<p>Hi Extremely-I understand your desire to get a 2400 (after all, you are so close!), and I truly respect your drive, ambition, and work ethic. That said, I would strongly urge you to reconsider spending critical time on this project right now, especially if you are considering applying to the type of extremely competitive schools that are not purely statistics-driven.</p>
<p>The truth is that a 2400 as opposed to a 2300 is extremely unlikely to make any difference in how your application is viewed. The only exceptions to this are as follows:
- You attend one of those very few absolute academic powerhouse high schools in the country where the average scores are above 730 in each section. In these rare cases, small statistical differences can sometimes, although not always, have some kind of impact.
- Your 2300 consists of two subscores of 800 and one subscore of 700, and that 700 is in the section that most closely correlates to what your supposed strength/what you plan to major in in college is. (For example, the 700 is in Math, and you plan to be a STEM major at a highly selective college). In this case, it would be worth it to try to improve that one subscore.</p>
<p>Once you have crossed a threshold of 700+ per subsection, you have generally made it to the next level of consideration. At this point, you can pretty much expect to be evaluated anew, on completely different criteria. Imagine, maybe, that at this point your test scores won’t even be looked at again and compared with those of others.</p>
<p>So what will the admissions committees of most top schools be looking at? Well, GPA, of course, but even a high or perfect GPA will only get you so far. At this point, you’ll be evaluated as an individual - on your EC’s, your essays, your recommendations, etc.</p>
<p>As someone who has worked with many applicants, I have seen that the best use of time for students who are already scoring high on the SAT or ACT is to try to accomplish something noteworthy in their field of interest. Look for an internship or volunteer position, make a difference at your school somehow (I know there’s not much time left, but maybe you can put something in motion for next fall). Sign up for a summer course, look for an unusual summer activity or job, work on your web identity (what will someone see if they google you?). Cultivate great relationships with those teachers you plan to ask for recommendations. Email those admissions reps you met at that college fair and tell them how much you enjoyed speaking with them. Do in-depth research on each school you plan to apply to, so you can write great supplemental essays for them.</p>
<p>There are many students who, understandably, focus on the numbers during college admissions. A 2400 or a 4.0 are concrete goals, much easier for people to visualize and work toward and obsess about. This other stuff can seem abstract and elusive in comparison. </p>
<p>I hope this is helpful, and good luck!</p>
). I’ve spoken to a number of testing gurus and they were pretty philosophical people. Really interesting.