SATs are not as important as you think.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>After years of coming on CC and seeing people freak over SATs, overestimate their importance, and put down others who have "low" scores, I feel compelled to tell my story. For anyone who believes that the SATs, or any standardized test for that matter, is the biggest factor in admissions, I am here to prove you wrong. I wish to also give hope to underclassmen applying to colleges in the near future if they feel that their scores are lacking. </p>

<p>With an 1890 SAT score (640 CR, 630 M, 620 W), I was accepted at Harvard, Cornell, and Stanford, wait listed at Princeton, and rejected from Columbia. No, I do not have any hooks. Actually, to be honest, I am a white girl from CT, completely middle class, and probably considered an "average" (or with my scores, below average) Ivy applicant. </p>

<p>I did not have stellar SAT II's to help my scores (660 Math II 620 BIO) or AP scores (3 on Bio and 2 on Lit/Comp, but didn't send them in). I didn't do too well on the ACT either, so I just didn't send it in. </p>

<p>I'm not saying SATs are not important, I just want people to realize that they do not mean nearly as much as people on CC believe they do. If you have "low" scores like I did, it does NOT mean you don't have a shot at top schools. Don't let anyone discourage you from applying. </p>

<p>My grades were good, but nothing spectacular. I was not ranked in the top 10 of my high school class, but I was in the top 10%. I had a 3.87 UW GPA, maybe a couple A-'s. What I really believe got me into Harvard, Stanford, and Cornell were my extracurriculars and essays. I have been spending the last two years working on a sustainability project in Haiti regarding the 2010 earthquake and now speak fluent Creole. I have been working with NGO's in the Port au Prince area, trying to relocate families, educate children, and get people back on their feet. I was also captain and first seed player on the Varsity Tennis team, on the NHS Executive Board, and a tutor for dyslexic children.</p>

<p>For anyone applying to college next year or in the next couple years, I cannot stress how important your extracurriculars are. Do not go for quantity, but quality. Everything I did I had a top position in. I dabbled with clubs my freshman year, but did not include them in my application. Don't add filler fluff in your app either, it only waters down your achievements. Show the colleges you are applying to your true passions, how you wish to further pursue them in college, and how they will apply to your future career. Do NOT let anyone tell you you don't have a chance.. I didn't think I'd get into any of them and I ended up having to make the hardest choice of my life (Going to Stanford next year!! )! Write genuinely, work hard, follow your passions, and you will get into these schools!</p>

<p>Best of luck to everyone!</p>

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<p>That’s pretty motivational - the stuff you have done shows true dedication and passion. Yes, scores don’t determine everything.</p>

<p>However, most people, scores/grades are still going to matter above ECs by quite a longshot. As some people said, scores/grades get you to the door, and ecs gets you through the door. Committing yourself to ECs and letting academics (especially grades) suffer is a risk - both to getting into college and doing well in school afterwards. But I agree, scores are definitely not the end-all. Can’t say anything for anyone who doesn’t have hooks/incredible ecs AND doesn’t have the grades/scores, however.</p>

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<p>You’re on one end of the spectrum of highly qualified applicants, most won’t have as stellar ECs, and so their scores and stats will have to make up for it.</p>

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<p>Wow! I’m surprised you were accepted to Harvard with a score of 1890 when the average is somewhere near 2200! Good luck in Stanford anyways! :)</p>

<p>I’m only a 14 year old so I’m quite inexperienced with these kind of things, so thanks for the information and tips! My average SAT Mock Exam score is somewhere around the 1900s, I play the cello (Grade 8) and have made many commitments for the school orchestras (Yes - plural) over the last few years, I play tennis and have played several official matches… My school report is pretty good with an average of A… Do you guys think I have a good chance to get into a top university in the future? My goal is to get into one of the top 10 universities in the world. :)</p>

<p>Oh, and could someone please explain to me what the ACT is?</p>

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<p>How much money did the Haiti project raise?</p>

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<p>I would have thought that your EC’s would have grabbed the attention of perhaps one top school, but to be admitted to 3 tells us that all of them do put weight on outstanding leadership. Although my D’s test scores were not as far “out-of-the-norm” as the OP’s(1350 / 31 ACT), demonstrating excellence & leadership in her EC’s is likely what got her in.</p>

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<p>Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing, it’s good seeing something different once in a while. </p>

<p>Sent from my ADR6300 using CC</p>

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<p>To add to my post…my D’s EC’s were school-based, awards at the regional level. The OP’s EC’s were at a national / global level which allowed for her test scores to be more forgiven. The spirit of the thread is that SAT’s aren’t everything, however if you are well below the average, not a recruited athlete or URM, you better have EC’s that are quite out-of-the-ordinary.</p>

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<p>Colene- Thank you :slight_smile: and yes SATs or any standardized test for that matter should not be taken lightly, but it certainly is not the end all be all. grades are just as important, if not more important, than SATs. I had straight A’s and a couple A-'s in all Honors/AP classes. My class was extremely competitive so I did not release my class rank. </p>

<p>tw- you can find act information on actstudent.org, in my information it is more on what you know from school than the SAT, although the science section killed me with those graphs (I have an eye tracking and teaming disorder, which is currently being fixed). </p>

<p>saugus-the Haiti project has raised over $50,000, but most of our fundraising comes from clothing drives, canned food drives etc</p>

