<p>I want to know if my SAT scores are decent enough to get into some competitive schools. I want to major in Physics or Astrophysics and I'm applying to Cornell, Columbia, Yale, as well as a bunch of others
I have 690 in reading, 740 in math, 710 in writing, so 2140 altogether.
For SAT II's,
I have a 740 in math II, 730 in Chem, 750 in bio, and 700 in US History.
My weighted gpa is 97/100, [rank 40 out of 750] and ive been involved with lots of community work and extracurriculars.
How good of a chance do I have to get into an ivy?
sorry if this is the wrong board, this is my first post. Thanks for the feedback!</p>
<p>Sorry to say this, but unless you have some sort of hook (URM? legacy? sports recruit? etc.) you’re not likely to get in. With a 2280 (800M/780CR) and as many ECs as you, my son only got WL’d.</p>
<p>Well, the 2140 won’t do anything to strengthen your application, but it won’t hurt it much either. However, you sure you can’t improve your scores? For example, write a longer/better essay, and you can get a higher writing score (I went up from 670 to 790 doing that). Being prudent is the key in CR and in math, too.</p>
<p>Otherwise, don’t count on getting in (ivies are a reach for everyone), but it won’t hurt to try, so best of luck to you! :)</p>
<p>You are good enough for some top schools. It will be better if you have something else to claim: legacy, leadership, Olympic medal, big donor, senator’s kid, vice president’s kid.</p>
<p>What is “WL’d” in your sentence…my son only got WL’d.</p>
<p>^^that means waitlisted</p>
<p>Your SATs sound great to me, but what do I know? I’m only married to a Harvard PhD…but if you hang around this board long enough, you’ll start to believe that even God wouldn’t qualify for the Ivies, LOL.</p>
<p>Having that score, I wouldn’t worry so much, I’m sure many Ivy League students had similar scores and hopefully your extracurriculars give you an edge up</p>
<p>Admissions at this level is a crapshoot but I think you might want to think about your planned major. At the type of schools you listed, virtually every student in the physics/astrophysics major will be math whizzes with 800 math scores. One of my close friends was an astro major at Cornell and in his second year they told him he wasn’t smart enough and to look for something else. He went to medical school but he had an 800 math score and won numerous math awards in HS. This type of field has few jobs and to get a tenured position is very tough.</p>
<p>Just a question…why didn’t you take the Physics SATII?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses!</p>
<p>@Presidont, I think it a bit late for me to retake the SAT, I retook it once, went up from a 640 (essay 6) to 710 (essay 11) and my CR stayed the same at 690. I know I could get an 800 in math, but at this point its not worth retaking. also I went up from a 660 in math 2 to a 740</p>
<p>@CornelHopeful I didnt take physics because Im taking AP Physics now during senior year, dont know enough yet.</p>
<p>Some additionial info:
Im captain of the math team, I volunteered at a local teen safety community group, we did lots of positive influential activities and projects around the community such a s a mock crash, filmed a TV show that aired locally about drug and alcohol prevention, attented CADCA conference, Volunteer at hospital, did relay for life, NHS, FLHS, played AAU basketball </p>
<p>also I was born in russia and speak fluent russian</p>
<p>appreciate the comments!</p>
<p>You should have mentioned your Russian Identity, and the Math Captain thing. Now it sounds much better (Columbia likes diversity)~ I think you have a decent shot at the Ivies. But if you are going to major in Physics… at least you should “tell” the Admission Officers through you stats that you are prepared for it… you see, when I saw your major, the first thing I would check was your SAT Physics score… Oh, you’re taking AP physics. Then go get a good score for that;)</p>
<p>I did not look at your scores, but I am reading over the comments so all I have to say is: remember that you are on CC, so I would advise you to take a lot of these comments with a grain of salt</p>
<p>“remember that you are on CC, so I would advise you to take a lot of these comments with a grain of salt…”</p>
<p>Nah, bring the whole dang shaker, LOL!</p>
<p>Re taking Physics SAT: DS plans to major in history, but he did not take the History SAT. His home-school instructor (his dad, an historian) felt that history was such a broad, huge subject that it would be hard to prep for. I don’t know if that was a wise deciwion, but we shall see… (DS did take Physics and Math II SATs and plans to take the Latin one in December.)</p>
<p>What!? It’s not too late to get a history tutor and a prep book. 
</p>
<p>Seriously, this is a college application for an undergrad history major, right? Let’s not overthink it!</p>
<p>Sorry to steal your thread, but I just wanted to ask a pertinent question. If I was born in a former Soviet Union member country, immigrated to US, and speak another language fluently, is this still considered “diversity”? (only have US citizenship now, though)</p>
<p>I had a 2000 SAT score and a 31 ACT score and Yale offered me a full-ride if my family made less than a certain amount per year. With your scores, you should be able to get into an Ivy</p>
<p>@MisterK – LOL! Well, I sort of felt that way, too, but DH overruled me. </p>
<p>DH (our home school’s primary instructor) holds a PhD from Harvard in History (1983), with a primary field in Byzantine history. (Second field = Roman histroy. Third = medieval intellectual history. Fourth = Early Modern Europe. Harvard makes you do four fields, but the first one is your specialty.)</p>
<p>I’m not sure DS needs a tutor. I think DH will do just fine in that role. ;-)</p>
<p>But it’s moot now. DS is taking the Latin SAT in December. He <em>may</em> re-take the reasoning SAT in January (for boosting-scholarship-$$$ purposes). (His last set of scores = 2100, but he has done better than that on practice tests. However, for the schools we’re looking at, 2100 may be fine. Also, he’s a National Merit Semifinalist…)</p>
<p>Anyway, you’re right; we don’t want to overthink, but I also don’t want to push and pressure the kid into an early grave. What’s done is done, and we have a good state school system (he has applied to five state schools total), so we’ll see what happens.</p>
<p>DS, unlike his dad, is most interested in U.S. history…we probably should have gotten him to take the USH SAT, at least. Too late now. Oh we… At any rate, at least one of his college-app essays (for UNC-Chapel Hill) dealt with an historical figure, Blind Alfred Reed, an obscure 1920s-'30s protest singer.</p>
<p>Sorry–don’t want to hijack this poor kid’s thread!</p>
<p>“Oh we” should be “Oh well.” Sorry!</p>