Low SAT IIs hurt Cornell chances?

Just got SAT IIs back and they aren’t too great. I plan on retaking them for the rest of my applications but Cornell wants the December ones.

Two questions:

  1. Which two should I submit? (Applied to CAS, prob major in Bio something or other)
  2. Will they impact my chances of admission negatively?

SAT IIs
M2 - 670
M1 - 720
Bio - 690
USH- 690

Here’s the rest of my stats for reference

GPA - 4.7 W, 4.2 UW (4.5 scale)

11 AP classes, 11 AP tests ( seven 5’s and four 4’s)
Taking seven more AP’s this year for a grand total of 18

EC’s

NHS President (12)
Scholastic Bowl Captain (9-12)
Varsity Swim (9-12)
Varsity Tennis (10-12)
Class Pres (10-11)
Co-founder, Political Science Club (11-12))
Club Swimmer (7ish years)
Volunteer EMT
Summer Lifeguard

Awards

National Merit Semi
National Hispanic Recognition (sorta the same thing but might as well)
National AP Scholar
Selected for VA Boy’s State
Eagle Scout

Scores

OLD SAT - 2270
Math - 800
Crit Reading - 800
Writing - 670

ACT - 35C
Reading - 36
Math - 33
Science -35
Writing- 36

Thank ya very much for your input

You can probably increase the score a lot if you study for and retake the subject tests (or study for and take different ones). Do you have the time to do that? If so, why not do that and just make a stronger application?

Submitting math 2 would REALLY hurt you… around 40th percentile… not good. Hwever, almost all of your scores are towards the lower half of the percentiles. This isn’t a great thing. I don’t know any dates for then these tests are, but you should consider taking them again if you can. Most applicants will be scoring very well on these

@pacepea @will999 Cornell only takes December at the latest… it’s a choice of these three, unfortunately. Since I’m not going for a math field like engineering, you think it would be alright to submit math 1?

I think it has to be alright, might hurt your chances though.

@SMcOsk Regardless of what you go into, you should submit Math 1 over Math 2. I would just submit the exams with the highest percentiles. Math 1 - 87th, Math 2 - 59th, USH - 78th, Ecolo Bio - 81st, Mol Bio - 66th. The two highest would be Math 1 and either USH or Bio, depending on which Bio you took. However, if you took Ecological Bio, you may just want to submit both that and USH since the percentiles are very close. Otherwise, if you took Mol Bio, just submit Math 1 and USH.

Thank you very much @pacepea. I took Bio-E so I submitted M1 and Bio. Worth noting that I got a 5 on AP Bio sophomore year and 4/5 on BC calc. Thanks

@SMcOsk No offense to the posters above, but you are getting really bad advice. Percentile on SAT II scores is misleading. That’s not a nationwide percentile, that’s just comparative to scores of other high achievers required to take the SAT II. Having said that, ideally you want to be in the 700s just to calm your anxiety, but I was accepted ED into College of Engineering, which is the 2nd toughest college to get into, with scores similar to yours. In reality, the SAT IIs are definitely a part of your overall profile, but not a huge part. Your other test scores, GPA and rigor of course load is much more important. The only thing SAT II does is weed out kids not suited to their major. For example, if you want to major in biology and you get a 500 on the Biology SAT II while also getting a B- in AP biology, that might indicate biology isn’t a strong subject for you. Your History SAT II is also meaningless to them because it’s not related to your major. Your nearly perfect ACT score alone will cancel out those average SAT II scores. Trust me, I have almost identical statistics, and in fact, yours are a little better. If your essays painted a clear picture of you being a great fit for CAS then they will value that over a two hour test taken be someone who was probably exhausted from all those AP classes. If you are getting mostly As in your 11 AP classes, that is going to shine way brighter than SAT II scores. I have heard this directly from an admissions director at Johns Hopkins. Don’t waste time on more SAT II tests. If Cornell was meant to be then they will admit you. Another 20-30 points on SAT IIs won’t make any difference.

PS: You can’t be selective which SATs to send them. ALL SAT scores ever taken are required, so they will see your scores regardless. People try to game that requirement and it doesn’t work.