SCEA for me

Colleges & Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>OK... im more focused on life than on tests so brace yourself for my scores... the rest of my application looks ok.....
African American girl
Financial need: yes...big time
GPA: 3.947 uw 4.66 w
Rank 2/ 710 hopefully 1 by second semester
school : public...bad side of town...and i must emphasize this...there have been three shootings at my school last year alone
AP test:
Bio 5
English lan 4
USH 5
(scores pending)
Senior schedule:
Calc ABC
Individual Study Debate (like debate 6)
AP English Literature
AP Chem 2 or Adv. Organic Chemistry... wish i could take both
AP Macro
Ap comparative Governemnt
Basketball
German 2 and 3 hopefully self study before January</p>

<p>SAT: 630 CR 630 M 600 W ( i left the test early around section 8..an excuse that most wont believe but i had a family emergency.... but you can ask anyone who took the test even the guidance counselr and theyll tell you that i did....</p>

<p>I dont think the SAT is for me though.. I think i want to take the ACT and i have scored well on two practivce tests 30-33 Composite because I like the syle of questions the ACT offers and science is my thing which really helps</p>

<p>SAT 2: Math 2 720 Liteature : 730 Biology (hoping for a 740+)</p>

<p>ECS:
president of speech and debate
varsity letter in debate
nationally ranked in Dramatic interpretation (top 50)
Quarterfinalist in impromptu two years in a row at national tournament top 60
lots of awards in speech and debate...taken a few local tournaments
(will continue debate in college...if that means anything)</p>

<p>My friend and i created YNH... a service group that has raised over $9,000.00 in the last 3 years for many causes</p>

<p>Academic Decatholon... medaled in Honors Writing , Speech , and Music ( gold , gold, bronze)</p>

<p>UIL state participantin Imformative speaking (kinda big here in texas</p>

<p>Semifinalist at the sate tournament in Oratory and Extemp speaking
TOC qualifier in extemp (kinda big in debate world)</p>

<p>Teach a kid - mentor program for middle scool students... head mentor ( 2 years.....
Ive ben in all my clubs listed for 4 years.... these ive been in for 2 years</p>

<p>SNHS sec , president-12
NHS
Student council</p>

<p>Lots of volunter hours .....walks...YMCA...library.... Medical center...(shadowed a few doctors)</p>

<p>National finalist in a speech contest...maybe i will win (hahahah) but its not till november</p>

<p>Recs: great
essays: will be really deep hopefully about my life experinces and when i visited my family back home in Nigeria
(u.s. born citizen just for clarification)</p>

<p>lots of academic awards...something for PSAT at least commended (219)
AP scholar with honors
speaks more than two languages </p>

<p>Quest Bridge College prep scholarship winner and Ventures Scholar....</p>

<p>What would be my chances if I got a 32 -34 on the ACT ...i plan on explaining the situation with SAT with a letter...i think my friend started a topic like this for me......</p>

2

<p>It will take you less time to retake the SAT than to write your letter explaining those scores. And nobody will believe you, since it makes no sense not to retake in this situation. (If you left the test center early, you should have canceled the scores then and there...)</p>

<p>Other than that, your chances are very good.</p>

3

<p>Don't even worry about explaining your SAT scores. Seriously. I know I sent a bad SAT score to Stanford and they completely disregarded it because I got a better score when I retook the test. I suggest you just focus on the ACT if you think you can do better on it. Admissions officers aren't looking for reasons to not accept you. They'll disregard your SAT scores as long as you have a better ACT score (emphasis on BETTER). But, if it makes you feel better you can still send an explanation; however, I doubt they'll care since you have a lot of other things going for you. Your SAT II scores in Math and Literature are pretty solid too. Good luck with applications. </p>

<p>2011 CARDINAL PRIDE!!!!!</p>

4

<p>I know everyone hates bumping...but does anyone else have an opinion....</p>

5

<p>


</p>

<p>Congratulations. </p>

<p>To boyhood, I would say you still have time to do a retake on the SAT, which would be well advised in the circumstance you describe. If you like the ACT, you could certainly take that too.</p>

6

<p>so retaking the SAT or any test doesn't really matter. the scores do, right? what if i took it....four times. or a bajillion but eventually got a 2400 superscored?</p>

7

<p>phoenixdown - i think everyone would agree that is not a wise thing to do. remember, stanford WILL see a complete record of every SAT you've ever taken on your official score report.</p>

<p>whether or not stanford "superscores" ... even if it does superscore, that doesn't mean it's going to pretend the bad scores never existed.</p>

8

<p>However, while the above poster is right that it is human nature to subtract some of the worth from someone's top score if they took the SAT many, many times, that is not the case with the OP.</p>

<p>I would advise you to take the SAT again, if you do well, don't bother trying to explain your other scores as they will not matter.</p>

9

<p>I think it's quite debatable whether most admission committees at most highly selective colleges operate as post #7 speculates they do. In any event, the original poster in this thread has neither time nor inclination to test a "bajillion" (post #6's term) times. She has a lot of the elements of a desirable application already in place, and might as well round those out with a good set or two of admission test scores.</p>

10

<p><a href="tokenadult%20wrote:">quote</a>
I think it's quite debatable whether most admission committees at most highly selective colleges operate as post #7 speculates they do.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The "speculation" in post #7 was as follows:
"... even if [Stanford] does superscore, that doesn't mean it's going to pretend the bad scores never existed."</p>

<p>Not only is this statement recently corroborated by Stanford's admissions dean (as tokenadult knows), but NOT ONE UNIVERSITY has ever contradicted it, i.e. stated unequivocally that it will always "pretend the bad scores never existed".</p>

