<p>Hi everyone, I'm new to these forums so sorry if its not in the right part.</p>
<p>For some reason, I have always hated my middle name even though it isn't bad at all. Its on my birth certificate, but its NOT on my official SAT or ACT scores or on my driver's license. When I sign up for the Common App and other Applications, do I put my middle name? I am mostly worried about it matching my official SAT and ACT scores. </p>
<p>I know it sounds dumb, and i don't know why I was so stubborn with my middle name, but I can't do anything about it now. I just need help now because I don't know what to do. Any help would be appreciated!</p>
<p>It does sound kinda dumb, but it is nothing you have to worry about. Just start using your name consistently, however you like it. Or, if it doesn’t bother you, use the middle initial.</p>
<p>My daughter has an odd name, and usually uses a short version (still unusual) that unfortunately misspelles her full name. Even her aunt doesn’t spell it right lately. Whatever. If I google her, I have to use 3 spellings. It hasn’t hurt her.</p>
<p>But we agreed early on that we would use her full name and spelling for official work. She could have left the middle name out, just as you can. I named her middle after my parents, who both, oddly share the same middle name but with different spelling. My mother always hated her own middle name, though her first is horribly dated. I didn’t mind her middle at all, even think it is nice.</p>
<p>edit to say: I google to see her pubs and stuff, not to follow her dating life or anything!</p>
<p>I suppose if you have a middle name you don’t like you can lose it or embrace it. It will likely be popular in 10 or 20 years and you can name your kid that.</p>
<p>The only reason you might need to use a middle name is if your name is rather common. All my kids have fairly common first and last names. In that case, middle initials or names become important so that records don’t get confused.</p>
<p>Yes. Your middle name plays a huge role in the admissions process, and a bad one quite possibly could reject you at top schools, particularly HYPSM. </p>
<p>Just kidding. It doesn’t mean anything at all, except that it’s part of your name.</p>
<p>It is notable, also, that persons with a particularly unique middle name possess a ‘hook’ that often carries more weight than being a URM. For example, a friend of mine named Bob Surfanaji White got into Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Obviously, middle names are where it’s at. Try and see if you can get yours changed; I’m sure it can be done.</p>