<p>Ok, I think you are misunderstanding me. What I was simply saying, which I assume was interpreted differently by both of you was this:</p>
<p>It is detrimental to your college application to have scores below or near the national percentile vs. another score of the same numerical identity in a different subject which has a much higher percentile ranking. </p>
<p>First your math1 vs. math2 argument is flawed because we both know math1 focuses on elementary concepts when compared to math2; that’s why most colleges don’t even take math1, and again, I was not trying to say that percentiles are the SOLE determining factor which I think is the main misunderstanding here. I understand self selection and obviously the 200-800 number obviously means something and has significance, but I was indeed saying percentile is definitely a factor. </p>
<p>My reasoning is plain common sense. If you submit a score in which over 60% of applicants in the nation are going to have a higher score than you with a vast majority of them probably being in the same applicant pool of that college, that is obviously a disadvantage because colleges aren’t going to say “Oh well we understand Chinese kids are really smart; we’ll give this guy a break and give him the same prestige as someone who scored in the 95th percentile in another subject” when over half the kids in the entire United States that chose that test can score higher than him. However, if you have another score that is numerically identical but somewhere in the 90-95 percentile of the nation so therefore only a maximum of 5% of applicants can have identical or superior scores that bodes better for you. If you are seriously trying to argue that those scores are indeed completely identical in the college admission process your argument is so off base and flawed it would be a waist of my time to even come back and post in this thread.</p>