<p>Does anybody know how much of an advantage (if any) is given to those who take and submit SAT Subject Tests? Or, if you got accepted, did you submit any?</p>
<p>I got accepted and submitted none. My thoughts were that AP tests would serve as a good alternative report on academic ability.</p>
<p>Just remember that your application will not be hindered by those tests, as you can choose not to report them. It comes down to cost, and if you want to spend the time to take them. I didn’t see the need to do them however, and it did not hurt me.</p>
<p>If anything, focus on those essays. The admissions staff repeatedly stressed to prospies during visitation days the importance of strong essays. They will undoubtedly carry more weight than anything else in your application, as they can give the best insight into who you are as a person.</p>
<p>Letters of recommendation will also, in my opinion, play a moderately large role. The ones written for me, according to what the teachers told me were in them, each elaborated on different traits of mine. I felt that they gave a fuller picture of who I was, and were thus important in the application process.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the goal of the admissions office is to find people that they believe would thrive in the Reed community. How would you best determine this? A score on a test? I wouldn’t, and their lax attitude (relative to other colleges of their academic caliber) regarding SAT/ACTs seems to support that. No, the best way to understand a person would be their own thoughts (essays), how others view them (recommendations), and their observable behavior (interview). The interview would be given far less weight however, as they are conscious of the fact that not everyone has the ability to receive one. They are more about offering information to perspective students than anything else, unless of course a person does truly terrible.</p>
<p>Now, an extremely important factor I left out is class choice (i.e., did you take the hardest classes your high school had? Did you do well?), but I left this out as, assuming that you’re a senior, little can be done about it at this point.</p>
<p>Haha, actually I’m a junior. And I take one of the hardest schedules a junior can (outside of the students who intentionally choose 6 or 7 APs every year for the sake of college. I actually like my electives), and do pretty well in school, currently hovering close to a 3.9 unweighted GPA. So I should be good in that respect.
Thank you for the tips.</p>