<p>I took the SAT in Jan and got 800CR, 740M, 760W.
I would have had an 800W, but I got a 7 on the essay (FML). </p>
<p>I know I can write a really really good application essay. Do you think that admissions officers could overlook that 7 if my essays are good enough? Will they see my actual essays as more representative of my writing skill than my essay score? Are there specific rules you're supposed to follow for the SAT essay or something?</p>
<p>I'm probably going to apply to highly selective schools, maybe even a few Ivies.
I'm hoping that, since very selective schools usually "build" their freshman class, the SAT score won't be quite as important...</p>
<p>What do you guys think? I really need some advice! Please reply :(</p>
<p>Welcome to CC !! A 2300 is a great score ,but only one piece of the pie. You need good ECs ,great grades and all the other stuff to make it to an Ivy. Check some Admitted to schools you are interested in to see "all the right stuff " on CC to get an idea .Good luck!</p>
<p>haha, no, I know that. I do have ECs and good grades, etc… I was just wondering if that essay score would make or break my application. thanks for the reply :)</p>
<p>In 2010 there were 6925 stduents who took the SAT and got a 2300 or better.</p>
<p>Your score is plenty good enough to get you considered at whatever school you want to apply to, and I don’t know of ANY data that supports the idea that a school would use a 2300 vs, say, 2340 to decide whether to offer you admissions or not. At that level it’s much more about the other strengths you bring to the admissions process.</p>
<p>BTW . . the HYPed schools routinely say no to ~3/4 of valedictorians and those with 800Math and ~80% of those with 800 verbal, so . . . love thy safeties :-)</p>
<p>As someone else on CC said . . . for HYPed schools your scores compel consideration but do not determine acceptance.</p>
<p>My S also has a 2300 (800R 790W 710M). I know you feel disappointed (my son was with his math score) bc you could have done better with the essay score, but it’s a small part of what admissions will be looking at. I think it’s better to stay with your 1 sitting 2300 than to retake for a higher essay subscore. Give yourself some time to accept your score and if you still feel disappointed with it in a few weeks, then go ahead and start to prep to retake.</p>
<p>You have a fine score. You’re well over 700 in everything, with a very strong 1540/2300. Go do something FUN with your time. Seriously. Many schools pay less attention to the W section. Some don’t use it at all. Those scores get you on the table. They don’t necessarily get you in. Your application essays are far more important than a 25-minute formulaic piece of writing you dump on a sheet of paper on an early morning in junior year. I know folks who got into Ivies with <2200. I have a kid with a 2380 who didn’t. All wound up with fine acceptances and are thriving.</p>
<p>One of my kids did not retake a 2290, which got a few raised eyebrows. Had a 2200 – 710 CR/700 M/790 (74 MC/12 E) first time. Retook because he had an 80 on the PSAT CR and knew he could do better. Second time was 740 CR, 760 M (a BIG surprise), 790 W again (this time, 80 MC/8 essay). </p>
<p>He said after the first test that if he had gotten a 2200 with the CR and W scores reversed (i.e., 790 CR, 700 M and 710 W) the first time, he would have been one-and-done.</p>
<p>My daughter took January SAT as a first time taker. She had perfect PAST score and has been consistently scoring 2300+ in practice tests. The results came out… and she scored high 2100+. We are in schock. I’m not sure if it was test-day anxiety, bit that was clearly not how she has been performing. Any idea why? and advise please?</p>
<p>Ahh thank you guys so much, I feel a lot better - I think you’re all probably right. I’ll go do something more constructive with my time :)</p>
<p>Hamlet13 - I’m sorry, I’m really not sure. That’s pretty crazy. I’m guessing it was probably test-anxiety… Just don’t be too hard on her The “We are in shock” bit makes me feel like she gets some pressure from you guys and is trying hard to please you… the best thing you can do is give her self-confidence. Seriously. Haha, not that I’m one to be doling out test advice… but I think it’s your best bet. Just have her take them again and see how she does. Don’t make her take it more than 3 times, though.</p>
<p>Haha I’m in the same boat as you. I got a 2310, 770M, 760R, 780W.
My writing was an 80 with an 8 essay, when I was expecting an 11 essay.
I’m definitely retaking it, since I only took it once. But do you know if colleges will see that essay score and knock us down a peg?</p>
<p>^i don’t think they count the essay score for much; most disregard the essay subscore and if you retake it and do better on your essay, they’ll really only consider your top score, do don’t worry about it. :)</p>
<p>The essay score REALLY isn’t important. Many schools ignore the essay entirely, or only use it as a cross-check for fundamental writing skills. So, if you had a killer admissions essay, and scored a 1 on the SAT essay, that might raise an eyebrow.
The essay score is strongly tied merely to length and reveals little about your real skill. Concentrate on other things.</p>
<p>alwysgraceful03: ugh, I don’t know, that’s what I’m worried about! wait - you had an 8 and it only knocked you to a 780?! I had a 7 and it knocked me down to a 760! fmmmlll</p>
<p>it sounds like it doesn’t count for much, but still… a 7 is really really bad.</p>
<pre><code> “In 2010 there were 6925 stduents who took the SAT and got a 2300 or better.”
</code></pre>
<p>To the quote above, I bet there are more superscore SAT’s at or above 2300 than there are freshman spots at all of the Ivy’s, MIT and Stanford - think about that.</p>
<p>I would put a 2300 at maybe the 75% of accepted students at the elite universities. I would strive for a 2350+ to move to the next level.</p>
<p>If you can’t raise Math from 740 (you obviously missed 2 q’s), I would take the SAT Math2 subject test and get an 800 as you are quite capabale of doing. I personally think the jury’s still out on how much the W is valued relative to the CR & M. I would rather score highest on CR, then Math, then Writing.</p>
<p>katytx - you are tossing around numbers without doing much work. You also need to consider that there are quite a few kids scoring very high on the SAT who don’t go to the Ivies + MIT/Stanford - not because they don’t get in, but because they CHOOSE other schools.</p>
<p>A quick estimate - there are around 17,000 slots for freshman in the Ivies + Stanford + MIT. Median SAT is around 2100.
Essay scores are very lightly weighted, and often ignored.</p>
<p>Even if others are superscoring, I think that a one-time 2300 has to look great for any admissions officer. If you don’t get into your dream school, it won’t be because of your SAT - it could be some unknown and unknowable reason related to what that school needs in its class that year. </p>
<p>I say there are times in life to enjoy a success, and a one-time 2300 is such a time. I’m not sure where the retake line would be, but it’s surely well south of 2300!</p>
<p>nemom, you don’t have a clue on how much work I have done. You naively look at the median, which includes athletes, legacies, development cases, URM’s, Intel winners, USAMO champions, National award winners, the list goes on.</p>
<p>One of the easiest things to control is SAT scores. Are you not even familar with the AI? Say what you want but, schools value the class rank and SAT very much. Look at the Common Data Sets. You do know what that is right?</p>
<p>Look at the study Chirtian Soldier or Silver Turtle or somebody wrote on Yale acceptees and found out that one almost needed I believe it was 2275 to get accepted if they were White or Asian. Better yet, look at the average Yale 2014 Scores. 45% score 760-800 on CR, 50% on same range for math and 51% on same range for Writing. </p>
<p>So OP, don’t listen to them. If you have it in you, take the test one more time with a focus on Math and/or writing. I have done a lot of research on the importance of SAT’s. Trust me. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. SAT’s are the only common denominator with which to compare one applicant to another. If you had say a 2350+, I would have told you not to bother.</p>
<p>Let me be more clear nemom, you need to be in that 75 percentile for the SAT’s if you have no hook which I define as legacy, URM or athlete or development case. Even then you need to standout. So the less you stand out, the higher the SAt should be. For example, if you are top 10% but not top 5% of your class, clearly all things being equal you need a higher SAT. You are just plain wrong to look at Median SAT’s - period! Every consultant that is worth a darn will tell you that.</p>
<p>To say Essays are not even scored is BS. Sure that’s the case at Big State U, but let’s face it, 70 to 80% of applicants to the Super Selective schools are qualified. These schools want diversity. They want “nice” people. Essays and recommendations help give that insight. But if you are right, even more reason to raise the SAT.</p>
The “We are in shock” bit makes me feel like she gets some pressure from you guys and is trying hard to please you… the best thing you can do is give her self-confidence. Seriously. Haha, not that I’m one to be doling out test advice… but I think it’s your best bet. Just have her take them again and see how she does. Don’t make her take it more than 3 times, though.</p>