<p>Okay guys, so I want to go to either Princeton or MIT. As do many others my age. Unfortunately, I did terrible on the SAT II. I'm not being one of those "I only scored 780 on my Math" people, I actually did terrible. And I've always performed terribly on standardized tests my entire life. </p>
<p>But I'm a very intelligent person. I challenge myself very frequently. I'm taking AP courses, and even doing studies outside of my time in school. I 'attend' online lectures through Yale, Harvard, and MIT. I study many different mathematics and sciences in my spare time. I founded a SNHS chapter at my school, I'm also the President of it. I'm even conducting a study on "The Categorization of Students in the Public School System", and I plan on publishing my works. I do well in my classes, often doing better than most students with minimum effort in my math and science courses. I'm pulling good grades too, so we don't have to worry about that. Although I did slack off my freshman year... But when I graduate I'll even have a total of 19 science/math credits. The most ever acquired in the history of my high school. </p>
<p>But where I'm getting at with this is, what can I do in order to get one of these two schools to accept or even consider me? This is probably posted on here frequently. Also, my level of interest should be a given, considering I'm taking their free online courses. </p>
<p>Should I include those online courses when I apply?</p>
<p>What are my chances if I don't include my SAT scores? Or are they absolutely required?</p>
<p>Anything anyone can tell me will help me greatly.</p>
<p>^agreed. We need: SAT I & II, GPA, ranking, etc. Give us some objective data and a clear list of ECs/hooks/basic profile (e.g. state) so we can chance you properly</p>
<p>-Ethnicity- being African American, Hispanic, or Native American boosts your chances significantly. Being Asian slightly reduces your chance since there are many Asian well-qualified applicants.</p>
<p>-Legacy- if your parents attended those schools.</p>
<p>-State you’re from- being from Alaska, Idaho, or Dakotas looks better than being from California, Massachusetts, or Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>-Being a first generation student- if you are the first in your family to go to college.</p>
<p>-Being very rich- if your parents made large contributions to those schools.</p>
<p>-Being very talented or famous- if you’re an actor, singer, famous dancer, etc.</p>
<p>haha I wonder if there is someone who fits all of those criterias. Sadly, my chances reduced because I am Asian. I don’t fit any of the other things either.</p>
<p>I’m Hindu, my parents have not been to college, I grew up homeless, been through foster care, I live in West Virginia (considered minority), I’m Greek (probably doesn’t count, since it’s more of a culture/nationality than a race). I can probably pull up a lot of things. I’ll be the first person in my entire family to head to college. I grew up on welfare (that counts for something). Is slavery a hook? My family were slaves in Turkey for a while, until Greece won independence. There is a whole list of interesting things that could catch there attention.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with that. The SAT is an aptitude test. And that’s all it is. It shows how ready someone is for something. It measures readiness, not malleability. They may be ready, but that doesn’t mean they will make it.</p>
<p>Yes, it is an aptitude test; however, how is a college supposed to compare applicants with similar GPAs and recommendations without some some of quantifiable tool. Perhaps SATs lose their influence when an applicant has proven his worth through other known tests (i.e IMO, USAMO, USAMTS, ISTS, Siemens, IPhO, RSI, etc) but the issue is that for those who do not win these awards, how does an elite college that wants to choose the next visionaries pick winners and not losers.</p>
<p>The result is that SATs provide, not perfect yet powerful, insight into the aptitude of applicants. When you have no major awards to show, SATs will be all that you have left to demonstrate intelligence and SAT IIs will show mastery of a subject. GPA is highly subjective as are recommendations. SATs, while not perfect, are standardized and, thus, are useful to compare applicants.</p>