I’m a senior applying to top tier schools for humanities related majors, waiting for regular decision results in late March~April. I’m from Korea (a country most US colleges are suspicious about for cheating).
Most schools accept the January SAT as their last test for consideration, and though I already submitted a 770 in Spanish, 800 in Math II and 800 in Chem, I thought that an extra SAT 2 subject test wouldn’t hurt, especially if combined with the additional awards and significant work I got done since I submitted my regular applications as an update on how I’ve continued to work hard.
So I chose to take SAT 2 Lit, and I took around 7~8 practice tests, scoring between 780~800 from the very first test. I took the test, thought it was easy, thought I couldn’t have gotten lower than 790. But something must have been off, I messed up somehow, and I got a score of 700, 75th percentile. It’s not super low, but it’s definitely low for top tier schools. When I’ve asked people around me,I’m getting mixed opinions on whether I should send the score:
I should because at least it shows my effort and continued interest. My other test scores are good so they won't think less of me as a student.
No, it's unnecessary and very low for top tier schools. I don't want it to distract or detract from the rest of my application, or for them to think the rest of my scores are fabricated. (btw, ACT 35 composite 36 writing)
What should I do? Any ideas on how this even happened…? Was there some change to the test or the curve or did I just mess up really badly somehow?
The test is not necessary and you didn’t score as well as you thought you might. Why is this even a question. The only continued interest it shows is you are close to becoming a test drudge, not what they want.
I came out of my Lit exam thinking I had done amazingly and got a 730…so I can relate. As to whether or not you send it, just keep in mind that SAT 2s mean so much less in the admissions process than your ACT. However, if you say you’re applying for humanities then maybe it would be good to show that you can do Lit.
I do completely see your dilemma, try looking up the average SAT 2 scores for your colleges and see how it fits. I highly doubt that one (still impressive) score will make any difference to admissions though!
@greenstudent – hmm… do you really think it shows that I can “do” Lit though? I actually thought the opposite before I searched for the lit percentiles and realized it was one of the harder ones to do well on. I thought they’d think “She’s a humanities major and she only got a 700 in Lit? Smh.”
@amytictoc I doubt they’ll judge your ability to do lit on one hour long test. How are your scores for lit style subjects on your transcript? However, I do get your point - even though I really don’t think a 700 says that you can’t do it at all, it’s just not quite as impressive as a 780.
@amytictoc - I rarely disagree with @“Erin’s Dad” but in the case of a Korean national I believe submitting this score might be beneficial.
First, 700 is a very good score for Lit, particularly for a non-native speaker. Further, as the OP understands, Korean students’ test results are somewhat suspect to begin with, and since the Literature test is relatively cheat resistant, a good score there adds overall credibility to the application. Finally, I imagine that a Literature test submissions from Korean nationals would stand out (in a good way) from the deluge of Math 2, Chem, and Physics results that are more typically received.
@greenstudent well scores in things like AP Lit and AP Lang, TOEFL, ACT etc. are all good. I’m a writer and speakers, so that area is supposed to be my strong point.
@sherpa yeah, good point, but I go to an international school so I’m not sure if it counts. I think that if you go to an international school it’s expected that you speak English like a native-- or maybe I’m wrong. Do you think AOs/people in general have lower expectation in English abilitiy for international school students?
