<p>Would a score difference of 2150 and 2250 make a difference (considering it is only around 4 questions)? How about the difference between a 2300 and a 2400?</p>
<p>Just curious since I keep hearing about kids retaking 2250 interested in applying to HYPS. Wouldn't the time studying be better spent on other stuff?</p>
<p>There's a bigger difference between 2150 and 2250 than 2300 and 2400. Remember that HYPS, 75th percentile is the mid to high 1500s, so retaking a 2250 does make sense.</p>
<p>There is a bigger difference between 2150 and 2250, but for Stanford at least, 70% of the incoming freshmen last year had above 2100... The majority, obviously, but then 30% must have done worse than 2100. I have always felt that once you get in a certain ballpark with your SATs, it comes down to your ECs, essays, and letters of recommendation. I would not retake a 2250.</p>
<p>I know someone with 1600 (old scale) on the SAT who was rejected from Harvard and MIT... a few ECs, no leadership. SATs aren't everything. Just do pretty well and then let your personality do the rest.</p>
<p>Celestial, that's an urban myth. I'd retake a 2250 if I way applying to top colleges and thought I could do better.</p>
<p>Think who the 30% of Stanford students who scored under 2100 are: recruited athletes, URMs, wealthy legacies and development candidates.</p>
<p>It can depend on a few different things- if your 2250 is 800 verbal, 800 writing, and 650 math, that's not so good. I agree with the "if it's in the ballpark, other things matter much more" statement. There are much better ways to spend your time and money. My personal story, I'm going to Caltech, and I had a 2150 on my SAT's.</p>
<p>If one is applying to HYP and has over a 1400 they are generally considered in the range of those they accept and the SAT becomes a variable that is no longer as important. The admission officers look to the other facets of ones application from rigor of curriculum, grades, teacher recommendations, extra curriculars, evidence of special talent, passion, commitment ect. There are thousands of applicants turned down each year to HYP with perfect SAT scores and a number one class rank only to find that others were accepted with competetive but lower SAT scores and grades but other things about their applications that made them more compelling. This is why one seems a huge number of students matriculating at schools like Washington University in St. Louis which seems to attract high scoring students. Many of these students had perfect or near perfect test scores and gpa's but were turned down by hyp because the did not appear interesting enough. That is not to say that having perfect test scores and being the class valevictorian won't help, but not as much as one would think as long as one is competitive. In addition, there are students who are accepted to HYP who have SAT scores lower than what the school typically accepts, but have some type of extraordinary talent, accomplishment or ability, are a recruited athlete, a development case ect.</p>
<p>"It can depend on a few different things- if your 2250 is 800 verbal, 800 writing, and 650 math, that's not so good."</p>
<p>Why? Can you elaborate?</p>
<p>Because the writing score is treated differently. Almost as if it was an SAT subject Ii tests. First and foremost they will look to see how you did on the math and critical reading. Generally if you have 700 on each your scores are considered to be in the range and they will look at other variables as per my previous post. This is not to say that an applicant with an 800 math and 650 critical reasoning would not be competitive, however admission officers may wonder if you math apptitude is up to par with other applicants. They would look to see the rigor of your curriculum and how you performed in your math classes in school, if you took any AP's in that subject, how you performed, how you did on any SAT II subject tests.
As for the writing score, a lower writing score (although still good) will not hurt an applicant although a great writing score can help an applicant. This is becaues the admission officers know that a lot of applicants have hired professionals to help them with the essay. Where an essay appears to be too polished, they will look to see how the student performed in the writing section of the SAT. Receiving a high score on the writing section of the SAT and a 12 for example on the essay would lead admission officers to conclude that the essay was probably the students own work. On the other hand where a student writes an extraordinary essay that is quite polished but the writing score is not competitive, and the student took the SAT several times each time not getting a competitive score, the admission officers are left to wonder who actually may have written the essay.</p>
<p>Collegebound, you're just plain wrong. Urban myth as Bobby said. 1400 is not the start of being in the ballpark at top colleges as it's below average for all of them. Once your score is above the average, significantly above if you're a white or Asian unhooked applicant, you're a player. More than half of 1600s get rejected, but almost no unhooked 1400s get in.</p>
<p>Simply look at the average ACT and SAT scores that collegeboard.com provides on their site. If you're in the middle 50% range, then you're fine. Being on the bottom of the middle fifty percent won't stop you if you've top ECs.</p>
<p>I agree if by top ECs you mean a recruitable sport or national honors.</p>
<p>Sure, but it seems highly unlikely that schools would have to come down to scores to choose between applicants. If that's so, then it seems that these applicants really aren't all that amazing if choice comes down to scores. Students should have more to recommend them than their scores.</p>
<p>Honestly, does anybody look at facts and figures? Brown has them, MIT admission site has it, SATs do make a difference and you can see exactly what it is there. Brown:
people with 2250 are admitted with about 25% rate, people with 2150 are admitted with about 16% rate.
(Assuming approximately equal distribution between the three parts of SAT.)</p>
<p>Gtown's are particularly good with the breakdown by section.</p>
<p>weight of SATs also depends on your ethnicity. my cousin knew an admissions officer at dartmouth who said theyd grant some sat forgiveness for URMs.</p>
<p>Suze you misinterpreted me. I dont mean that with 1400's the applicant is a competitor. What I meant is that once the applicant is in the 1400's the scores are not important and they look to the other variables. If the student has ordinary extra curriculars, ordinary leadership, ordinary community service, ect, clearly having those scores and gtades will not cut it. In fact, if the student has even perfect SAT scores and perfect grades but ordinary everything else they will usually not make the cut. What I am saying is that if an applicant has at least a 1400 but has extraordinary talent, accomplishment, passion, leadership, expanding over years to show great commitment, that that applicant becomes very compelling. One does not need to have a 1550 to get into HYP. For every valevictorian with perfect SAT's who gets excepted there is another applicant with a 1480 who has done extraordianry things. What I am saying is that once the applicant has a 1400 the admissions officers say lets see what else this applicant has to offer? Admission officers know that there is not much difference between a 750 and an 800 for example. Often the difference might be one or two quetions.</p>
<p>Suze is correct, the number isn't 1400. A 1400 does not get you a second read unless you have an extraordinary talent. There isn't much difference between a 750 and an 800 (well maybe), but there's a huge difference between 700 and 750.</p>
<p>celestial605 - "I know someone with 1600 (old scale) on the SAT who was rejected from Harvard and MIT... a few ECs, no leadership. SATs aren't everything." That is true, but if you have like a 3.7 GPA (UW or so...) and a perfect 1600, even without leadership, I would have thought that he would have gotten in to at least like MIT or some other great schools. Just curious, where did he go? Was he accepted to places like Cornell and Carnegie Mellon (those good schools, but not as prestigious as Harvard etc.).</p>
<p>So generally, for an asian male, what SAT score should I aim for (so i dont have to retake) if i'm interested in schools like Yale and Stanford?</p>
<p>you'll need at least 3734 on your SATs to be competitive - preferably 4000+.</p>