<p>My daughter is applying EA to UVa. Pretty good stats, at least I think so.
2210 SAT (680M/740CR/790W)
4.16 UW on 4.00 scale (An A+ is a 4.33, A is a 4 and so forth)
Tons of leadership, 3 sport varsity athlete, lots of community service
Recs, essays, etc should all be great
Attends small independent school in IN (OOS, I know, doesn't help)
My question is, she has yet to take the SAT subject tests. She is signed up to take them Nov. 3, which is too late for the EA deadline. Everything I've read says that UVa "recommends" subject tests, and I was just wondering, with her stats, how big a deal it is that she won't be submitting those scores. Thanks.</p>
<p>Strongly recommends really means required. Without the subject tests,especially as an OOS,you have almost no chance.</p>
<p>Can she apply early and note the November date under the test scores section of the common app? They will know the scores are coming, and if she has them sent directly down it might be ok. I’d call admissions and ask. Nothing at all to lose by inquiring, right?</p>
<p>If you are serious about attending a school, no matter how high the rest of your credentials, if they list a component as ‘strongly recommended’ personally I would advise that application is incomplete without it. Sending the application with the intent of having the scores ‘catch up’ means the file will most certainly receive at least the first read without the scores. Last year Dean J gave the dates that specific test dates would make it to the universities in her blog. The November test date was 11/5 and the arrival date was 11/22 IF you select the university prior to taking the test.</p>
<p>The thing to consider is Early Action, unlike Early Decision, is not binding, therefore the university reads the applications in the same manner they would in January during Regular Decision. Dean J confirmed this last year on this forum, EA applications would be read no differently. Any ‘bump’ or greater percentage of admission you may see from EA candidates is because these are the students that have their very best applications ready to go early in the year; they are very qualified applicants. There transcripts are steady, they are not waiting for a first semester bump in GPA, they are confident in their test scores, and they have put together the best possible package to present themselves. If there is any aspect of the application that could be improved by waiting until Regular Decision I would really caution a student to exercise patience and take the time to put in the work to do it. Yes, students will get admitted without SAT Subject tests, but I would not advise my student to leave anything to chance simply to make an EA deadline.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>EDIT to add: Here is this year’s timeline of test dates and delivery to schools if anyone is interested: <a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/scores/dates[/url]”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/scores/dates</a>
It is helpful to read Dean J’s blog post regarding this (remember the dates referenced in this blog post are from last year): <a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2011/09/recommended-test-dates-for-early-action.html[/url]”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2011/09/recommended-test-dates-for-early-action.html</a></p>