I got a 1700 first time and it is on my transcript. Will that impact me negatively?
@aliaswag I feel you… Im just like you in a lot of ways. Do you think Intel ISEF is about the same as Intel STS? Im applying for a regional science fair that will qualify me for Intel ISEF finalist? I also have a 1990 SAT …sigh. Im a very bad standardized test taker. But im retaking it until a get a good score. Anyways take your chances oh HYPSM you might just get in. I think Tier 2 should be a guaratee because STS is very presitigious.
Intel STS Semifinalist is about equivalent to a 1st-4th place Grand Prize at Intel ISEF
Just for test scores from Business Insider Aug. 2014 information. The college with the highest SAT scores are
- Caltec 2300 2. Harvard 2260 3. Princeton 2255 4. Yale 2255 3. U. Chicago 2255 6. MIT. 2235 7. Washington U. 2220 8. Columbia 2215 8. Vanderbilt 2215 10. Franklin Olin 2214 11. Stanford 2210 12. Northwestern U 2200 13. Harvey Mudd 2195 13. Pomona 2195 15. Dartmouth 2190 16. Duke 2185 16. U. Penn 2185 18. Rice 2180 19. Williams 2175 20. Tufts 2170
Are those the average scores? (50th percentile)
Your SAT scores are on the low range for HYPS but I would think that the Intel semifinalist status goes a long way toward making up the difference. Schools like HYP want kids who have distinguished themselves in some way in addition to great grades and scores and the Intel semifinalist is one way. (Others could be artistic, musical, etc.) As I heard one college advisor put it, those schools are looking for future nobel prize winners who will bring distinction to their institutions whereas 2300 plus SATs are not a guarantee of anything other than good test taking skills and/or good tutoring. That said, you should have at least some schools that are less selective because admissions rates of 5% to 9% mean that a lot of kids with 2400 and 4+ GPA are rejected.
According to business insider "We compiled a list of the 25 colleges with the highest SAT scores. This 2013-2014 preliminary data came from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES data gave us the 25th and 27th percentiles for each test section, which we then averaged and added up to get the average overall score for each school.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/colleges-with-the-highest-sat-scores-2014-8?op=1#ixzz3PysjfN6z
Forbes August 2014 article shows also ranked Top 25 colleges by SAT (CR & Math 1600 total) and ACT list.
1). Caltec 1545 & 34
2 ). U. Chicago 1515 & 33.5 3.) Harvard 1505 & 33.5 3.) Princeton 1505 & 33.0 5.) Yale 1500 & 33.5 6.) MIT 1500 & 34 7). Vanderbilt 1490 & 33 8.) Franklin Olin 1489 & 32.5 9. )Washington U. St. Louis 1485 & 33 10.) Harvey Mudd 1480 & 33.5 10.) Columbia U. 1480 & 32.5 12.) Stanford U. 1475 & 32.5 13.) Northwestern 1470 $ 32.5 ) 14.) Pomona 1460 & 32.5 14.) Rice 1460 & 32.5 16.) Dartmouth 1455 & 32 16.) Duke 1455 & 32 18.) U. Penn 1450 & 32 19.) Tufts 1445 & 31.5 20.) Williams 1445 & 32 21.) Amherst 1440 & 32 21.) Swarthmore 1440 & 32.5 23.) Bowdoin 1435 & 31.5 23.) Webb Institute 1435 23.) Carnegie Mellon 1435 & 32 23.) Brown 1435 & 31.5
27th percentile?
Is there anyplace online where finalist or semifinalist work is presented in more detail than just listing the topic?
your gpa and ecs are amazing. but that 2150 will hurt till it goes up by another 100 to 150 points. you are asian after all.
Harvard: reach
yale: reach
princeton: reach
stanford: reach
cornell: high match/low reach
upenn: low reach
brown: reach
realistically cornell seems to be your best bet right now, but get that SAT up and you have a good shot at all these
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18028678#Comment_18028678
Like I said I am a senior so I can’t exactly raise it another 100 to 150 points. I did get a 32 on the ACT, not sure if that would’ve been better to send.
I can’t really give a firm evaluation because of the vague ECs and details. Sadly, intel semifinalist doesn’t mean as much as it should in an anti-nerd college culture. It’s worrying how you have so many presidencies and commitments, that can easily come off as shallowness and college-orienetd ECs rather than doing them for yourself.
The SAT score is what will probably sink you. Standardized tests are the main objective metric, and are used to validate you as a student, after which your ECs and whatnot can kick in to show why you beat everyone else in that score range. 2150 is scarily low for those schools, beneath even 25th percentile I believe.
High reaches for HYPSM, mid reach for the other ivies.
It’s important to note that Cornell’s Eng’g and Arts & Sciences students have higher SAT/ACT average than Architecture and the Land Grant colleges.
I didn’t give details of my ECs in order to protect my identity, but trust me when I say that my ECs are not by any means shallow. I hold state, regional and district awards in all them and they are very unique.
As far as Cornell I did apply to a land grant college.
My ACT was a 32, do you think it would’ve been better off to have sent that?
If you read back on page 1 of this thread I said:
“32 on the ACT is a 2120 on the SAT. Pretty much the same as you SAT score.”
Really no advantage to you to send the ACT over SAT.
Would a 32 ACT really keep me out of Cornell and Brown. I looked online and a 32 is their 50th percentile score.
That is just hard to say with any certainty, other than to say that while you certainly are within range, it still a very competitive process for those scoring above the 50th percentile. Further, you should keep in mind, while not explicitly spoken, is how admissions work for the lower 50th percentile. For example, most elite college publishes the range of SAT scores that kids in the last class achieved. The schools call this the 25th to 75th percentile range. In other words, 50 percent of last year’s entering class had scores within this range.
So if a kid sees a school’s 25th–75th range as 1280 to 1430, the student might reasonably think that their 1300 SAT score gives them a fair shot at admission. Wrong–well it sort of is— so, in reality, the bottom 25 percent, below 1280, is reserved for the school’s “special interests”: athletes, students of color, development (big donors). For example, X university reports out that 25th–75th SAT range as 1380 to 1550. But the nominal reality is most of its admittees had SAT scores above 1500—Hard to do, but at this point relax, you will end up where you need to be, and further, its out of your control at this point.