<p>So I LOVE Cornell and really want to go there. I have an 1840 SAT score but a 32 and a 33 ACT score so that's not a fluke. Should I try and retake the SAT or is the ACT good enough for their engineering school.</p>
<p>I was accepted with a drastically lower SAT than ACT (2110 vs 34). I think one good score is enough; obviously you do far better on the ACT than the SAT. Maybe retake the ACT and bump it up more?</p>
<p>I’ve taken it 4 times and went from a 33 to a 32 so I think I’m done (for some reason that test was super hard!) I have a 3.95 GPA and visited the college today. It was amazing!!! Hopefully I’ll get in!</p>
<p>If the low SAT is due to writing don’t worry about it, I had a 1910 SAT but my writing, which was sub 600, was chucked out because they don’t look at it.</p>
<p>I got 1790 and got accepted.</p>
<p>Lilshaun, you are also URM. Really low sat score something to brag about all over the forums. It’s great that you got in but it isn’t something to brag about.</p>
<p>@ OP, By the way, you can choose only send in an ACT scores so you should be okay. Not exceptional, but okay.</p>
<p>Yes, but I also have extracurricular activities that made me unique to other applicants. SAT’s are not the only thing they look at when accepting students. It’s not that hard to figure out.</p>
<p>… I can talk about this more but I’m heading to a controversial zone of discussion so I’ll just leave you at that - just that very, very generally, you need a much higher SAT to even be considered unless your ECs= winner of large international competitions.</p>
<p>I’m done as well. You obviously won’t listen what I post. Just realize that there are white applicants that get accepted with low sat/act scores because of their extracurricular activities, essays, and interviews of given one. Admission officers have already stated this many times. But again, people on this site feel SAT’s is the only thing that will decide if they get accepted.</p>
<p>^ No you’re wrong. SAT’s (or ACT) are the only thing (besides GPA/class rank) that determines if an applicant CAN be accepted to a top school. </p>
<p>I’m not saying you were accepted solely because of your race but it probably tipped your application over. Very few white applicants get accepted to colleges like Cornell who have low SAT scores relative to the school.</p>
<p>Cortina what? The only thing? So you’re telling me if an application helped find a cure for cancer but got low Sat scores, they couldn’t get to a top university? There is a reason it is called a holistic admisdion process. They look at the entire application, including essays. And concerning sat scores, the reason why universities expect high sat scores (and many non white students) is due to their schooling privileges. You forget that many if not most applicants to these top schools come upper and upper-middle class families, so it is only natural for admission officers to expect higher SAT scores because of their available resources. For example, if my mother made over 100k a year I went to a competitive public school, I would had most likely been rejected because the university expects me to have higher SAT scores. Same applies to a white applicant who doesn’t have the resources to attend/afford a top application. Admission officers would be more lenient in terms of their SAT scores. Seriously, you guys have twisted views on the overall admission process. Another reason why do many (including professors) shun this website. Some of you just go around stating false information.</p>
<p>I literally got higher than that score before I went to high school; you didn’t cure cancer. Your grades, your urm status, your school background got you in, and luck got you in (this is actually very important for everyone). Your ECs are good but they aren’t phenomenal. Anyways it’s great you got in but really you don’t need to tell everyone - even if it’s something to be proud of (which in this case it isn’t), you don’t really need to show it off. And yeah we aren’t really focusing on your URM status - it’s the show-offing of your SATs in multiple threads that gets me. Many applicants cannot even dream of getting into Cornell with that score and it’s quite irking really.</p>
<p>Anyways @OP you can retake it if you want to - i doubt it will hurt you. You can choose which ACT score to send, and at this rate you are not going to use your SAT scores anyways.
