<p>This has been bugging me for a while now. I want to know, does it make really make any difference whether u get a 2300 vs. a 2400 (what about for them ivy-leagues)? </p>
<p>I know there's some disagreement over this but i want to know what everyone thinks about this.</p>
<p>In my opinion, as far as top tier schools are concerned, once you crack a 2200 it stops mattering as much. Yes, higher is always better, but once you’ve established that you’re in the top 1% it starts coming down to ECs, the essay, etc.</p>
<p>so would getting a 2400 be make or break in any circumstances (as opposed to getting, say, 2150)</p>
<p>No, I don’t think so. I read a recent article online or somewhere (maybe even here on CC) that a 2400 only gives you a 1 in 3 shot at getting into Harvard and 1 in 2 at MIT. I think it’s proof that at the highest tier colleges, a 2400 is NOT a deal maker the way many may believe.</p>
<p>Read this for an excellent response on this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/865226-addressing-few-concerns.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/865226-addressing-few-concerns.html</a></p>
<p>it shouldn’t be about what everyone thinks but how it actually works. The link above does exactly that.</p>
<p>@college, Idk about you but a 50% chance at MIT and 33% chance at Harvard sound pretty good for me.</p>
<p>I agree, there is an exponential decrease in number of people from 2300’s to 2400’s. Nearly 7000 people score 2300 and above yet only 250’ish score 2400. </p>
<p>To be able to claim that you are one of the 250 kids in your generation of 3 million to score a 2400 carries COLOSSAL weight.</p>
<p>^ nice use of an SAT word. Thanks for bolding it but it’s no error.</p>
<p>Why thank you.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is a huge difference once you get above 2300 for the most elite schools. The folks reading the applications are pretty savvy. They know that the difference between a 2300 and a 2400 is a very small number of questions, and I suspect they know that it really is not very important. I’m also sure that they look at scores in context. Student A takes the SAT once, scores a 2350 and moves on to other things. Student B takes the SAT five times, scoring 2350,2380,2300,2350 and finally 2400. Is there any real reason to pick B over A? A may well have a better essay, stronger ECs, etc.
I also think that the numbers that show that 2400s have a better chance may be ill-constructed. It’s impossible to tell what else is different between the 2400 set and the 2300 set.</p>
<p>@jasoninny, I completely agree!
A 2300 is very impressive, and a lot of people say it’s not really different from a 2400 because a 2300 is indicative of only a few mistakes.
I agree with that.
However I disagree with people who think that once a student reaches a certain threshold (2250 is a commonly used one), the colleges don’t look at the score differently.
That’s simply not true. I’ve read that 50% of 2400-scoring applicants get into Princeton, and I’d imagine that it’s similar at other elite institutions. That’s a HUGE edge over the overall 8% or whatever it is acceptance rate.</p>
<p>@olleger, sure 33% and 50% sound pretty impressive, but I think that many believe that a 2400 will give them a 100% chance at any school, which is not the case. That was my point because I certainly agree with you that 33% and 50% ARE great chances.</p>
<p>Opinion ought to not be a substitute for fact.</p>
<p>I would look into Adenine’s recommendation in #5, or to avoid the commentary, simply click on the link below:</p>
<p><a href=“infogoaround.org”>http://www.infogoaround.org/CollegesChinese/RevealRanking.pdf</a> (Please see graphs on page 8)</p>
<p>This demonstrates that admission probability exponentially increases as scores approach perfection. Scores above a certain threshold clearly do not provide diminishing returns and it’s definitely one of the most widely stated misconceptions regarding college admissions.</p>
<p>obviously 2400 > 2300, and 2400 >> 2150. however, once you’ve reached around 2300 i would not bother to retake.</p>
<p>Mifune, great article you posted…as usual. Very interesting.</p>
<p>It depends on the school: at some colleges that are numbers driven, a 2400 is definitely better than a 2300, or a 2200. However, at other colleges, many kids with perfect SAT’s get turned down, while other students, with less than perfect scores, get accepted. For example: In 2007, “Harvard turned down 1,100 student applicants with perfect 800 scores on the SAT math exam.” <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/education/04colleges.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/education/04colleges.html</a></p>
<p>^ According to the Harvard admissions staff in 2008 or something, Harvard turned down about 45% of 2400s that year.</p>
<p>^ So 55% of 2400s got accepted…</p>
<p>^ Thats a lot higher than their measly 7%…</p>
<p>So… what was the % for 2300.</p>