<p>Upenn, Cornell, John Hopkins,UC BERKELeY, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, or Washington in St Louis????????????</p>
<p>since NEW SATS came out this year, the LOW SAT score is regarding the "OLD SAT" (less than 1300)</p>
<p>I do. Into Johns Hopkins. Last year a senior got 1100-around for SAT I, and her GPA was about 3.7 or so unweighted.</p>
<p>No, but i know the opposite. My brother got into cornell and he was 32/200 some kids. But he was already creating professional software that was on the market and in stores--and had a 1480 sat without studying or prep. He was the ultimate smart slacker. He was in a non-honors eng course for all of HS b/c his scheduling got messed up when he moved--but his verbal was higher than his math.</p>
<p>BTW, my friend also got into Wesleyan, which I think is pretty darn competitive and Carleton (which she's attending). I don't think she had a hook, like icedkiwi's brother. She was an international student, though, if that helps anyway.</p>
<p>Last year, a senior from my school got into JHU with a 4.0 and 1340 SAT (don't know what the break down was).</p>
<p>Doesn't low SAT/high GPA usually signal grade inflation to the adcom? Seems like I read that somewhere.</p>
<p>No, I don't think so. Some students are just really bad test-takers or bad multiple-choice takers. </p>
<p>Rather, adcoms hate seeing students with HIGH SAT scores and LOW GPA scores. Suggests they're smart, but not particularly hard working. A slacker.</p>
<p>Clark University actually prefers students with mid-range SAT scores. Like polishing a stone and turning it into a gem. They help the students become more instead of wanting to grab the "already-made leaders of tomorrow" and help them mature and grow.</p>
<p>Hamster ~ Kids with disabilities that affect timed-test performance can also have lower SATs/higher GPAs.</p>
<p>Do you think it's unfair that some people (who really don't need the extra time) receive extra time on the SAT? I definitely know of one person who <em>used</em> to have ADD but did not have it anymore (not sure how that works but that's what he claims) still got an extended allotment of time on the SAT. I know another who is a very privledged white male who also got extended time on the SAT. I say he's a very privledged white male, because he did not have any learning disability but still got extra time because his mother is a doctor and somehow got him the extra time (I'm friends with him, and we've already laughed about this already, so it's okay.. lol..). It's just annoying that these types of people will be taking my spot in top schools. By the way, they both scored 1400+ between M & CR but have admitted that they would not have done so otherwise lol..</p>
<p>KRabble88 ~ I share your frustration, but from the opposite perspective. My DS has a lot of documentation supporting his absolute need for extended SAT time, but he was not given one minute. Thus his SAT scores were about 200 points lower than any of his formally administered SAT practice tests with 0-25% extended time administered by an educational specialist. So, I can say that there are kids out there who will be getting a seat that my son should have filled because DS was not given the accommodations he deserved and was entitled to.</p>
<p>I guess if your friends didn't deserve the accommodations and received them, and my DS deserved the accommodations but didn't...it all works out in the end (with a few people like you and DS being the casualties of a flawed system).</p>
<p>Head high...you'll make it.</p>
<p>Yeah, I feel terrible for those that truly need the extended time and those who take advantage of it. It's especially frustrating when some of these people have everything handed to them on a silver platter. They work hard but they have so many advantages over the average student as well. Many fail to realize that having educated parents who can speak English is an advantage over a student who has parents who have immigrated from a different country and cannot speak English very well. Sorry, I've officially gone off topic, but for people to tell me that I still had the same opportunity as a student who has English-speaking parents is a little frustrating. O well.. and then there are some of non-English-speaking parents who have still done well despite the disadvantage. I know very few who have truly had blue-collar working parents and still have done a very good job at school.</p>
<p>KRabble88 ~</p>
<p>I understand how frustrated you must feel. Yes, you will see that throughout life there will always be those who seem to have everything handed to them on a silver platter. Some of those people work hard, and some just slide by taking full advantage of their "special" situations.</p>
<p>However, I suggest that you try to find contentment in the things you, yourself...without help or favor from anyone, achieve. Those, believe it nor not, are the most sweet, because they belong totally to you.</p>
<p>My grandparents immigrated to this country at the end of the 1800s, and my parents were both born in the US, so I'm not familiar with the language difficulties you have encountered. I can say this though...you have the same opportunities, you probably just don't have the same level of support, because your parents do not have the same cultural background as your friends parents and may not be able to guide you as effectively. But, I've faced something similar. When I was growing up, my family was either minimally English speaking or decidedly blue-collar...few finished high school, none college. So, I was a first. My parents had no clue how to help me with school work or guide me through the college selection process. KRabble88, I graduated 4/352, UW GPA 3.986, SAT (old, of couse) 1429, mostly AP courses, lots of AP 5's, SATII Math 743, French 686, English 680. I was awarded a full college scholarship in engineering, and eventually went on to a career in software development management. So I am proof positive that a student can do a very good job at school even coming from a blue-collar family.</p>
<p>There will always be those out there that will try to find reasons to discourage you...sometimes that person will be you, yourself. Don't let it happen. You have been blessed with many fine qualities and talents, which you, yourself, are responsible for developing. True, the support at home might not be the best (and those reasons can extend well beyond spoken language to broken home, substance abuse, etc.). In reality, everyone has something...so I encourage you to pick yourself up and fight the good fight. Cherish your dreams and rush toward them with all your enthusiasm and energy. You will be successful, if you only allow yourself to be. Good luck. OB</p>
<p>any awards, unique talents, anything???</p>
<p>valedictorian from my school got into harvard</p>
<p>she had 102.19 gpa and 1360 SAT (kinda low)</p>
<p>Anything special about the Harvard admit? URM? athlete? Super duper ECs?</p>
<p>actually she was an ORM (asian), not a recruited athlete, dont know about national awards or anything i didnt know her that well. I think she had a lot of ECs though. no legacy either.</p>
<p>1290 - UPenn, pretty good GPA.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My friend who got into JHU, Wesleyan, Carleton,etc didn't win any super award though she did get a full scholarship summer before senior year to a mid-IB course to Oxford (the university). She was an international student, if that's a hook (Sudanese). I didn't consider her essay as "killer" per se, though they showed her personality quite well.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't know if this helps you or not. I think sometimes the idea of having a "hook" is sometimes overrated. She wasn't a super athlete, either, nor a musical prodigy. She is, however, very independent and her teacher recommendations showed that. During summers she would volunteer at orphanages that had no affiliation with our school, though I believe she used her father's UN connections to find them. Either way, she didn't have those "glaringly obvious hooks".</p>
<br>
<p>Kids with disabilities that affect timed-test performance can also have lower SATs/higher GPAs</p>
<br>
<p>They can get extra time on testing.
Actually New York Times had an article about parents besieging dr's offices
(before/after SAT testing times in the year) to get disability forms for their children ....</p>