I want to be a biomedical engineering major or a bio major in college. This is my last chance to take the SATs and I am a little undecided on which I should pick.
SAT 1: 2110 (best score, taken it twice)
Critical Reading: 730
Math: 660
Writing:720
SAT Math 2: 700
Are these scores ok for the UCs like UCLA , Berkeley, Davis, San Diego? How about for reach colleges such as Stanford? So overall, do I need to retake the SATs, if so which one should I take? Also with these scores what are my chances for Stanford and the UCs?
Congrats on such a high SAT score! those scores are outstanding and above average. You have a good change of getting into Uc’s. You also have to take your extra circiculars into consideration since they look at you holistically and not just on your scores.
@luvpuppies 2110 is decent for UCs, higher than average. However, GPA is king. Math 2 is kind of low… Maybe retake that along with another subject test to be competitive.
You should retake the Math 2 subject test and take both the bio and chem subject test and send whichever of the two is higher (if they are both very good send both).
Both of your scores are low for schools like UCLA and Berkeley. Stanford has the lowest admissions rate in the country… You should consider retaking the Math 2 and also take another subject test such as Bio. In addition, you should try to retake the SAT I as well but only if you are pretty certain you will do better on a retake. Otherwise, concentrate on other things like your applications and your schoolwork. I assume your GPA is very high for you to be considering some of the schools on your list.
Your SAT is at the 96th percentile and your Math 2 Subject test is at the 52nd percentile. Now granted the subset of students taking Subject tests are much stronger than the overall population of students taking the SAT, but your Subject test score is probably lower than ideal certainly for Stanford plus you need at least 2 Subject tests for some of the top schools
There is absolutely no reason to retake a 750 unless you really want to. Time is a valuable commodity in the application process, and at some point, one has to say “Good enough” and move on to other aspects of the process. For me, 750 is good enough. It does not matter if a 750 is the 70th percentile or the 90th percentile; a 750 is a 750. The reason why the percentiles are what they are is because the test takers are a very self selecting group. Nobody in admissions is going to be sifting through 42K application and cross-referencing scores with percentile charts; they will just be checking off a box.
Having said that, a 700 in Math 2 and your SAT I scores are on the low side for Stanford, UCB and UCLA.
As @skieurope notes, focus on the score. A 750 in any subject is “good enough” at any school. People on this site often moan about percentages, but the truth is, scores starting with the “7” digit will basically clear the bar everywhere. In my opinion, if you have 7xx+ across the board, time to move on to other aspects of your application, and your life.
I have never seen data on the subject test scores of admitted students to selective colleges. I tend to agree that scores above 750 should be good enough. What does the data show?
@sherpa of the hard to find distributions for top schools, bottom 25% for MIT is below 770 math and 740 science, and Princeton best sat 2 is 720. While it is not specifically stated what score ranges they look for, being at or below the bottom 25% is not something is most certainly not something that colleges look up on. They may not say what they specifically look for in the subject tests but they probably wouldn’t be at the position they are at if they were looking for people to fill out the bottom quarter of their college.
@throckmorten - I agree that, all else being equal, higher scores are better. I’ll also concede that MIT probably expects to see 790s and 800s in Math 2, Chem, and Physics from their strongter applicants. But my assertion that 7xx+ across the board is good enough is more than just an opinion; I’m basing it on what my son, a Princeton grad, was told as he was applying.
@sherpa that would give at least 4 years for opinion to change. There is also the fact that, as politicians make very clear, people can and do lie to get things from others.