<p>I got a 2400 SAT but I did bad on my Subject Tests (790 Chinese, 660 World History, 720 US History, 800 Math 2, 680 Bio E). I made the mistake of not preparing and thinking that subject tests are not that big of a deal. I'm planning on retaking US History and taking Bio M, but is it bad to retake? One college I'm thinking of applying to is Yale, and they don't have score choice! So I'll be sending ALL of my scores (yikes!).</p>
<p>I could either send all of my SATs or all of my ACTs. However, I got a 35 on my ACT. Should I retake for a 36? It would be my third time taking (34, 35). And there's always the chance that I would just get a 35 (or lower) again. </p>
<p>You should have focused on 2 or 3 SAT2 and score better on them. Your SAT2 scores are not too bad. It probably not worth the effort to improve the SAT2 scores. You should submit both SAT and ACT scores. 35 or 36 in ACT is not going to make any difference for you. You should put your effort in the rest of your credential.</p>
<p>Honestly, Yale wouldn’t admit someone with a 36 over someone with a 35 SOLELY BECAUSE OF THAT SINGLE POINT.
They wouldn’t even admit someone with a 36 over someone with a 33/34 because of those 2/3 extra points.</p>
<p>Yes, you need good scores. No, they are not everything.
No, they will not nitpick.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the replies! I agree that I shouldn’t have taken so many sat2s. </p>
<p>I think I’m pretty solid on my ECs (or at least i hope: nhs president, band drum major, all stater, volunteer in other countries) so I just want to make sure that my scores would get me past the first cut so that they can take into account my ECs. </p>
<p>I know it’s just your nervousness coming out but if you think a college exists on this planet where a 2400 SAT or 35 ACT stops you from the first cut, you’re completely crazy! Congrats on these achievements and good luck</p>
<p>Retaking a 35 ACT would actually be wrong for a college (ie., you don’t have a sense of educational priorities). Send that ACT score to Yale and don’t worry about those SAT2’s.
Only send your top 3 SAT2 scores to colleges that allow you to choose what you send.
However, this would concern me more:
Now this could be shorthand for national/international-level EC’s but just in case:
Yale and other Top 20 universities/LACs won’t really care about NHS president; volunteering in other countries should be linked to volunteering in your own community (ie., you helped build houses in Nicaragua as an extension of volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in your region, vs. you went 2 weeks to Nicaragua and helped build houses there). Band drum major and all stater will be better but still more the kind of activities a university or LAC ranked 25-50 is likely to be impressed with.
What are your matches? What are your safeties?</p>
Bottom Line: Both sets of scores are great. You could submit either your SAT or your ACT or both scores, if you can afford to submit both. There’s no need to retake the test as your acceptance or denial WILL NOT be based upon your test scores, but on other factors in your file, such as your transcript, teacher recommendations and essays.</p>
<p>2400 is a perfect score. 35 isn’t. I’m not sure why there is any question. For your subject tests, you only need to, so use Chinese and Math. You are fine.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 my match school would really be whoever offers me the most scholarships. If I get into Yale, my parents are willing to (and can) pay for it. But if I don’t, then just an instate college where I can save a lot of money for the future. </p>
<p>I also did internships at local hospitals and ran my schools Relay for Life (cancer awareness event). I also tutor kids from poor families at a local center and I go with my church for a lot of volunteering too. Are these the things top colleges are looking for?</p>
<p>hm, “match school” is a school that you like, can afford (based on the net price calculators), and know you can get into because you’re near/at the “top25%” for stats (not applicable for you) and they admit more than 30% applicants (key for you).
The schools that would be likely to offer you the most scholarships would be safety schools and if they’re important, you may want to select more than 2. A safety is a school that you like, can afford (based on the net price calculators), and are 100% sure you can get into because you’re an automatic admit based on stats or are above the top25% mark + they admit 50% or more of their applicants or you’re above the top10% mark and qualify for merit scholarships + honors college. Your instate flagship’s honors college would probably qualify. You should also look at LACs ranked 40-60 and universities in the 35-50 range, plus regional universities in the top 20. At some of those, you’d be likely to get a lot of merit.</p>
<p>Top colleges don’t look for specific activities but rather to a level of achievement. They want to see a national or international level of achievement/recognition. They don’t necessarily want to see a lot of activities but they want to see how far you can take something you’re dedicated to or passionate about. </p>
<p>If the OP is a heritage speaker of Chinese, the Chinese subject test should be used as an additional subject test beyond any that a college requires or recommends. I.e. if a college requires two, use the heritage language subject test as the third one.</p>
<p>Yale requires all scores, so send the ACT score only, which is excellent and better than the SAT Subjects where you got scores below 700. For the colleges that don’t require all scores, choose your top 3 scores.
As many adults above have explained, there’s no difference between a 35 and a 36 in terms of admission outcomes.
^ true: HYP make it very clear the foreign language test should be in a FOREIGN language. If you’re a native speaker (vs. someone who learned the language in school) you can’t present that language as a subject; further, presenting your native language’s score is seen as a lazy choice. There is some leeway for heritage speakers but essentially it’s better to present your heritage language plus a foreign language if you want to go that route with subjects at Top20 schools. The rule also applies to APs, ie., at top schools you can present an AP if you’re a heritage speaker but not if you’re a native speaker.</p>
<p>Yale specifically does not require SAT subject tests for those who use the ACT (but does say that SAT subject tests may be used for placement after entering college).</p>
<p>Many colleges consider that ACT = SAT + SAT Subjects since the ACT includes science and social science. However you can’t choose the subjects within the ACT, they’re mandatory.</p>
<p>I am ethnically Chinese (born in America), so I did learn Chinese at home. However, I took took 3 years of Spanish at school and am planning on taking AP Spanish 4 next year though because I’m interested in languages and cultures. At first I though that the Chinese Subject Test was an easy way out, but then I read this: </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/subject_faq.shtml”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/subject_faq.shtml</a>
Does it “look bad” for native speakers to take the Language test in their native language?
A college admissions officer once responded to this question as follows: “No, but it looks bad for native English speakers to do poorly on the SAT Verbal.” The point is that skill with a second language is perceived as valuable, regardless of how that language was learned. If you can produce a solid score on a Language Subject Test relative to your other choices, then you should do so.</p>
<p>After reading this and the comments, I’m just even more confused. </p>
<p>It depends on the college. Email HYP if you want to check what I’m telling you, but they’re quite clear that if a language is native, it should not be considered a “subject”, and for “heritage” speakers it really depends how much “heritage” it is (ie., spoken at home? took special classes?) and thus how much of an “easy way out” it is. However if you take AP Spanish you’re fine. But for HYP your Chinese test would only count as a third test as indicated above. </p>
<p>My experience is that they take the top two SAT II scores and ignore the rest. I suppose if there was some kind of tie-breaker, they might drag out your full application.</p>
<p>If schools didn’t take your best SAT combo and top two SAT II scores, it would put people who do have a wide range of interests at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>I know that for athletes, they most definitely only look at the top two SAT II scores when comparing to the rest of the entering classes.</p>
<p>I agree that if you speak the language at home, that’s not seen as an achievement and would be ignored. Unless you flat out lied about speaking it at home.</p>