<p>I'm guessing the score itself is most important, but would you be penalized for getting, say, 750+ on a test where that's in the 80-something-eth percentile? Thanks!</p>
<p>probably not....</p>
<p>I believe a 750 is a 750...you get lucky, sometimes you dont</p>
<p>They probably don't look directly at the %tiles, however, I bet they compare your score to the scores of other applicants. So let's say that at college Z, the average SAT II score for physics is 760, but you have a 740. Your 740 would not look that great even though a 740 is a respectful score in general. So I don't think they look at it directly, but the percentiles of the tests generally determine what kinda scores the other applicants have in relation to yours.</p>
<p>I don't know if I totally agree...the general rule is the higher the score the better, no matter what.</p>