SATs are not as important as you think.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford 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>I want to hug you so hard right now. What a timely post.</p>

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<p>Haha, virtual hug!</p>

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<p>I call BS. Technically, you’re not even academically qualified for Harvard, Cornell, or Stanford due to your SAT I and SAT II scores. I know the SAT’s aren’t everything, BUT ASSUMING this is true, you’re really going to struggle at these top schools academically in the classes.</p>

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<p>Congratulations !!. If you have got admission either Harvard or Stanford , I would have guess ,you got lucky. But it is very impressive that you got at both the places. What it seems to me your ECs are much different that typical High School student will do ( and that’s also for two years), particulurly working at Haiti. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Stonesn- Believe what you want. I am here to help others and give them hope, not take insults from people on the internet. I am sure there are recruited athletes, URMs, and others with hooks that had SAT scores near or below mine… and if Stanford, Harvard, and Cornell did not think I was capable of doing the work they would not have admitted me.</p>

<p>thank you fervid :)</p>

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<p>SAT’s hardly ever truly predict your college success. Just like IQ scores. If you are a hardworking and dedicated student, you can succeed in anything you do. Being a “genius” with perfect test scores isn’t going to get you much in the long run anyway. I love this post, as someone with an 1880 SAT and 30 ACT, but with great grades, good character, and pretty good EC’s. I was discouraged from my dreams on CC so I hope this post can prevent that from happening to anyone else :)</p>

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<p>For most applicants, it is highly desireable to have SAT scores that place them solidly in the middle of the mid- 50th percentile for the colleges to which they are applying. You don’t want to be pulling down their medians, after all. Remember, the celebrities, scion legacies, recruited athletes et al have to be accomodated in the bottom 25%. Conversely, all top schools have a surfeit of applicants whose scores fall in their top 25% and that alone will only get you so far. Basically, if you’re NFL material, don’t sweat your SAT’s if applying to Stanford.</p>

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<p>

There is the OP’s hook !
He/She followed her passion…and did what normal teens don’t do.
Congratulations !</p>

<p>But reality is 99% of us don’t go to Haiti…so guess we are stuck with competing with the rest of the pack :)</p>

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<p>One of my friends went to Haiti for 3 consecutive summers, 2230 SAT, Valedictorian. Rejected all ivies. LOL. I’ll never understand admissions.</p>

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<p>The bottomline is its the luck of the draw. I think the OP is just trying to show that ‘it can’ happen. Since obviously it did for her. </p>

<p>I also want to state that for the record stanford athletes and urm have the same high caliber scores as the50% or better. Why everyone gives those kids such a hard time is beyond me. As you can see from OP there are white kids who can fall below so stop making it sound like its the URM’s and athletes are the only ones at the bottom. </p>

<p>Andrew Luck is not the only scholar/athlete.</p>

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<p>@Wanderlust93 Thank you! I literally printed this out so i could keep it with me. This definitely made me feel better. =)</p>

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<p>"One of my friends went to Haiti for 3 consecutive summers, 2230 SAT, Valedictorian. Rejected all ivies. LOL. I’ll never understand admissions. "</p>

<p>Along with above the race, state, ethnicity,recommendation, etc does matter too.</p>

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<p>" 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. "</p>

<p>How did you attend school while doing all this?</p>

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<p>Stanford grad here with friend on the Stanford admissions committee. Students like Wanderlust93 do get in. But…he or she is not typical. No one should count on admission with a sub-1900.</p>

<p>Transcript counts much more than SAT. And doing something spectacular counts MUCH more than SAT. </p>

<p>Stanford is looking for someone who goes to Haiti, then does something which was not set up for them in advance. Someone who sees a problem and acts upon it. They are not looking for someone who goes to Haiti, helps build a few houses or ladles food, then goes home. </p>

<p>If you don’t understand the difference, you don’t understand what Stanford wants.</p>

<p>As for the idea that Wanderlust will struggle in classes due to the low SAT’s, I doubt it. Good grades in HS are far more predictive than SAT scores. 3.87 UW is just fine. Some people aren’t very good at filling in the bubbles.</p>

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<p>Wanderlust93</p>

<p>Congratulations re Stanford!!! You also makes a very important point – it is easier to follow your passions and do good things somewhere like Haiti than it is to be the one out of the hundred unhooked students who gains admission into Stanford primarily based upon SATs and grades. It also takes a special person to admit that and tell others as she has done. </p>

<p>Working with an NGO in Haiti is great, but it is also something that almost anyone on this site could do with some forethought and imagination. If not in Haiti than somewhere else. There are certainly plenty of places in America that could use the assistance, including non-profits like Amnesty or the ACLU that are not country specific and that have meaningful opportunities for young people to take leadership positions (ie, with a particular prisoner for example).</p>

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<p>I would urge those with high SAT scores to consider applying to college in the UK and Canada.</p>

<p>It is my understanding that in those countries, they go much more by standardized test scores than in America.</p>

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<p>My D had the exact same SAT (1890), along with the same level SAT 2 scores, and was accepted to Stanford in 2009. We were totally floored when she was accepted early decision. When we visited the school the summer before, the admissions person assured us that Stanford does not compare students, but will look at each one individually. For her, this mattered a lot, since she came from a small high school that pretty much only offered A-G courses, along with one AP class, and had very few extra curricular activities. She is not a URM, nor an athlete. I think her hook was that she took what was offered and made the best of it, along with a passion for the things she was involved in (dance, FFA). She did graduate Valedictorian. I have to say, we didn’t find out about CC until after she was accepted and that was an eye-opener, seeing much more qualified students denied. Until we dropped her off at New Student Orientation, we thought somehow Stanford had pressed the wrong button!! :slight_smile: But, she’s now wrapping up her junior year and loves Stanford.</p>

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<p>Id say that things changed rather quickly in the last few years. While your daughter got into Stanford, she certainly would not be able to get in today.</p>

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<p>Wow this is very inspiring!
Great post OP.</p>