i’m applying for highly selective schools (ivies and top LACs) as an international, and i will be asking for aid. I have an 780 sat in bio, and i just got my lit score today.
Honestly I’m pretty devastated with the news and feel like it’ll take away the already slim chance of getting into a top school. I’m also going to be doing sat math II in January so I could also resit lit then…but that would mean i would have about 20 days to study for both math and lit and I’m unsure whether that’ll compromise both scores.
should i resit? i only had 2 days to study for lit this time round, so if i sit the january session, ill have more time to study-but will i do better?
I don’t think so. There’s no real meaningful difference between a 750 and an 800 in Lit, and I know plenty of internationals who have gotten FA and have scored 750 (or even lower) in Lit.
@marvin100 if other students from my school have 2 800s, but in easier scaled subjects like Math 2, will the admin people take that into consideration? I’m just scared because I’ve heard that they compare students in each school against each other? also, for those internationals who got FA, what did they have that was the ‘deal sealer’? thank you !!
They might take it into consideration, but it’s your essays that will probably make a much more meaningful difference.
A 780 in bio is at the 91st or 95th percentile; the 750 in lit is at the 90th percentile. Higher scores on those are unlikely to be meaningful. Colleges probably do compare students because each additional applicant from the same school give the college more context in which to understand each applicant from that school. But, they are unlikely to have a quota in terms of selecting students from your school. If they found two amazing students (compared to the rest of the applicant pool), I’d think they’d take both. If neither is as strong as students from other schools, I’d bet they’d take none. So your real competition isn’t from the desk next to yours but from the entire pool. Further, the difference between a 780 and 800 pales in comparison to the difference in your goals, your achievements, etc. So, I would focus on the actual achievement not the scores. Do things that are meaningful to you rather than obsessing about test scores. You’ll get more mileage out of doing so in the long run.
@lostaccount thank you so much for your answer! what do you mean by actual achievement, not scores? I’m applying to universities this year, meaning my deadline is Jan 1 RD deadline- I would appreciate it if you have any common app tips relating to ‘goals, achievements’. Because I thought in the Why__? sections, or why does _ subject appeal to you, you are not supposed/advised to talk about career in case its cliche? thanks!