<p>I dunno, I wouldn't say take the top 25 of your list if there is a place you really want to go, apply to it and write a killer essay, get killer recs and work on your EC's and you definitely have a shot. Your scores aren't THAT bad. On my SAT I only got a 1310 combined (old SAT) or 1300 single sitting. That's equivalent to a 1950 on the new SAT. I applied to a really wide range of schools. My first choice was always USC (whice is where I am now) but I also applied to NYU, UCLA (Out of State), University of Denver, Stanford, and University of Colorado Boulder. I got in everywhere except for Stanford (but I applied EA to Stanford and was at least deffered, not rejected outright, and my scores were WAY to low) . And UCLA was a top 25 school but they accepted me OOS without stellar scores so don't worry too much at all. Your scores are fine :-) . They might be a reach for places like Harvard, Yale, etc, but if thats where you want to go apply to them but also apply to some other places too. I'd say, Top 10-15 schools are going to be tough (but they're tough for anybody) but after 15, I think you would at least stand a fair chance so don't worry. Good luck!</p>
<p>kaitylin, I think that was because you were from Hawaii.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is one LAC that is very good and SAT optional. I'd check it out. Also, there's a good chance you can improve your scores. Remember the wisdom of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: DON'T PANIC.</p>
<p>i doubt it. TONS of hawaii people apply to California schools (I know hawaii is one of the states HIGHEST represented at USC after California and tons of Hawaii kids go to Stanford/UC schools since its the closest state to Hawaii). But I do think that people on CC think SAT scores are a lot more important then they actually are. Really, its just one small piece of the application and if I were n adcom I'd look at it but really, as long as you are over 1800 I'd be much more concerned with the other detals of the application.</p>
<p>I got a 1920 the first time I took the SAT's. I took them again two months later and got a 2180--and I didn't even study. The first time you take the test it is like a trial run....the second time's much better because you know what to expect.</p>
<p>Your insights are really helpful. What do you mean by top private schools? Those in the top 25? What about Notre Dame, which I think is about #27? Do they only admit students do you think who have a certain test score? (Excluding recruits and URM, of course.) Thanks.</p>