my son took the sat total of 3x from junior year mar to oct of senior yr - he doesn't mind if I say he got 750 Math all 3x -he's mad that he kept making different but 2 mistakes, but his CR was tough - 570 last 2x - I had been told that he would do better on ACT - as it as been explained to me, SAT reasoning and ACT knowledge - he got comp 31 on ACT - Math 34 and English 29 (much better -next bracket up from his 570) - Can also tell you when he had interview with congressman's panel - they did focus on 570 CR - as tho it wasn't good - but when they saw the ACT's they said that would help him. Finally figured out that one could find proportional grade from ACT to SAT - 29/36 = x/800 - that's when i realized that the act did help him, not just nice things people said when they saw his test scores.
That's been his experience, will also say, eagle scout, varsity crew - now captain and stroke on 1st eight - not a minority, navy family.
Its a maze what the "score" is to get, or what is most important - I have had to focus on faith that they do look at "whole person". My son is still waiting on uscga and usna - is 3Q, pres nom, didn't get summer seminars - supposedly because of the high interst of the area we live in (VA). I give this only to help you- I know I was in your place, its just ment to be informative, comforting??, to see others - good luck on your quest - as I said to classmates parents beginning of high school, having this goal, makes the focus easy, but now at nearing the end of hs - its hard - this is all my son's wanted and has worked hard, keeps his nose clean, kind, bah bah bah, still may not get the appointment. I am fortunate, he was able to describe a backup - NROTC to VMI - can say that he has already received these among the news he has heard. Larry won't make any commitments until he hears.