<p>First of all, if you're here to whine with any variation of the statement "Why do you even come to this forum...just trying to get attention...make us all look bad, etc," please pass "Go" directly to hell.</p>
<p>Now that that's taken care of:</p>
<p>Everytime a representative of a prestigious university comes to our school to give basic information about their school, one of the first statements to leave their mouth upon receiving the question "How do you consider standardized test scores?" is "We reject at least half of all perfect scorers." I thought this was perhaps unique only to Harvard, but during at least one top-ten school's open house this fact was publicly announced - almost harped on - and of course the aformentioned representatives from many schools just love to point this fact out. So I'm wondering, if someone were actually to get a 2400, is this truly a negative effect? I understand that rejecting half of all perfect scorers means that the acceptance rate for 2400-scorers is 4-5 times that of the average, but I can't imagine someone with such high SAT scores be stupid enough to not be involved in anything else extracurricularly.</p>
<p>So, what I'm getting at is, are these adcoms seriously going to look over a kid's 2400 and say: "A damn nerd, for sure. He better be varsity football captain, lest we take this wonderful, automatically better socially-adjusted 2380!"</p>
<p>Well, I think it has something to do with that double-edged sword that with such a good score, some colleges might feel you're applying to them with too cocky an attitude or as just back-up schools if you're doing anything less prestigious than Harvard level whether that's true or not. </p>
<p>One of my friends went through the same thing but with a 2380 score and a 36 ACT.</p>
<p>Like icedkiwis said, how is it a disadvantage when half of the perfect scorers get in when only 10% do overall?</p>
<p>I don't have any proof of this whatsoever, but I think that many perfect scorers are socially awkward bookworms or come off as cocky so they blow the more personal parts of the application process (essay, interview). Or just have none/very little extracurriculars.</p>
<p>I'm also going to go ahead and third the notion that a fifty percent chance of being accepted to Harvard and other great schools is amazing. You realize that that's forty percent better of a chance than others, right? That's not good? What are you smoking? :)</p>
<p>wow Arti, that's a huge generalization. Last year we had two perfect scorers at my school. One was the nicest person ever, a bookworm kinda but not awkward or cocky at all and just always mature and sweet.
The other kinda fits the cocky bill but was in no way awkward or uninvolved. Completely the opposite; he was one of the ones to don full body paint and run across the field in only shorts in 60 degree weather for school spirit at football games.</p>
<p>Both of them were good friends of mine and it's kinda annoying that you'd stereotype them based on SAT scores...</p>
<p>If colleges stereotype 2400 scorers like that, they should also consider the fact that ppl with 2300 could be the ACTUAL bookworms, more so than 2400s. (i'm not stereotyping but i know a person who has a 2300 and yes, she has the cocky(!) attitude, no ECs, etc)</p>
<p>so yes i think it's unfair they look at 2400s like that...besides, luck is involved!</p>
<p>No</a>, a perfect score on the SAT does not hurt you. Au contraire, as that study suggests it can be helpful. Strategic admissions, in fact, call for a reduction in the admission of high but not super-high scorers.</p>
<p>Gaming the US News ranking requires a (relatively) high rejection rate, and deemphasizing the effectiveness of a 2400 allows the top schools to get more dead-on-arrival applicants.</p>
<p>I doubt they look very differently at scorers in the 2300s as at 2400 scorers. I highly doubt it is a bad thing to have a very high or perfect score, unless it is for a safety school that will catch Tufts Syndrome. If you have a 50% chance at Harvard, that is the best chance anybody has pretty much. So stop worrying.</p>
<p>The question is, while 2400s have a ~50% admit rate at HYPSM, do 2380s have a slightly HIGHER admit rate? I doubt it, but the OP is kind of convincing. Would anyone happen to have that data?</p>
<p>Harvard is a silly school. My friend applied seven years ago with a 1580 SAT score, a boatload of recs, and 3rd-in-class rank at a prestigious school. Harvard didn't even give him the courtesy of the waitlist.</p>
<p>"The question is, while 2400s have a ~50% admit rate at HYPSM, do 2380s have a slightly HIGHER admit rate? I doubt it, but the OP is kind of convincing. Would anyone happen to have that data?"</p>
<p>Data doesn't exist. But I am curious as well...that's the million dollar question. You have to wonder if schools push out a few perfect scorers just to meet the "over 1/2" criteria.</p>
<p>Some</a> data does exist, according to this study. If you look at the graphs on p9, you can discern that the admissions rate for a 2400 is not below that for a ~2380. Unfortunately, though I've tried to look up the data source for that study, I don't think it's publicly available.</p>
<p>let's put it this way: If Harvard wants me to miss one question on purpose, then I don't want Harvard. Now if they want to forgive me a few B's.....</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all of the information. This has gotten rid of any apprehension I might have had applying with a 2400 - the study you mentioned, General Rak, was especially useful - I can now safely say I'm not at a disadvantage. Thanks again.</p>