates and even for scholarship decisions. Special arrangements are made for disabled students and for those with religious objections to a Saturday test date. All scores are reported, but colleges generally only loom at the highest ones.
Some students take the test three or even more times in hopes of getting a better score.
Your reasoning abilities continue to grow over time as you mature, gain knowledge, and accumulate life experience. Careful studies have shown that, on average, test takers increased their combined verbal and math scores by about 30 points between spring of the junior year and fall of the senior year. As you might expect, students with lower scores the first time are more likely to see large increases than students with high initial scores. Alternatively, you can obtain a Registration Bulletin from your high school guidance counsellor and drop it in the mail. A credit card is required for online and telephone registration.