Hey so this is the case
I have a 1470 on the SAT, 670 in English, 800 in Math
I just took the November so English score might go up (I can hopefully post an update on that)
My EC’s in my opinion are really good and have stories connected to them
I also got a hook , gpa is 3.97 uw and total of 4 ap’s
My application list is:
-Princeton
-Columbia
-MIT
-Stanford
-Upenn
-Notre Dame
-Vanderbilt
-Rice
-Washington in St. Louis
And the question is
Should I plan on retaking the SAT (assume 1470) or take Subject tests in December?
What kind of hook?
I only know for Princeton and MIT, you need to have two SAT subject tests, (both need Math II, MIT another science). So, maybe you should do the subject and hope that your November score is higher/superscore is better (if the school supperscore).
Good luck.
Please add "and yes, I have solid matches and safeties that I am happy with already sorted out’ b/c otherwise (unless your ‘hook’ is that you already have a pre-read/likely letter) that is a pretty big gamble…and yes, be sure that you have taken the required subject tests.
Yes I do have some matches and safeties, no worries there. I wrote that list down because those are the ones I would need a really high SAT Score and some recommend subject tests.
Have you taken any Subject Tests? If not, at least a few of those on your list require/strongly recommend them.
Do you have a reason to think a third try at EBRW would improve on your first two tries? If there’s no special circumstance, a third try probably wouldn’t yield much. If you can prep and do well, two good Subject Test scores would likely be better than no Subject Test scores and maybe a few more SAT points.
Nope I haven’t taken any but I was planning on taking math 2 , physics and literature. The problem on the SAT reading was that I wasn’t able to finish the passages last time. This time I was able to finish it and I think I might be able to improve if I take next one. I’m not set on taking the SAT or subject tests tho that’s why I’m asking your opinions about which would be better.
What would be an SAT score that would be good enough for those colleges in that list 1530? 1550?
There is no hard & fast number. A 1470 puts you (barely) inside the middle 50% of accepted students at Princeton (the bottom 25% of accepted students scored less than 1440). So, you can get into Princeton with the score you have- and lower. Will you? probably not. Will you with a 1530 or a 1550? probably not. That’s a safe guess, simply because it has single digit acceptance rate and a lot of super candidates.
What will decide whether you are one of the people who gets in with a low-end SAT
will come down to your essays, LoRs, ECs, etc. With no idea what you consider ‘pretty good’ in an EC, or whether your ‘hook’ really is one or not nobody can. give you any reassurance at all- and with them the most anybody can say is that you are a credible candidate.
What we can say for sure is that if a college recommends subject tests you are at a disadvantage if you don’t supply them, and if a college requires them (& you don’t have a waiver) that’s an own goal.
If you”re not going to take Subject Tests, then you can remove some schools from your list. That’s step one in the decision tree.
There’s not really any score that’s “good enough”. Every 10 points will improve your application a little bit, but in the context of many data points that go into the decision. Plenty of 1600 and 36 students are declined each year. Once you’re at the 75th percentile for a given school, the incremental benefit of a higher score gets smaller and smaller.
So I got a 700 on English which makes my score 1500, any new suggestions? (I think I can still raise my ERBW by 40ish points)
Oh btw the major I’m leaning towards biomedical engineering as a major right now.
Also I moved from Turkey to the US in the Freshman year of hs. Do you that would make admissions officers think 700 is enough for a guy who spoke english for 4 years