<p>I am not sure if this is accurate since I haven't done my SAT's yet, but someone told me they did the SAT's and got an 1700+ overall. He said it was enough to get into a top school in the states (HYPS) and that even an 1800-1900 was good as well. I told him a majority of students that get into those top school have a score of at least 2100+ but he said it did not matter and that only "geniuses" get scores like that. Is any of this true?</p>
<p>yup, all true</p>
<p>I hope you're being sarcastic ^. I know the question is a little weird but I just want everyone's opinions on the subject.</p>
<p>I scored a 2220 on my first sitting. I retook it to help my chances for HYP. Draw your own conclusions.</p>
<p>Why stop at 1700? A 1500 could probably get you into HYPS easily.</p>
<p>The only college for which I've really read about what got people in is Caltech. There, less than a 750 math or 700 anything else is uncommon to be accepted with. Not that by any means SAT's get you in. It's more that SAT's get you folder opened and considered. You gotta do something to stick out from the other folders to get in.</p>
<p>I have a similar question.</p>
<p>Let's say you have a person with a 650-700 SAT (in this situation, it would probably be because of stupid mistakes). BUT, they're able to make it to the USAMO (USA Math Olympiad), where only 400 people in the country can make it. How would that work?</p>
<p>Because a 650 isn't really that good of a score for someone who wants to get into a top college. But getting into the USAMO is very hard.</p>
<p>I think the adcoms would believe the guy misbubbled (if it was 660 in math) and the applicant would likely take it again. Usually the kids who get USAMO have very high math SAT's anyway.</p>
<p>You need a 2000+ to even consider applying to a top college (I'm talking Ivy and others of that calibur) and a 2150 to be in range. 2250 is good enough for most Ivys and top schools except HYPSMC. 2300 is needed for those, and 2350 would be recomended. These scores are for non URM, unhooked, non legacy candidates. For your averate joe, you need a 2300 (maybe even a 2350) to have a legit shot at Harvard. For the other Ivys and top of hte top schools, a 2250 would be sufficient. A 2100 gets you in range, but range is not good enough considering the type of people top schools take with belloe 2100 SAT. It is possible to get into Harvard witha 1700 if you are a Hispanic girl who is interested in engineering and nationally ranked in something.</p>
<p>I agree with venkater.</p>
<p>ya, unless you have connections or legacy or something, don't even consider applying to top schools without having at least a 2000. They'll just laugh at the application.</p>
<p>it depends on context. there are other factors that are considered into why you got the SAT scores you did, not just because of your intelligence. your situation growing up, the circumstances of your environment, etc. we did a mock admissions round at amherst this past weekend, and we ended p choosing a girl who scored in the mid 40s on all three sctions of her SATs, but her situation and other factors more than made up for that.</p>
<p>that said, you'd better have a hell of a story to get into A HYPS with anything below a 2100.</p>
<p>SAT's are such a small part of an aplication to a good school. If they aren't just horrible, then you've got a shot. From there, they actually try to understand oyu as a person from your ap. If you can show that you did soomething really cool, they want you. Quite a few successful people are dropouts- brilliant minds don't always have the traditional signals of it. Gates or Einstein come to mind? Heck, they thought Einstein was retarded until he was about eight.</p>
<p>Yeah, but Gates got into Harvard. I'd say that's a traditional sign of a brilliant mind.</p>
<p>yep. valedictorian last year from my school, 2390 SATs, 4.8 weighted GPA, captain of XC and Track, rejected from Stanford. Another dude 2100ish SAT, 4.1 weighted GPA, volunteer up the wazoo, and from what ive heard, a mind blowing essay, accepted into Stanford. Both were middle class white.</p>
<p>supposedly with an SAT 2100 plus, good recommendations, high class rank, good ECs (dog sledding volunteer work acceptable) and application from a State of Alaska secondary school with provable ethnicity connected to Alaska native tribes or native Aleut and/or other tribes including inhabitants of the Kuril Islands, the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak and the adjacent islands, and the Alaska peninsula - chances over 30% to 40% or even higher at the top Ivy's.</p>
<p>wahahaha this is too funny.</p>
<p>2000-einstein's lost grandson</p>
<p>1500-extremely good chance at getting into HYPS</p>
<p>1000-fair chance, your ec's and recs better be gooD!!</p>
<p>
[quote]
brilliant minds don't always have the traditional signals of it. Gates or Einstein come to mind? Heck, they thought Einstein was retarded until he was about eight.
[/quote]
Uhh, I thought Gates scored a perfect SAT.</p>
<p>Sure, it's possible... anything's possible. As has been said before, scores don't get you in to top schools, they get you considered. Unfortunately, a 1700 is very much on the low end of "being considered". That's averaging around 630 points per second- which is not good by their measures.</p>
<p>According to former admissions officer of Yale, Yale will reject you if your SAT score is below a certain number without even looking at the rest of your application. That number I predict is around 1900-2000. I'm pretty sure most other top schools do the same or similar.</p>