<p>csdad-thank you so much :slight_smile: I would not have posted this maybe if I had only gotten accepted to one top university, but (not to sound cocky at all) because it was three of them, I really felt compelled to let others know the importance of your extracurriculars and making them stand out. You also hit the nail on the head when you stated “The spirit of the thread is that SAT’s aren’t everything, however if you are well below the average, not a recruited athlete or URM, you better have EC’s that are quite out-of-the-ordinary.” They do mean something, but they surely do not determine (or at least I don’t think they do) if you are accepted or admitted.</p>

<p>Thank you TheBigD :)</p>

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<p>Preach. </p>

<p>What the OP said is true. Anyone can get a 2400, but only you can share a story that is unique to you. Future applicants, focus as much on your writing as you do your standardized testing. I think people really underestimate the weight their essays have, especially when applying to top tier schools.</p>

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<p>well said Kali22 :slight_smile: essays are extremely important… don’t underestimate them</p>

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<p>OP, you are an outlier. You are exactly the type of unhooked applicants with considerably below average sat scores (relative to top schools) who stil get in. It’s great that you got in and I am happy for you but you really only had a shot because of your Haiti projects, which are truly outstanding ECs. Your other activities (varsity tennis nhs, tutoring) are above average at best IMO and you would have got rejected IMO without the Haiti work. You are right, if you have low scores it doesn’t mean you don’t have a shot, but first ask yourself whether you have a hook or you have some truly outstanding ECs that few or no students have.</p>

<p>I regard to your last paragraph, i see what you are trying to say, but it is very important to be realistic about your chances. Many students simply have no hope applying to top schools and should save the application fees for other things.That’s the way it is.</p>

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<p>Could you PM me your essays if you’re comfortable giving them out? It’s okay if you don’t want to; I’m just kind of curious.</p>

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<p>cortana- I completely agree. My work in Haiti definitely pushed me over the edge and did compensate for my low SATs. Honestly I don’t think I would have gotten in if I didn’t do all of my Haiti relief projects. I did the whole chance me thing about a year ago and everyone told me I would get rejected everywhere. I am just here to let future applicants know that if they have some unique aspect to bring to the table it can definitely outweigh low SAT scores and not to be discouraged by critical or negative posts. I mean, you definitely must be honest with yourself. If you have “low” (relative to the Ivies) scores, avg. ECs and a so-so GPA, and unhooked, you’re probably not going to get in.</p>

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<p>I would also say that ECs that are not through the school are much stronger than those which are. Performance and leadership in club/school organizations is all good but doing independent work, projects, or competitions is a lot stronger. I seriously lacked that in my app and the results showed</p>

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<p>I’m curious, how much time a week or month or overall did you invest in your Haiti project?</p>

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<p>Congrats, but let me add something- you did not get in solely because of Haiti- you got in because you clearly had a string of attributes the schools wanted. </p>

<p>Adcoms know that kids don’t (usually) raise 50k without some sort of adult guidance. They know you needed some sort of underwriting and support to fly back and forth, remain safe on the ground, get the first meetings with the NGOs, etc. But, they can view your own vision, commitment and accomplishments in a highly positive way. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with adults (and in a difficult and dangerous environment) is admirable and becoming fluent in Creole is outstanding. In many respects, you drew the right sort of attention to yourself. I’d guess you wrote superior essays and mature, well-considered supp answers. Likely, your GC went to bat for you with unswerving positives. And other LoRs. Your hs’s rep probably added legitimacy to your efforts and you were top 10%. And, you did have other activities in the hs that show you are not a one-trick pony. Good going. </p>

<p>And, 1890 is “within range,” especially when combined with such a strong sense in the CA of who you are. So, be proud. You are a great match for Stanford.</p>

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<p>cortana- it depended on the month, really. i spent both summers in haiti so that was a 24/7 job, september and october was back to fundraising at school, november i went down for both of my thanksgivings, then did a christmas fundraiser, went down for christmas break, january was a sluggish month with finals (i have block scheduling) but then i skipped school and went down in feb and march twice, spring break in april, and then a ton of fundraising may and june! basically, if i wasn’t in haiti, i was doing fundraising for haiti at home. i guess i spent on average two hours every day at home working on new projects and ways to get people involved, give or take of course. </p>

<p>looking forward- thank you!! it is nice to be recognized for your work, so thank you for that :slight_smile: part of me thinks that they didn’t really look much into my sats because in all honesty I didn’t have any time to study. I was in Haiti two weeks before APs last year and got home the night before… probably not the best idea!</p>

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<p>Can you choose not to send in a certain SAT II subject test to Cornell if you don’t want to? Does ‘score choice’ only apply to SAT I?</p>

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<p>^ Pretty sure it applies to SAT Subject tests as well. But don’t worry too much, I was worried because my SAT Physics score wasn’t very good, but I still got in. [<a href=“http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/first-year-applicants/admission-requirements[/url]”>http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/first-year-applicants/admission-requirements&lt;/a&gt; & News</a> | The Cornell Daily Sun](<a href=“http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2009/01/20/cornell-rejects-sat-score-choice-option]]News”>Cornell Rejects SAT Score Choice Option | The Cornell Daily Sun)</p>

<p>wanderlust93 - That’s so great!! It’s really nice to hear that your SAT score doesn’t doom you to instant denial. I’ve seen too many people become depressed about their college prospects after getting their SAT scores back. I ended up with a 2300+, but I’m sure that I would’ve thought the same thing. The Haiti thing is ridiculously cool too. It’s one of the most impressive EC’s I’ve seen on here, to be honest. You clearly deserved to get into those schools. Good luck at Stanford!! (:</p>