2240 SAT from a Junior international. Advice?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>Hi, I'm an Australian Junior (born 1993) with no American citizenship or permanent residency. I'd rather not define my race, since the issue of identity is a big problem with me (Have an Australian passport, born and raised in Australia, yet mother is of Korean descent, German father... Confused? Thought so.)</p>

<p>See, I never took the PSAT since in Australia, there are barely enough people more interested in the US than in England (i.e. Cambridge and Oxford), and taking the SAT seemed like a better option. I took it for the first time this January (2009), and got the following:</p>

<p>CR - 750
Math - 710
Writing - 780 (76 right, 11 essay)</p>

<p>I'm normally much better at Math, the subject being my forte, and in practice tests, I kept on getting 800. On the test day, I really wanted to go to the loo during one of the Math sections (my experimental was Math, lol) so I didn't feel my best in the Math sections.</p>

<p>But I don't know what to do - that Writing score is around forty points higher than what I expected to get. So I'm deadly confused whether I should retake to at least cross the 2250/1500 mark. I really want to get into Yale, and I feel like my half-Korean heritage will pull me down, since people here say that if you are remotely Korean, Ivies shut you out without another word if you don't have 2300+.</p>

<p>Should I retake, risking lowering my Writing Score at the possibility/certainty of Math rising? Is that score enough for Yale? And, when having to identify myself with a race during the application, what the hell am I meant to do so to not incense/bore/annoy the adminstration office?</p>

<p>Help please. </p>

<p>(P.S. My teachers hate me despite my good grades [my Chemistry teacher openly admitted to wishing I were expelled] so I probably won't get "enthusiastic" recs, I have absolutely no "great" E.C.s [no debating, mock trial, helping orphans in Botswana that people on CC seem to laud over], but I am about to publish a book. What should I do? Ask the janitor to write me a rec?)</p>

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<p>"I feel like my half-Korean heritage will pull me down, since people here say that if you are remotely Korean, Ivies shut you out without another word if you don't have 2300+.
"
lol
Do they really do that?
By the way, publishing a book will be one of your biggest strength since not many high school students publish books.</p>

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<p>Is the book being published by a publisher or are you self publishing? Self publishing isn't nearly as impressive so you might want to be more specific (sorry if that sounds mean, I didn't intend it to be!)</p>

<p>Your SAT is GOOD! Great, even, I'd say. Did you do the subject tests yet? I don't know how things work in Australia, what does it mean if you're a junior, you have one more year of school left? So when would you be applying to the US?</p>

<p>First thing.. don't panic. I love Yale too :) Have you thought of more colleges you like?</p>

<p>It's so easy to be put off by the millions of threads here saying "Do I have any chance for an Ivy, I only got 2360!!!" and think you don't have a chance. If your essays are awesome, you have as much of a chance as anyone else.</p>

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<p>I first self-published, but currently in negotiation with a mainstream, commercial publisher for mass release. Howeverm I chose to write under a pseudonym so I could disassociate myself from the "OMG, teenage writers are all crap like Paolini" craze. So, technically, my novel is written by a thirty-something year old woman, instead of a teenage boy. XD</p>

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<p>retake it .. you can have 2300+ with 800 on Math. Why don't you try to achieve 2300 which would get you into Yale.</p>

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<p>2300 doesn't guarantee getting into Yale though.</p>

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<p>but the chance is much greater with a score of 2300+ than with a score in the middle of 2200s.</p>

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<p>I feel a little silly suggesting that you retake such an excellent score :) , but based on both the survey data that I've seen and the students that I've worked with, your chance at Yale might be somewhat better with that slightly higher (2250 or even 2300) SAT score.</p>

<p>Since you think you have a realistic shot at doing better with very little extra work, I would suggest that you retake just to make sure your bases are covered.</p>

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<p>Let me say, though, that you should really be worrying more about your poor (or even negative) LORs. Without teacher support, even a perfect 4.0/2400 will likely not get you in to these places. What can you accomplish to build some bridges?</p>

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<p>Finally, don't worry about your race; there will be some box you can check that says something like "Other," and no-one will look at it twice. The book counts as a significant EC if it's widely distributed or accepted at a serious publishing house.</p>

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<p>surely all your teachers dont hate you...though if thats the case, i think thats more cause for concern-- actually, a lot more cause :(</p>

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<p>You should retake it if you are unsatisfied (obviously, you are) hehehe. And, hey!! It's really cool that you're half German and Korean. I'm Korean, too. KOREAN PRIDE. >=)</p>