So I did very badly on my SAT 2s:
490 Latin, 600 Math 2, 700 Bio E
I was stupid and did the “send scores free” thing on College Board site. SO now, Princeton, Georgetown, Yale, and Columbia have seen these awful scores. The rest of my resume is good, I’m a URM (black) , I have a hook, I am proficent in Arabic, which is not a subject test sadly, I have good ACT scores, and am in the top 7% of my class. Am I done for now that these colleges have seen those bad scores? I plan to major in IR and/or Econ, with a minor in Arabic by the way.
I was also disappointed with my SAT 2’s; if you can, you should try and do some humanities subject tests (history or literature.)
You aren’t done for. It’s just one part of your application. But for future reference, don’t send scores until you have seen them- it’s too big a risk.
Yeah, if only I had know before @yonceonhismouth. But with those scores, won’t schools just throw my app in the trash? Particularly Georgetown and Princeton? Those are my dream schools.
@NikkuWadde They won’t throw away your application. Both Georgetown and Princeton do a holistic review, meaning they look at all aspects of your application. Your SAT IIs are only one portion of the app.
You can retake and get a better score though
Yes, but these schools have already seen these bad ones. Does this affect my chances, even if do retake and get better scores? @Mrduque
Is it your first sitting? If so, they won’t consider it bad if you take it a second time.
There’s no way anyone can predict what these college admissions officers are thinking when they see applications. So you’re better off not even stressing over something you can’t undo.
Now you better just focus on what you can do: improve other areas of your application, including GPA, Essays, Letters of Recommendation, etc.
Apply to those schools that don’t require SAT Subject Tests
Lead all your college applications with proficient in ARABIC. Everyone I know who took the SAT 2 tests did “bad”. Th SAT is offering an August test option starting NEXT SUMMER - too late for my son but…
Actually I have a question, so some of the schools I sent my scores to will take the ACT+ Writing in Lieu of the SAT 2. I took the ACT plus writing and did well. Will they even have to look at my SAT 2 scores since I took the ACT plus writing?
OP, you have some good things going for you, the NSLI, the Arabic, your interest in IR/econ. But the math score is low for econ at a highly competitive college. That’s the one to get up.
You have said an ACT of 31, but not what the subscores are- that will matter. This tier of schools isn’t just looking at the composite.
But I get the impression you don’t now much about what PGYC will look for. Any school that allows you to send multiple scores, for superscoring or just to see, will ignore a lower score if an improved one is also there. Adcoms deal with kids and know some flub on the first try.
So consider working on the M. But in the meantime, seriously, look at the Common App and supps, read everything these colleges say on their web sites about what they value and look for. Your app, how you choose to present yourself, the attributes that show in your writing, etc, will be key. Build that understanding.
I gotchu. But those schools who allow the ACT plus writing, will they even look at my SAT 2 scores if I submit both @lookingforward. And honestly Georgetown and Uchicago are my dream schools (thank god Uchicago doesn’t require SAT 2s). I’d like to go to Princeton/ Columbia/ Yale/ Harvard, but I’m not seriously considering them because I know my chance of acceptance is astromically low, and I don’t know if I would thrive in an Ivy Enviornemnt. I don’t I would be a “typical Ivy Leauge student”. Meaning that if I got in, I would feel like I wouldn’t belong.
Also, I like IR more. I like the Conceptual stuff in Econ, but not the nitty-gritty math stuff, if I’m being honest with myself. But thing is, in school I’m a good math student-- A averages in all the math classes I’ve ever taken, and they have all been honors/AP courses. So I don’t understand why that score is so low. As for Latin, I have no clue what happened with that one.
Lol, I did a similar thing with accidentally sending my ACT score before I actually saw it, and now I kind of regret that. Anyways, I can empathize with you and, honestly I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Just retake the tests and if you do better: send them. If you do badly again, just don’t report the test scores on CommonApp and just pray that the colleges don’t remember that you sent them (of course, though, if any of these schools require all subject tests that you’ve taken, then report them). If any of the colleges have a rule where if you send ACT with writing, then you don’t have to send subject tests, then I would take that route and not report the subject test scores on CommonApp, but if your SAT is significantly better than your ACT, then just send the SAT and hope that your subject test scores improve.
Hope that all made sense, good luck!
Thanks @Darthjt. But what if the schools have the ACT plus writing policy? Will they ignore your subject tests then?
Look it up in their web sites. Do they still require the SAT IIs in addition to the ACT+W?
No. But the thing is the SAT 2s have already been sent. Will they consider both, or will they only consider the ACT plus writing since technically, if you send that, the Subject tests aren’t needed. @“Erin’s Dad”