Based on the entering class profile at http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/content/class-profile, the incoming freshman class has a middle 50% range on the SAT 2 of [800,800].
Wowzers!
So if you are below 800 on the SAT 2 Math, looks like you already have a big strike against you!
I read that too; looks like there’s no room for errors… That worries me…
I hope those are rounded at least a little, because otherwise that’s saying you must have an 800 to get in.
Well, it says the middle 50% score 800 on sat 2 math.
I suppose other mortals who score below 800 still could be admitted and be below the 25th percentile, but still a bit daunting isn’t it?
If a student is aiming to attend a school as academically challenging as Caltech, getting an 800 on the SAT II math shouldn’t be too difficult. Otherwise, perhaps Caltech is not the right school for them. You can get something like 8 questions wrong on the SAT Math II exam and still get an 800. You don’t have to be “perfect”.
True…
If you/your child (whichever is applicable) scores 750 or more on each of the SAT II exams, there’s honestly not much to worry about. Go do other things such as pursuing cool extracurricular activities like watching ant migration patterns or studying the intricacies of high school glee club hierarchies. In all seriousness though, a 750+ is more than sufficient such that the individual will not be rejected because of the test score–it’s more likely that he/she would be rejected for not pursuing his/her passions in STEM and beyond to the best of his/her abilities. Tests give one (and only one of many) facet of an applicant’s story.
For further proof of my assertion, take a look at all of the the previous decisions threads on here. You will notice that not everyone admitted had completely perfect scores, but they generally share a passion for STEM and other activities.
Unfortunately they all have SAT 2 Math at 800.
An SAT Math II score of 750 is in the 68th percentile…
@ballerina16 : You didn’t look hard enough then. I randomly sampled 2 pages just on the 2019 thread and found at least one person with an imperfect score (e.g. see posts #101 and #119 in the 2019 RD thread). Note that they all demonstrated passions in at least one thing beyond tests.
@Falcon1: You’re really overthinking things. In general, 750+ is perfectly fine. Fun fact: In 2014, 68.5% of all test takers of the AP Chinese exam scored a 5 (http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/apcentral/ap14-chinese-lang-score-dist.pdf). Does this mean that anyone who scored a 4 automatically is terrible at Chinese? Of course not. My point is, just because the distribution is skewed one way does not automatically indicate that anyone who does not score just as “perfectly” receives a strike against him/her in the college admissions game. A 750 or above on math II the indicates that you’re sufficiently competent with algebra and pre-calculus to raise no red flags.
We all have our own opinions, and 750 on Math 2 might be perfectly fine for any other school, but I will not recommend my DD to apply EA to Caltech or MIT with anything less than 800 on SAT math 2.
You are competing with completely different crowd at those school. 800 on SAT math should be a must for someone who wants to survive at those schools
Lol my 770 SAT II math feelings are hurt. I’ll go continue surviving Caltech as a junior.
I don’t believe I am. Of course, you will find examples of kids who scored below an 800. They represent 25% of the class! Typically, they will have a lot of other things going for them for them to offset not scoring an 800 on what is a fairly easy exam for the typical Techer.
I have a daughter at Harvard and attended and taught at other top Ivies, what you are saying about the 750+ level is generally true for them and other top schools but Caltech is a different story, imo… It’s not that they are looking for a minimum of 800 on the test, it’s that the kids who fit in well at Caltech will have no problem scoring an 800 and the rest of their app will reflect their aptitude in science and math along with the 800.
Generally speaking, if you are applying to your top choice school, you would ideally want to be in the top quartile and not the bottom quartile of their statistical metrics. In any event, suffice to say I disagree with your advice.
@Falcon1 It seems like we agree to disagree then. You do bring up a fair point with regards to the statistical metrics. Nonetheless, I emphasize that Math 2 really is not nearly as important as any of the other statistical metrics, and I stand by the belief and living proof of myself and many of my peers here at Caltech that an imperfect test score in Math 2 will not bar you from admission or success here.
As for your example about Chinese (it’s no secret why the SAT and ACT scores are mostly 800’s and 5’s, btw), if you were working at hypothetical top university that predominantly specialized in Chinese, would you be looking at the 68% of kids who scored a 5 to fill your class or the the 32% who scored below a 5?
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Yes please. Move on. You’ve expressed your opinion, but neither of you are admissions officers. No need to go around and around on this.
@chewydog Okay, truce. The whole thing is not such a big deal anyway. Good luck with your studies!
@chewydog thanks for offering hope - I am grateful!
I called and asked the Caltech admissions folks: Is SAT II Math 2 < 800 a deal breaker? They said not at all, that they accept kids with less than 800. I asked specifically if a prospective student with a 790 should retake the test, and was told “No. Don’t do it.”
@whatisyourquest that is helpful! Thanks.
Nothing is a deal breaker.
However, the difference between 800 and 790 is much larger than the number appeared. You do not have to be perfect to score 800. The magic raw score is 44 our of 50 to be 800. Assuming that you answered all 50 questions, with 5 wrongs (each wrong deducts 0.25), this is your minimum to be 800.
So anything less than 800 means that you did not answer 90% of the questions correctly.