* The student's goals: Are they aiming for a specific score to meet a college's requirements or scholarship criteria? Higher scores generally increase college acceptance chances and scholarship opportunities.
* The student's score improvement potential: Consistent practice and improvement between tests suggest more attempts might be beneficial. If scores plateau, additional attempts might not yield significant gains.
* The student's stress levels and test anxiety: Repeated testing can be stressful. A student might benefit more from focusing on study strategies and taking the test fewer times.
* Test costs and time commitment: Each test attempt involves costs (registration fees) and time commitment (study, preparation, and test day itself).
Generally, most college admissions counselors agree that two or three attempts is a reasonable range. Taking the test more than three times is rarely advantageous unless significant score improvements are consistently demonstrated. Colleges understand that students may take the test more than once, and they generally consider the highest score.
In short, the decision should be a thoughtful one based on a student's individual progress, goals, and resources, not a fixed number. A student and their counselor should carefully weigh the pros and cons before each attempt.