Hi all,
I just got my SAT Math 2 score and it was a 790. Although some may say it’s only 10 off from a perfect, over 20% that take it get an 800. It’s made my really anxious over whether or not I should send it with my early action harvard application in November. Do you believe Harvard will look at it and in anyway use it negatively against me? If there’s any chance it might be a negative thing for my application, I don’t want to include it.
Thanks in advance
A 790 is about 71st percentile. Your application will be automatically rejected.
Just kidding. It’s an excellent score. Submit it.
If you get rejected from Harvard, as 95% of applicants do, it won’t be over 10 points on a SAT math score. Move on.
Lol yeah i know it wasn’t going to be a deal breaker, but I saw some people online saying that you need to have an 800 in math, otherwise it could be used negatively against you. I didn’t totally believe it, but it really got me anxious about it. Do you even think there would be any advantage in my retaking it, or would it just be a waste of money?
A retake would be a waste of both time and money.
Totally agree. As @CottonTales said, if you get rejects with a 790, you will get rejected with an 800.
Honestly I didn’t think this was serious at first. A 790 is excellent and will not be seen by admissions in any way differently from an 800. This is a common misconception. Scores get you into the pool but after that it is about other things. Top schools do not view students hierarchically in terms of grades and scores, but, once you meet a benchmark (which is indeed lower than 790) admissions is “holistic”. Admissions is focused on assembling an interesting mix in a class, and looking at what you can contribute on campus. Use the time you might have spent trying to get that unnecessary 10 more points to do something useful or fulfilling - if possible in our current situation.