So I know there has been a thread about this somewhere a few years back, but I think it needs to be started again. Do you know anyone who has been accepted to an Ivy school or their non-Ivy equivalent (i.e Duke, Vanderbilt, Staford etc.) with a low SAT? Please share below and help other hopefuls with rare success stories!
Sorry, meant to post this in the admissions forum. My bad 0.0
Bump…
What do you mean by “low” SAT scores?
At Yale, 1% of enrolled freshman have SAT-M scores below 600, 2% have SAT-CR scores below 600.
You can look up these numbers in each school’s Common Data Set file, section C.
You can assume that students with these lower numbers had other, exceptional qualifications (or “hooks”, or both) to compensate for their scores. Those qualifications would be, as you suggest, “rare” … and probably hard for you to replicate.
@tk21769 I’m not trying to "replicate"anything. My question was a true one of interest. An by Low, I mean low for Ivy Leagues (which I guess is Average for the rest of the country). Think something in the range of a 1700 - 2000 on 2400 scale.
Here’s a profile (post #32) of a student accepted to Cornell with an SAT-CR score of 640:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/14035216#Comment_14035216
Here’s a profile (post #3) of a non-traditional student (SAT-CR 640, SAT-M 640) who was admitted to Columbia’s School of General Studies:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/15131988#Comment_15131988
Here’s a profile of a student (SAT-M 650, SAT-CR 650) who was admitted to Yale:
http://www.collegeconfidential.com/profiles/member_stat_view.html?user_id=581327
These 3 are among the few students I see listed in CC’s stats profiles, marked as “accepted” to any of the 8 Ivies (class of 2016-class of 2019), with any SAT score below 700.
In case you don’t get too many more responses, you could browse the individual college forums, which generally have “results” threads showing profiles of accepted/rejected/deferred students.
For example, here’s a profile (post #5) of a student accepted in the ED round to Cornell (SAT-CR = 660):
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1713310-offical-class-of-2019-ed-results-only.html#latest
The same thread (post #15) shows a student who was admitted in the ED round to Cornell with 3 SAT scores below 700 (600W/670R/670M).
Thanks man!
I hope you noted that the examples given were URM, First Generation, Veteran, URM.
Recruited athletes can get in with slightly lower scores, especially for football, basketball, and hockey. Outside these three sports, though, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale expect SATs of at least 2100 from their recruited athletes.
What @sherpa said is true. Athletes are given a more leeway than the average applicant, especially if their parent is…influential.
@JustOneDad I have a friend who actually got into Harvard with a 1960 SAT. He was white, middle class (he applied for financial aid, but his EFC wasn’t 0) * and * American. His EC’s were really good though, and his essay was fantastic (about watching his Grams die from Cancer). This may seem like a one-off case to you, but I’m sure there are - admittedly few - other examples. I saw plenty of URM’s (not Asian) who got rejected with amazing scores (2250 was the lowest) and GPA’s on this site. Remember, URM or no URM, if Ivies don’t see something they like in you, you won’t get in.
And people, I’m still waiting for your inspiring stories!
Why would having a low SAT be inspiring?
“I have a friend who actually got into Harvard with a 1960 SAT.”
Anecdotal evidence is akin to fairy tales. I’ve already posted about a friend who got in with a 570. She was mistaken for 25 years as it was actually a 750.
- Why would having a low SAT be inspiring? *
It’s not, and I never said it was. I posted saying I wanted to hear inspiring stories. In case that was too vague to you, I meant people who had great applications that were marred by their SAT scores. The fact that colleges accepted them despite the score is what’s inspiring.
Not everyone’s SAT scores are like your friends. I know he got a 1960 because he was bummed about it. He didn’t do any SAT prep courses and the such, and was rejected from Princeton, Vanderbilt and Cornell (deferred at first). He was a Sociology major, if you’re wondering. If that seems like a fairy tale to you, then by all means dismiss my story as a lie. And let me point out that SAT scores are not indicative of anything. The SAT tests how well you take the SAT, nothing more.
If someone gets into Harvard with a low SAT, it means they are exceptional in some other way…In their athletic abilities, in their ability to overcome their disadvantaged upbringing, in their ability to play the oboe or their parents ability to contribute.
@bopper Precisely! It’s the low SAT acceptances and some of the rejections of people with amazing scores that shows how “holistic” a college really is (to some extent, at least).
Is this what’s motivating the multitudes of applications to selective schools despite mediocre scores?
My friend wasn’t bummed because she was obviously accepted. Still not sure why yours felt “bummed” while holding a Harvard admission.
@JustOneDad Why anyone applies to Ivy Leagues - no matter what score they get- is their business, and is not for me to say. People apply for different reasons. and you can’t judge them on their test scores alone.
And he wasn’t bummed because of the acceptance- he was over the moon about it - he was bummed at the score, which he received BEFORE he got his admissions decision back.
1700-2000 isn’t even low
I’ve known Art majors who have gotten accepted to Penn, Dartmouth, and Cornell with SAT scores under 2000 and CR scores under 600. All had jaw-dropping portfolios, straight A’s, and outstanding school support (in the form of SSRs and rec letters), to go with excellent essays. To be fair, art majors have a little leeway in traditional stats if their portfolios are truly special.
@marvin100 That is probably because they are there to study art; so something like drawing is more important to them than linguistic skills.
@fallenwinter Technically, you’re right. However, when compared to the average SAT score that the Ivies require, it is low. 1700-2000 is perfectly fine for most universities, as long as you have the GPA and everything else to back it up.