I think everything was fine and then the SATs killed me.
I took the SATs for the first time cold in October. I will be retaking in December.
Do you think I should apply early or wait for December to boost my scores and apply regular?
Legacy at Yale: none
School: Private British School
GPA Unweighted: 4
GPA Weighted: NA
Class Rank: NA
SAT Scores: 1250
IB Scores: (out of 7)
History Higher Level 7
English Higher Level 7
Geography Higher Level 6
Math Standard Level 7
Biology Standard Level 7
Spanish Standard Level 6
Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
VP of charity events
VP of teaching club
Prefect
Creative Writing, math, spanish clubs just for furthering my skills
swimming student
Commonapp essay: college counselor loved it, about overcoming my issues with the arab culture/conservative society and family problems
Recomendations:
History Teacher: 10/10 im his fav of all time
Physics Teacher: 8/10
College Counselor: 10/10. we’re very close and it was very personal
Personal:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Political Science
Country (if international applicant): in the Middle East
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White, Middle Eastern
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 200k+
also honors: international edexcel english award for 9th highest mark in the world, national/school/international edexcel high marks award, school based awards for top grades.
Sorry, but you have absolutely NO CHANCE of admission to any ivy league school with a 1250 SAT, as that test score indicates you could not handle the reading, writing and math workload at a school like Yale, Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Stanford etc.
Don’t believe me? Harvard is a bit more forthcoming than Yale, but look at Harvard’s golf recruitment page and read what they expect from a golf recruit: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mgolf/faq
That’s 700 on the old 3-part SAT (2100+), or the equivalent of 1470+ on the new SAT. If those requirements are needed for a golf recruit, you can be assured they are also needed for an academic applicant like yourself Harvard. It’s the same at YPSM.
You need to boost your SAT score to 1500+ to be competitive international applicant at a school like Yale. So,yes you should retake the SAT and apply in the RD round, as applying in the SCEA round with a 1250 SAT will likely result in a deferral or outright rejection.
^^ Yale doesn’t publish who those students are, but it is generally thought they are recruited athletes in helmet sports (football, wrestling and hockey).
I think it is a fair assumption that the exceedingly few number of people who got in with the low scores in the post you are referring to had some kind of a HUGE hook such as being a recruited athlete, the child of a really major donor etc. or perhaps was a socioeconomically disadvantaged minority applicant who showed tremendous promise. For an unhooked applicant from an advantaged background, 1250 SATs are not competitive for Yale.
@gloopular, fwiw, swimming doesn’t count as a “helmet sport.”
I don’t mean to pile on, but taking 3 SL courses in IB won’t lead to your GC being able to check the “most rigorous” box. It won’t keep you out, but it also won’t offset the 1250 SAT.
To your direct question: do not apply SCEA. If you pull up your SAT scores considerably, consider applying in the regular round.
Yes there are students who get in with low stats, but they are in all cases someone with a special hook/spike: recruited athlete, parents are or are potentially major donors (7 figure +), parent is a recognized world leader, applicant is known celebrity, applicant has won or been recognized for something truly significant (someone like Malala). This is discussed in the thread you linked. I would also add that just looking at admits/admission rates for each band is a bit misleading. Many of the admitted students with a low score in one area may have a super high (or at least a much higher) score in another, e.g. a person with a 600 in math may have had 800’s in reading and writing, giving that person a very competitive 2200 composite score. The applicants who got a low score in each of the two/three sections will be much lower (0 at some point) than the students who got in with just 1 weak section.
