Sorry if this is a question that has already been asked, but I don’t frequent the forums so I don’t know.
Harvard says that SAT Subject Tests are “optional,” although expected in most cases unless they are too expensive or you would “prefer your application be reviewed without them.” Is that really the case, or do they penalize applicants who do not submit subject test scores? I know Yale emphasizes that applicants without them will NOT be penalized, but is that not the case either? Does anyone know people who got in without them? (Or is it a new policy this year?)
Also, what is the absolute LOWEST score that you could possibly conceive an applicant being admitted with on a subject test score? Sorry for the long list of questions but I’d really appreciate some insight from your wonderful, experienced people.
Why would Harvard and Yale Admissions say such a thing if it were not true? C’mon, put on your thinking cap!
Student’s who submit the ACT to Yale are NOT required to submit any SAT Subject Tests at all. Do you think Yale is penalizing students for submitting the ACT and no SAT Subject Test scores as well? (Tip: They’re not! Neither is Harvard!)
It’s not a new policy this year. If you are so concerned about the issue, you should call HY Admissions and speak with an Admissions Officer and hear it directly from their mouth. Or, you could go through the Harvard Class of 2109 Result Threads and see for yourself:
If you take the time to view both of those threads, you’ll see a few students who submitted the ACT without any SAT Subject Test scores, but the majority of Harvard accepted student’s who submitted the SAT also submitted SAT Subject Test scores.
Part of applying to college is learning to do the research yourself, as it demonstrates maturity. You obviously have what you think are low SAT Subject Test scores, which you have not shared. So, go through the result threads and see if you can find an accepted student with an SAT Subject Test scores as low as yours. If you cannot find an accepted student with SAT Subject Test scores as low as yours, it’s probably a good bet that you should submit your application without them.
@gibby Thanks so much as always! FYI, I have done plenty of scrolling through the threads, but you must realize that College confidential is only a small sample of the most competitive, and often the most qualified applicants in the pool, and I was asking to see if maybe you had anecdotal evidence to suggest one way or the other. I have done plenty of this sort of research, and the more I look, the more questions I have, and so I thought I’d ask, in the hopes that the great Gibby would come to my aid. My subject test scores aren’t low, but two of my schools (Dartmouth and Tufts) require them so I was also trying to ascertain some numbers for that reason also. But in any case, thanks for your thorough response.
^^ If that’s true, then from a quick look through the 2019 decision threads would indicate that a student who wants to be considered a very competitive applicant needs 750+ on their SAT Subject Tests scores.
@gibby Do you know of any specific instances where an ACT score was simply enough for acceptance? I ask because I only sent my ACT in (34), but then again I’m first-gen and URM and didn’t know much about the whole process so I didn’t know much about SAT II’s (I know this represents lack of preparation on my part, it’s not a justification).