<p>So I haven't taken any subject tests but I also want to retake the SAT because although my composite was pretty good (2250) I got a 670 in math and I want to raise that. Could I take the SAT reasoning in october, apply ED to Dartmouth, take the SAT subjects in November, and then send them late? Or should I do it the other way around. </p>
<p>Help please.</p>
<p>I think that you should take the SATIIs in time to send them, and retake the SAT for submission during the RD round if you don’t get in ED. It is unfortunate that you waited so long to take SATIIs. You haven’t given yourself much leeway.</p>
<p>I got a 710 in US History. Should I try to raise that or is a 700+ acceptable for D and other ivys?</p>
<p>I’d say that’s minimal.</p>
<p>Is a 680 in chem low for Dartmouth? If so, should I go for a different test to get a 750ish or keep working on chem, already made a 780 on US history</p>
<p>i think most ED schools accept november sat scores. not 100% sure try to confirm it with other sources</p>
<p>According to the web site, early November is the last date for all standardized testing, for all applicants. Also according to the web site, there is no minimum score for admittance; scores are viewed in conjunction with the rest of your application. No one on this board has any realistic sense of whether one of your scores is “low for Dartmouth.” </p>
<p>The strategy of re-taking your SATs in October, leaving your first try at SAT IIs for November, sounds unsafe to me: what if you come down with the flu?</p>
<p>So I should retake to get a 750+? I self studied US with no prior knowledge.</p>
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<p>Sure we do. We know the scores of people who got in, and we’ve seen the published stats of a lot of kids who haven’t gotten in. Some of us have been looking at that information for 4 years, or longer.One can also look at the stats published by D on their website. Not just the CDS but the interesting stats on the admissions pages showing what percentage of kids in various stats ranges were admitted. It is also possible to plug stats into the Academic Index calculator on the CC website, and see what effect scores can have on it. </p>
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<p>To quote Hemingway, “It would be pretty to think so.” The fact is that your scores had better be great, and the rest of your application had better be great also. Just good scores won’t get you in. Sure, there’s no official minimum score. But there are ranges within which, unless you have a mega-hook, you have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting in.</p>
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<p>I would definitely take that SATII again or a different SATII, but so you know I scored 790 on US History and 670 in chem. Those were the only two SATIIs I took and submitted to Dartmouth (also took more in Dec, did not expect to get in)</p>
<p>Dartmouth is my dream school. Would I need to retake my 710 in US History? I would like to be a history major in college. Most likely applying ED.</p>
<p>bigdream18, there are probably other things you can do that would make more difference to your application than raising one SATII that is already in a respectable range. (Especially if you self-studied it with no course.) If you are interested in history, find something to do that enables you to pursue that interest. Volunteer with a local historical society, delve into a period that interests you (can you do an independent study at your HS?). Do this for your OWN sake, not for college admissions. Even though, ironically, it might help you with admissions.</p>
<p>Consolation: the point I was making is that no one on this board knows whether <em>one</em> test score is low, in the absence of any further information. That is, a 680 on one SAT II test is perfectly respectable, when the rest of the scores and stats, etc., are high; I don’t think one score is going to keep a kid out of Dartmouth. I think it’s absurd to try to determine what is a minimum score when the people actually making the decisions say it’s all about the total picture. What’s more, it’s not true that there is a clear pattern of what scores are or are not “acceptable,” based on scores of people who got in (and reported them) or who did not get in–every thread for every elite school I’ve looked at has shown that there is no absolute. Some kids get in that, on the strength of their reported scores, “should not have,” and some get rejected, with excellent scores. Assuming 5 SAT scores, CR, M, Writing, and two IIs, there is room for a score of 680, or even lower. </p>
<p>But your second point, that there are better things to do than obsess over one score, is exactly right, and that is what I meant to imply: rather than worry about that one score, look at the whole package, which is what Dartmouth says (and, thank you, I believe) it does. Scores by themselves will not get you in. An obsession with scores will prevent you from doing the kinds of things that might actually make you a more interesting candidate, and will certainly make you a more interesting person.</p>
<p>marysidney, I fully agree that one score is not likely to sink–or make–a candidacy, even if that one score is indeed “low for Dartmouth.” :)</p>