2380 SAT I but kinda crappy SAT IIs?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>I just got my subject test results back from the June SAT administration and, as the title of this thread may reveal to you, I'm not super happy with them:</p>

<p>Math II -- 770
Lit -- 740</p>

<p>I'm a currently a rising senior and received a 2380 (780 W) on my Oct. SAT, so I'm relatively set in that area (I'm not going to retake to try to get a perfect), but I'm wondering whether or not I should retake my subject tests. </p>

<p>I KNOW subject tests (and other tests, for that matter) are only a small part of the overall application, and ECs and essays matter far, far more, but I also know that the top schools on my list are HYP-caliber in terms of admission competitiveness. I don't want these scores to be what holds me back.</p>

<p>GAH. Reading that back, I sound so bitter. I don't mean to. I really just want to know if it's worth it to retake those tests. Keep in mind that I didn't really prepare for them as much as I should have (read: at all), so I'd probably be able to get a better score if I retook in Oct. -- assuming senior year/college applications haven't killed me by then.</p>

<p>Anyway, what do you guys think? To retake, or to not retake? <em>the immortal question</em></p>

<p>tl;dr: 2380 SAT, but 770 Math II and 740 Lit. Retake for HYP?</p>

2

<p>770 is not bad…</p>

3

<p>770 is only the 75 percentile in math II</p>

4

<p>Read this thread.</p>

<p><a href=“Does percentile matter in SAT Subject Test Scores? - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums”>Does percentile matter in SAT Subject Test Scores? - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums;

5

<p>I just posted this in 2 other threads, but I guess since SAT Subject Scores just came out it bears repeating:</p>

<p>Holistic means that your acceptance is based upon other factors besides test scores. Colleges uses test scores to gauge if you can do the work on their campus. The higher your scores, the less an Admissions Director will question how you would do if admitted. At the ivies, once your test scores are used to calculate the Academic Index (<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm&lt;/a&gt;), other more subjective factors come into play, such as your transcript rigor, GPA, teacher recommendations, EC’s and essays.</p>

<p>The ivies could fill up their entire class with perfect test takers, but that’s NOT what Admissions looks for. For example, look at this recent survey of Harvard Freshman: <a href=“The Harvard Crimson | Class of 2017”>http://features.thecrimson.com/2013/frosh-survey/admissions.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

</p>

<p>I like the scattergram as it nicely highlights how more than half the class had an unweighted 4.0 GPA at their high school regardless of test scores. To me that implies that Harvard (and thereby YP et al) put more weight – or slightly more weight, however you want to read the data – on a student’s unweighted GPA at their high school rather than test scores. </p>

<p>So, rather than worry about your test scores, I would be more concerned about your essays!!!</p>

6

<p>General rule of thumb all college counselors have given us - subject tests need to be in the 700s to send in. </p>

<p><a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/SAT-Subject-Tests-Percentile-Ranks-2012.pdf”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/SAT-Subject-Tests-Percentile-Ranks-2012.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Your 740 on Lit is actually a higher percentile than the 770 on Math II but both are solid scores. Consider yourself done!</p>

7

<p>The scores are solid. Be happy.</p>

8

<p>You. are. fine.
Please believe me. Don’t worry. The scores are good! </p>