I posted the following on the Harvard thread, but I’m looking for a bit more information:
Sorry if this post is repetitive, but I was hoping to get some personalized advice. I have a 34 (35W, 34M, 33R, 32S) on the ACT and a 2200 (780 W, 720 M, 700R) on the SAT. However, when I took the SAT IIs, I got the following scores: 690 Math I, 650 Math II, and 650 Literature.
I know these are kind of on the low side, but at this point, I cannot retake the tests. So, I guess my question is for the schools that “recommend” or “strongly recommend” sending SAT II scores (Harvard, UPenn, etc.), should I send the scores even though they are sort of low? Or would it be better for the AdCom to see no SAT II scores?
I also have a 4 on the AP Macro and Microecon tests and I’m applying CAS for Econ. I received an A in my first semester of AP Lit and A+ in AP Calculus BC. Are those, and my ACT/SAT I scores enough evaluation points for the AdCom?
@humanperson I’m by no means an expert, but I would think that your application might be stronger if you left out the Subject Tests; your ACT is strong, but your Subject Tests are either barely above or slightly below the average. “A bit of luck” to you!
First of all I think for Penn you have to send all your testing history so u d have to send them anyway. However even if u had the choice, not having subject tests has a negative effect on your chances, unless you come from a very underprivileged background. Penn has explicitly stated that they deem subject tests to be quite important because they have found them to be very good predictors of future performance at Penn. The whole reason why they made them optional was to level the playing field for people for very underprivileged background who actually cannot afford to take the tests.
You can find all this here: