<p>I am a junior who is planning on taking the SATs in January. There was one offered in the fall at our school, but I wanted to see my PSAT scores first to see where I should concentrate my test prep. Anyways, I was just wondering how much SATs count at places like Hopkins and UPenn? I'm pretty sure my extracurricular activities, volunteering, and most certaintly my transcript are up to par, but what if i take the test and get around a 1900? I know thats low for schools of their caliber, as most scores are in the 2000 [at least for Hopkins] and above range. So how would someone with excellent ecs and recs, but a slightly lower SAT fair in the college admissions process?</p>
<p>Well, for example, UC Berkeley places much more emphasis on your essays rather than your SAT scores because how you perform ONCE on a test is much different than how to write your essays, what personal qualities you have, etc. </p>
<p>You'd still have a chance; you'd just need to bolster your essays a bit and emphasize that to remain competitive.</p>
<p>I read all the time where colleges say SAT scores are not the be-all-and-end-all, and yet every rubric you look at seems to focus most on SAT scores. So, I'm not sure they are simply "a piece of the whole picture" as much as admissions people say... well, yeah, they're just a piece, but I tend to think it's a pretty BIG piece -- depending on the school, of course. Very selective ones probably use it as a sorting tool more consisitently than schools with higher acceptance rates.</p>
<p>I hate to say it but it's probably the most important factor. It is a test that you can learn to do well on if you're willing to work hard. All you need is a review book with Practice Tests.</p>
<p>Sadly too much in my view at the highly selective and elite colleges. Its how they separate the applications. Just ensure you apply to a wide range of schools and dont put all your eggs in one basket of elite schools. Besides YOU are an integral part of the college selection process and YOU decide in the end where YOU want to go....and thus the "fit" factor is really more important in the end. Many kids have an epiphany when visiting schools, "This is DEFINITELY not me!" or "This is ME!" And SAT scores has only a small role in that decision.</p>