Feelin' bad about Math 2... will it hurt?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>First, a little background. I'm an Asian international junior dude.</p>

<p>As a Detroit native, I pretty much entered high school with my eyes set on the University of Michigan. But then I started picking up things like a 3.89 GPA, 2310 SAT, all that good stuff, so I've upped my goals to like the Harvard-Princeton-Yale level.</p>

<p>For the Math 2 subject test, I took a few practice tests and 800-ed them all, and I walked into the actual test today feeling pretty cocky, but I choked and ended up having to race through like 12 questions in the last 10 minutes. I'm about 90% sure I've lost my 800, so I'll most likely land in the 760-790 range. </p>

<p>I know that's still great, but some people have said that if you're Asian and you can't get an 800 on the Math 2, you can basically kiss the elite schools goodbye. What's worse is that EVERYTHING was going my way up to the test, and I blew the perfect score not because I didn't know the material, but because I CHOKED. It's like breaking 11 seconds on the 100-meter a billion times in practice, but come the actual race you screw up your start and run an 11.8. Still great, but you KNOW you could've gotten that 11.0.</p>

<p>Bottom line is, I know a 760-790 on the Math 2 is still great, but I also know that retaking it really isn't much of a hassle, and with a little better composure I can easily nail that 800. My question is, as an Asian dude, how much of an effect does an imperfect Math 2 score have on my chances of getting into a school like Harvard?</p>

<p>Much obliged.</p>

2

<p>Eh. SATs seem to be losing their credibility anyway. You probably don’t need to worry too much about it. That’s just my opinion though. Focus on other things instead.</p>

3

<p>There is honestly no difference between a 760 and 800, even for the most competitive schools. Although if your prospective major has to do with math/engineering, you have lots of awards for math related things, and you’re applying to MIT/Caltech then I suppose it couldn’t hurt to retake for an 800 if you have a couple hours to burn on a Sat. But otherwise don’t give it a second thought lol</p>

4

<p>There’s no reason to retake at all, admissions won’t see any difference between a 760 and an 800 even if you are asian</p>

5

<p>You honestly should just give up and go to community college with scores like those.</p>

<p>But seriously, you’re fine.</p>

6

<p>A application reader will not care for seeing a 800 rather than a 750 90% of the time. An 800 will never separate you above someone else with another student with a 700+ unless there is a noticeable difference in character</p>

7

<p>Sweet seems like everybody’s got the same opinion. Thanks a ton y’all.</p>