<p>Nonspecific statements about considering the highest scores, "only" the highest scores, the best scores, that more tests aren't penalized, etc abound --- and are generally refuted by the same universities if the discussion reaches the level of detail that distinguishes between (a) having a superscoring policy, and (b) operating (for every application, no matter its contents) as though non-highest scores don't exist. No university, given the opportunity to distinguish between those two possibilities, has EVER stated that its practice is the second. </p>

<p>As to how many of the top schools specifically confirm post #7, by indicating that they can or do consider the lower scores (or the number of sittings, or other information derived from the score report beyond the highest scores): </p>

<p>-- we have seen in recent College Confidential discussions statements from Caltech, MIT, Johns Hopkins and Stanford admissions people that make it clear the entire score report is read, taking the low scores into account (either always or for some applications). Princeton states clearly that it takes all scores into account in their review, as does Johns Hopkins. </p>

<p>-- Posters in CC quote admissions representatives from Duke, Yale, Williams, Dartmouth, and other schools as indicating that more than three SATs can, at least in some cases, be viewed negatively by admissions. Published remarks of the (current) admissions director at Rice and the director at Yale (3-4 years ago) also give specific numbers or patterns of retakes that can work against a candidate. </p>

<p>So the evidence currently available suggest that MOST top schools work exactly as post #7 mentioned: too many retakes can work against the candidate, and the admissions reading does not operate as though the lower scores don't exist. Tokenadult has posted (50 times!) a rather dubious claim that some comments by a Harvard admissions officer prove that Harvard never makes any use of the score report beyond the highest scores. As a matter of simple logic and in light of all the evidence about admission at other top schools, that claim is itself "quite debatable" until Harvard speaks more specifically about this matter.</p>

11

<p>You're in.</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
Princeton states clearly that it takes all scores into account in their review, as does Johns Hopkins.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The Princeton statement (from their viewbook) that I had in mind appears to be about the SAT-II results, so may not bear on the SAT-I issue. The Johns Hopkins statements, in fact several of them by their admissions representative in CC, clearly pertain to SAT-I, as do all the other universities' remarks cited in the preceding post. Anyway, whether or not one includes Princeton on the list of top schools that do not "pretend the bad scores don't exist", it seems that there are quite a few top schools that contradict tokenadult's statement in post#9 and none that support it.</p>

13

<p><a href="tokenadult%20wrote:">quote</a>
I think it's quite debatable whether most admission committees at most highly selective colleges operate as post #7 speculates they do.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>By the way, post #7 refers only (and specifically) to Stanford. It is a false imputation to say that #7 speculates on what "they" (the "most highly selective colleges") do. </p>

<p>It's worth taking a moment to dissect that false imputation, as it's a neatly crafted piece of work. The language is legalistically precise. It came about as follows: within the past couple of days, tokenadult and I had a discussion of Richard Shaw's (Stanford admission's director) remarks that the admissions office analyzes the SAT score report for trends, such as whether the scores plateau or fluctuate up and down. So it was known that post #7 is correct as a reference to Stanford. Unfortunately, correct post #7 does not accord with debate positions that tokenadult has taken in a flood of 50 or more recent messages all over College Confidential. How to discredit #7? Well, the absolutely correct comments about Stanford look like they could well be an instance of more general assumptions about elite admissions, assumptions which if applied to enough colleges are open to challenge (due to lack of evidence) or possibly even false. Thus, playing on the distinction between the correct assertions actually made, and possibly wrong things that were probably (but not known to be) assumed in making the correct statements, allows for creating the impression that an inconveniently accurate posting is "quite debatable".</p>

<p>Clever, but not something that should pass unremarked.</p>

14

<p>African American girl</p>

<p>They will overlook the SAT score because of that imho.</p>

15

<p>I think you're in. If I went to Stanford, I would like to meet you. And isn't that the best impression you can give in an application??</p>

16

<p>


</p>

<p>It's not going to hurt YOUR application case at Stanford to do one retake in the limited time you have remaining before the SCEA admission deadline. It MIGHT help a lot. Some who have replied have expressed the opinion that you are already a lock for admission, but you yourself feel--and you know other forensics competitors and their admission results, right?--that your scores are the most iffy aspect of your application. Why not just put some of your accustomed effort and thoughtfulness into posting a higher set of scores? Then you have done what you can do to strengthen your application, and you can enjoy your competitive activities and your schoolwork while you wait for the admission decision. </p>

<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>

17

<p>Thank you everyone for the information and feedback. I have jsut one more dillema. In order for me to tkae the Sat again I would have to either miss my American enterprise competition or I would have to miss Mentor Weekend- a weekend which I set-up with Caring for our communities shelter every year for the last two years? Is it worth it? Would studying for the ACT, which I already am be a better use of my time?</p>

18

<p>Are you saying that the ACT test date doesn't conflict with any scheduled activities? That might be a very good reason to prefer taking the ACT over retaking the SAT. There are only so many clear weekends each year for a busy student. Perhaps to resolve this issue you could talk to the people involved in the activities with you and see what they think.</p>

19

<p>yeah...im doing that right now... My states schedule for tournaments tries to take into account ACT dates but not SAT dates which I find rather funny for it seems that more people from my region take the SAT than the ACT....</p>

20

<p>good luck. nice ECs and class rank.</p>

<p>my stats suck. i think i might apply to stanford even though it's not on my chance list...cause stanford apparently is the shiet.</p>