I come from a small highschool of only ~650 students in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of California. Our high school only offers 9 APs, and our demographic likely reflects this.
I’m considering applying Restrictive Early Action to Stanford University, and Stanford is my #1 Choice.
My GPA is 4.37/4, which is the highest in my school.
My SAT Scores on the New SAT are
Reading: 770
Math: 780
Composite: 1550
Essay: 13/24 (my question lies here)
I have extracurriculars ranging from coaching a tennis rec league to starting a competition team for the National Science Bowl for the first time at my school, and even taking it to 5th place in regional competition. In addition, I have an above-average number of community service hours, from youth group and coaching, among other things.
As you probably saw, I have the opportunity to retake the SAT in November, attempting to fix my essay grade, which I was dismayed at receiving. Now, upon reading several other articles about the importance of the essay grade, I was comforted by the fact that many call it “the least important thing from the testing category,” because the composite score is so much more important. I’m wondering if it’s a dealbreaker, and I’m looking for advice on whether I should apply Early Action or retake the SAT and apply Regular Decision.
Also, I was looking for help on what to do with the essay. I have a rather interesting circumstance - I myself just turned 15 in December. I’m applying without intent of taking a gap year, which means I’ll be entering college as a 15 year old. Shold I write my essay about this?
Thank you for all your help.
correction: I turned 15 in September.
I was accepted early admissions back in 2007. My SAT scores were Math 800, Writing 640, Critical Reading (verbal) 570. I got 800s on SAT Math II and Physics subject tests.
I have no idea what admissions officers think. If you believe you can substantially improve the Essay score and it will get to Stanford on time, common sense says to retake the SAT. Much has changed on the SAT test since I took it. If you aren’t sure if the score will improve maybe not bother. Only you know how much time you have for preparation and how motivated you are.
My guess is many applicants who speak English as a second language don’t do well on the essay and admissions takes that into consideration. While this doesn’t apply to you, it does give indication that essay scores are not necessarily a major factor.
This is just one person’s opinion. I don’t think writing about being 15 is the best topic. Writing about an accomplishment, a life experience, or future goals might be better. Who knows? Write about what you think will be the most interesting and informative to the readers.
Thank you for reply googledrone –
It’s interesting to see other opinions. I was talking with my counselor and my parents about the essay topic recently – they’re split between seeing the age as trivial and seeing it as something that has enough subject to truly fill the “write about your identity” prompt on the personal statement. I think I’m retaking it anyway, since it seems to me that the reason the acceptance on Early Admissions is much higher is because people who are sure they’ll get in and have the higher SAT Scores to show it apply then, and that more desirable people accumulate in the Early Action as a result. Thanks for replying!
@wjdunlop I would convert the new SAT scores to old SAT scores. There have been many, many artilcles about how the new scores are greatly inflated. So, your 1550 is not equivalent to a 1550 on the old test and then that writing score might look even lower. On the following concordance chart, the 1550 is equal to a 2270-2290 and a 34 on the ACT. These are excellent scores, but you should have all of the information.
https://blog.■■■■■■■■■■■/blog-0/sat-score-conversion-chart
There are many other concordance charts. Please check them just so that you have all of the information to make your decision.