<p>It is not our policy that there is an absolute threshold of academic qualification, and I apologize if I have misrepresented that fact. </p>
<p>Let me state it more precisely: there is a point past which any additional increases in your score accrue diminishing returns. In other words, getting to a certain point is VERY important, but getting beyond that point is less and less important as your score gets higher and higher. </p>
<p>What I’m trying to push back against is the idea that SAT scores add value to your application in and of themselves. They don’t. What an SAT/ACT score does is give us predictive data that tell us whether you would struggle or succeed at MIT. </p>
<p>Here is what Matt McGann, MIT '00 and Associate Director of Admissions, has to say. It’s a bit dated - back from the 1600 days - but still accurate: </p>
<p>[MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: “What’s the big deal about 40^2?”](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/standardized_test_requirements/whats_the_big_deal_about_402.shtml]MIT ”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/standardized_test_requirements/whats_the_big_deal_about_402.shtml )</p>
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People make a big deal about test scores. No one seems to believe me when I tell them that when I’m reading an application, I just glance at the test scores to get a sense of them before moving on to the more important parts of the application – that is, who you are. But here’s an example. So, I’m reading this application of a student, a pretty strong student, who’s definitely overcome some challenges recently. I come to the second to last piece in the folder, which is the guidance counselor letter (the last piece is the interview report). The GC makes a big deal of the student’s “scoring the magic 1600 on the SAT.” Now, when I started the case, I mentally noted to myself, “Okay, this student has scores that are fine, let’s move on,” but it didn’t really make an impact on me that the student had “the magic 1600.” Yes, scoring a 1600 is something that you, your school, your parents, and your guidance counselor can be very proud of. But it’s not something I’m going to bust out my highlighter for, circle in big red pen, make it the focus of your case. In fact, I don’t think I have ever in my summary of a student used high standardized scores as an argument to admit that student. We do not admit test scores. We admit people. </p>
<p>Let me tell you one more story that I often relay. I was doing a regional reception in a city a few years back, and afterwards a student – we’ll call her Artemis – comes up to me and tells me that she has a 760 on the Math SAT. As I was about to tell her that her score was just fine, she keeps talking, to inform me that she was going to take the test again, since “clearly” her score was “too low.” I was like, “What!!!” I “ordered” Artemis to not take the Math SAT again, and instead to have a picnic on that Saturday. **Because to us, a 760 math is the same as any higher score she could receive on the retest.</p>
<p>One of the reasons why I chose MIT was it was the first school I visited where my student host didn’t ask me what my SAT scores were. At MIT, people care about who you are, what you can do, what kind of stuff gets you excited. People at MIT don’t compare GPAs (I didn’t know any of my friends’ GPAs), don’t ask about your IQ, and SAT scores are so high school.**
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