<p>I just think it’s useful to consider the return on investment. If we’re talking about devoting a week of serious studying to get a score 100 points better on a subject test, I’d say that’s probably worth it. If we’re talking about devoting a month of serious studying to get a score 20 points better (or possibly 20 points worse), I don’t think that’s worth it.</p>
<p>There are other aspects of the application that are more worthwhile in terms of the application, and also in terms of personal knowledge.</p>
<p>I don’t think, for the record, that people with perfect grades and perfect scores are actually penalized in the admissions process for not having to deal with failure. But I think there’s a difference between having an outstanding record at a top high school and participating in national-level math and science contests and having an outstanding record at a run-of-the-mill public high school – speaking from my own experience, the second kind of person is less aware that perfection probably isn’t going to be possible for him or her at MIT.</p>