Hello all -
I have a question regarding my son, who’s a junior and wants to apply to MIT next fall. My question is about standardized tests, namely whether he should retake his SAT or not.
He’s taken an accelerated curriculum at his school with about half APs starting as a freshman and where not an AP he’s taken accelerated courses. His unweighted GPA is 3.9. He has a lot of ECs that align with his love of engineering and CS; he’s also karate student and has other interests that, to his credit, are genuine and not geared to getting into college (i.e., he orders parts online and builds things like drones from scratch). He hates testing and really doesn’t want to retake anything - he’s a one-sitting, one and done kind of kid and I can’t blame him and don’t want to suggest that he retake anything if he doesn’t need to.
My question is whether retaking the SAT is valuable or not in light of his ACT. Here is the breakdown.
SAT (Nov. 2019) - verbal 730, math 770
ACT (Feb. 2020) - 36 composite score (English 36, Math 35, Reading 36, Science 35)
SAT Chemistry (June 2019) - 770
SAT Math II (he’ll take this in June 2020).
Do I suggest/urge/push him to retake the SAT? The challenge is that I’m not sure he’ll do better. He’s not “an SAT kid” in the sense that he studied for the SAT and his score didn’t appreciably change that much. Whereas he took the ACT cold as a 10th grader when they proctored it in school and he got a 35; then he practiced it a few times post-SAT and got the 36. So I think he’s just more of an ACT kid. So I hate to urge him to retake the SAT, but what I don’t know is if MIT will accept the ACT with the same weight as the SAT; and if he should even submit these SAT scores. My son lit up like a light bulb when he visited MIT and if taking a crack at the retake is valuable, I will suggest it. He didn’t have that reaction to any other school, and I know getting in to MIT is like winning the lottery (and on that front - he won’t count as diverse, no alum connection, not first to go to college, and not anything else that would be considered a “hook.”)
Thank you,
Trying-not-to-be-pushy-parent
No need to retake the SAT. I’d suggest he submit his ACT scores only (along with the required SAT subject test scores). His time would be better spent on the other parts of his application.
No. Just send his ACT score.
I wouldn’t retake the SAT, and I would only submit the ACT score. I would have your son focus on trying to get an 800 on the Math SAT II that he will be taking in June.
Good luck to your son!
I think I would just submit the ACT. It’s a fine score.
Study for the math level 2 subject test. The good news is that it is very straightforward and the curve is favorable enough that getting an 800 is not too hard.
The bad news is that he really should aim for that 800. I doubt too many unhooked boys get in without it.
Best of luck!
They will. No need to retake (or send) SAT
Great. Thank you. This is terrific feedback.
I agree with what everyone said, but given you don’t have any hooks, I would strongly you suggest trying to find other colleges where your son may want to attend and think long and hard about ED/REAing at those.
Thanks for this additional advice. Is it based on just the sheer difficulty of getting into MIT? Or is your sense that my son will have a disadvantage based on the numbers/profile and anything else you might know about MIT?
I’m in a tough spot. My son dreams big, and I don’t want to discourage him (he likes Brown, Dartmouth, Tufts, but those aren’t easy schools either). At the same time, I’m aware that the admissions numbers are terrible, so I’ve been trying to think of schools where he’d be excited to go but that offer strong engineering, physics, CS programs while still offering a level of creativity and breadth of education that I (personally) would like to see him still retain.
FWIW I think he would apply EA to MIT, but my sense is that it’s a hail Mary pass for MIT and all schools. What I’d love to understand better from your comment is if your sense is that (a) his profile (GPA/scores) aren’t high enough or (b) that MIT mainly takes kids with hooks? Just trying to understand and get the benefit of your insights (and those of others).
Very eager to learn.
I will PM you, but suffice it to say that MIT Admissions is very much about demographics in the broadest sense of the word. Hooks - defined v. broadly - are key.