text: College admissions are about a lot more than test scores; the strength of your personal statement, HS transcript, recommendations, extracurriculars, and personal interview (if you have one) all will play into admissions. Other factors such as your socioeconomic status and race may come into play also.\n\nYour scores specifically will almost certainly not prevent you from getting into college, presuming you apply to a variety of schools, write a good essay, and have reasonably good grades (for example, getting grades in the B range, or better, with only a few C's). At over 2000 colleges listed on the "College Matchmaker" under the student section of collegeboard.com the middle range of students (between the 25th and 75th percentiles) - the 'average' student - has scores on par or below yours. Your scores aren't bad at all - in fact, of all 2006 SAT test takers, your verbal and writing are only about 70 points under average and your math is about 100 points above average! And at that, many schools aren't even yet considering the writing portion of the exam, your lowest score, because it is new. So your scores are not bad at all; they are well within the average. \n\nThis is not to say that you will have to settle for the 'average' college. It is rare, though not unheard of, for someone with your score to get into highly competitive schools, but you will need to be an exceptional candidate in other areas in order to do so. If you have your heart set on a school that is a 'reach' for you based on your scores and/or high school GPA  (you can check out  the average SAT scores of students at potential schools for you at collegeboard.com) then you probably should take the SATs again if you have time/money, haven't done so already, and think you will improve.  \n\nBut either way, don't stress! If you haven't already, get a list of colleges you're ready to apply to  - one or two that you definitely will get into (with a majority of students of your profile achieving below what you have achieved in SATs/GPA), one or two  reach (with the average student surpassing your scores/grades), and some in the middle. If you have decent grades and put time and thought into the application process, you will find yourself successful.