But yeah - probably won’t help you THAT much.</p>
<p>
This kind of thinking is silly. Someone who could help find a cure for cancer would absolutely destroy the SATs. </p>
<p>Anyway, you got a boost due to being a URM. Same way legacies and athletes get a boost. It’s not really a big deal.</p>
<hr>
<p>@OP - I wouldn’t bother retaking the SAT. Use that time to refine your application, which would be to your benefit in the end.</p>
<p>I’m not showing off anything. I’m just trying to show the misinformed people viewing this website that sat scores are not the only factor in admissions. And how did luck get me in? Or anyone else for that matter. It’s not like they placed applicant names into a hat and draws randomly. Actually, that is just disrespectful even stating something like that. This will probably be my last post on this website because the amount of naive, misinformed, ignorant posters on this site I’d overbearing. I’m not even going to post anything else ti rebuttal as I am just going to end talking in circles with you not even listening to one word I say. Just believe what you want about the college admission process. Yes, me an other applicants get a boost for being a minority, or an athlete, or even for being rich. But at the end of the day, the boost given to these applicants is not to the point in which colleges admit students with absolutely no credentials whatsoever to be admitted into the university. But like I said before, you guys will just argue against this statement and say minorities unfairly get admitted into universities because of affirmative action. I would go on, but again, doing so would be pointless. Peace.</p>
<p>No, luck gets everyone in. You really think they have a surefire metric system to judge every individual and that the admissions committee are all fair individuals who know what they’re doing and aren’t judgmental at all. They aren’t.</p>
<p>Remember about chancing? It’s chances. When there’s chance of getting in, there’s a chance of not getting in. How does that work? Luck. Your stats can only increase your chances so far. In the end, it’s a human reviewing your app, not an automated machine. Some individuals may appeal more to the person(s) reviewing your app than others. It’s that simple.</p>
<p>^That post shows insecurity more than anything else. Nobody thinks that SATs are the only thing that can get them in here. They are just asking if it can hurt them. The answer is yes, low SATs hurt you. If anyone is ignorant, it’s you because you refuse to listen to what anyone else is saying. Nobody is saying that the hooks themselves get you in either, and nobody is saying that having a hook is a big deal. We were only saying that your case isn’t typical and we shouldn’t give OP or anyone the idea that just because the process is holistic that 1790 won’t hurt you if you aren’t from a rich neighborhood - which for some reason you are trying to make an argument for based on your case alone, and is simply not true. That, and it’s needless to show off your score to different threads.</p>
<p>Dear Lilshaun - I just fell into this thread and I guess there is some pre-existing problem between you and others on this site. Cornell doesn’t just fish people out of the great pond. You obviously have a great potential that they recognized and if they see it, I know that somewhere in the future I will too. Congratulations and thank you so very much for pointing out to others out there that these is more to admissions than just SAT or ACT scores.</p>
<p>By the way, what is URM. From the way Colene phrases it would that be an insult?</p>
<p>It is not an insult. It is an admissions hook, meaning under represented minority <a href=“http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=URM[/url]”>Urban Dictionary: URM; . And by the way, yes, SATs aren’t the only thing that matter, but it is still significantly sizable (maybe about 1/3 of your app). If you really want to get in, you shouldn’t hold on to the illusion that just because other things matter, SATs barely do. They do matter and it will do you good not to lie to yourself.</p>
<p>And by the way, he wasn’t presenting it in a way that was supposed to be inspirational, but rather in a giddy way - not just in this thread but several. There are plenty of inspirational stories about kids from deprived backgrounds getting into great schools without great credentials, and this isn’t one of them.</p>
<p>man things are getting heated… :)</p>
<p>(changes subject) sooo like another poster said, it would be wise to leave your scores as they are (the act is good enough) and spend time reinforcing your app. Not all about being a leader in a bunch of clubs, but showing true passion about what you love (math, music, robitcs, etc). Anyways, hope to see you at Cornell next year!</p>
<p>I hate people who say that others gained admission because of luck or race/ethnicity. You were accepted because you were deemed capable of succeeding at Cornell or whatever institution you were accepted to. Obviously URM doesn’t help that much because Cornell will not stoop that low. They’re looking for people they want at their school because they know there is more to an applicant than SATs and GPA. LilShaun I do believe that there was something in your app that made you stand out and appeal to the admissions committee but you constantly reminding us of your test score does not reflect the classiness that is associated with Cornell. </p>
<p>For all other admitted students, who cares if people believe that you’re not qualified. Haters goin’ hate. So, **** 'em and remember that you will be attending an incredible school next year regardless of whether or not people on this forum believe you got in or not. </p>
<p>Btw, I noticed that most people lie about their stats on this forum. There are more people claiming they hit 2400 on this forum than there are recognized by College Board. It’s funny. They start to believe that they have actually transformed into 4.0 , 2300+ applicants. It’s always funny to see these very same people ***** and moan about being rejected.</p>