My DD believes that the 780 on her Math SAT 2 will hurt her when applying to CMU. She wants to retake to try for an 800. I will not stop her from taking it, but I am curious what people think here. Is that a big difference?
For CMU? No. Maybe (just maybe) for MIT or Caltech. For every other college, it’s more than fine.
Thank you.
I think the “69th percentile” rattled her a bit.
Is she going for CompSci?
I am going for Politics and am submitting my tragic 680 if it makes her feel better.
I don’t think it’s worth retaking. My son had 1600, 800 Math 2 and 780 Physics. He was rejected ED for SCS from CMU. We knew it was a huge reach. I’m guessing if your DD doesn’t get in, that won’t be the reason why.
Check out the middle 50th % Math SAT scores for CS & Engineering at CMU. (Well, almost every college at the university.) While 25% of the admitted CS students have a Math SAT score below 790, and SAT Math is not Subject Test Math, but those figures are lofty.
https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/undergraduate-admission-statistics
Thank you all. Computer Science or Engineering. I am not sure which. She is running the process. I was concerned I was giving her bad advice to stand pat on 780. You have all helped and thank you.
For SCS it would be below the 25th percentile from the data I’ve seen. For Engineering it would be around 25-50th percentile. For other colleges it would be above average to well above average.
I would certainly put CMU SCS in the “maybe MIT or Caltech” category, as the admissions rate is lower and test scores are equal to or higher than both. Engineering is a little less challenging, but not much.
If she believes she can hit 800 with a bit of study and effort, I’d give it a shot. It’s not a huge difference, and grades/coursework are more important, but every part of the application is considered and when you’re looking at single digit/low double digit admit rates, every little improvement helps.
Thank you for your response. Do you know where I can find Sat 2 statistics for different CMU schools?
Colleges don’t generally report SAT 2 but CMU wants 800s. I actually submitted a 780 math 2 (retook and got the same score :neutral:). I did get rejected ED SCS 
but I always knew it was a very high reach. I’m pretty sure CMU is the most selective school in the country for CS (statistic wise, it is on par with MIT). It is also always leading (like better than MIT) for AI/Machine Learning. Engineering isn’t as cutthroat but still very highly competitive.