<p>D started taking LSAT practice tests before she entered Harvard last fall. So far just a 168.</p>
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[quote]
As a graduating high school senior, I, too would cut off my hand rather than take any three letter standardized right now.
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LOL. Sounds like my son. Except for once in the 7th grade, he took the SATs once (no study or practice) and the ACT once (one practice test). He was DONE after those.</p>
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Would it be impressive to undergrad admission officers if a high school applicant took GRE exams and did well on them?
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Two answers: no, not with the general GRE. It's too similar to the SAT - there's absolutely no point, and it would probably hurt you by making you seem too test-focused.</p>
<p>But with the subject GREs, possibly. I took the Physics GRE as a college applicant in order to establish knowledge in areas (quantum and statistical mechanics, etc.) where I had no formal qualifications. Alas, I didn't get a perfect score like I had hoped (although apparently only a handful of domestic Ph.D applicants do each year), but I came pretty close, and I think that it probably helped me in the admission process. </p>
<p>Whenever I included the scores with an application, I included a short cover letter that explained my motivation for taking the test: I really loved learning physics independently, and I wanted to have a tangible way (besides just saying so) to demonstrate my advanced physics pursuits. I also discussed what I'd studied on my own and the textbooks I used. Finally, I included the average Physics GRE scores of some prestigious Ph.D programs for context - most undergraduate admissions officers aren't going to know about it, but when they see that a prospective undergraduate has a higher score than the average for a #1 ranked Ph.D program , they're likely to get excited and might show the application to a professor.</p>
<p>Anyway, the results were pretty good: I sent the Physics GRE thing to MIT, Caltech, Princeton, Duke, Chicago, and Rice, and was admitted to all of them (I'm headed to Duke with their A.B. scholarship). That said, I was also admitted to Harvard and Stanford without the scores (those applications were due before I found out), so I can't draw any real causative relationship. Seems like it could potentially help, though. It was one of my "crazy ideas" for college admissions back in the day.</p>