I want to take my SAT IIs December 9th and SAT I January 23rd. I’ve never taken these before. Can I apply to Ivy League colleges or other top colleges like Berkeley or UCLA for the Regular Decisions (i.e. 31st December being the deadline to apply) without having taken the SAT I before?
And what if I swap SAT II and SAT I dates? Thanks!
Check each college to which you intend to apply as some take through Jan test date and others only through Dec. The ivies accept through the Jan test. The UCs and Stanford only through Dec. Taking SAT first in Dec would be a wise choice since many colleges that take only through the Dec test date do not require SAT subject tests and thus you can still apply with only the SAT which is required. For the UCs and Stanford subject tests are optional, and thus you could still apply to them with only the SAT in Dec.
Why so late?
Did you take the PSAT or ACT?
Swapping is better, IMO, for the reasons that @drusba suggests
You should also make sure you have some schools that are easier to get into. People rarely score well enough in their first sitting for Ivy admissions – you need a backup plan.
Universities and colleges will usually publish the last dates that a student can take the SAT and have them submitted by the deadlines. If a school has a Jan.1 application date, then January 23 is likely too late for those schools.A quick look at Berkeley’s website states that you need to complete SAT1 by December and that SATIIs are no longer required. Can you get on a standby list for the November testing date? Take the ACT instead (it’s a different weekend).
I’ll bite. How in the world would you know if you are a competitive applicant for Ivy League schools if you haven’t yet taken the SAT?
ETA the post below. According to this post, you were a 10th grader in February, which would mean you are an 11th grader now. Does your country only have eleven grades? Also, in FEBRUARY you asked about chances…and indicated these were your scores or predicted scores. If you knew in FEB that you needed to take these tests, why didn’t you take them in the spring or early fall.
So…were any if the stats in your previous post actual…or wer they all predicted?
And more
So…what are your CURRENT scores…the ones you already have?
You can’t get accepted at college based on predicted scores. Also some schools will require ALL of you scores to be sent.
So…what is your current SAT…and TOEFL…and class rank?
Also, you are an international student so read VERY carefully what the financial aid policies are for international students at UCLA and CAL.
This from Berkeley:
And this from UCLA:
Thank you all for your input!
@Madison85 
I had some things going on in life - and didn’t give the due focus to college applications. I actually thought there’s a lot of time left, but now it turns out I have to take the SAT in 40 days. Just, Yikes.
And no, didn’t take those!
Be sure to apply to financial and stats safety schools in your country.
@thumper1 The stats that I put in were how I viewed, I guess, the ideal application for myself (where everything is almost perfect on all fronts, so as to strive for as much of those as within reach.) But, the only test that I took is TOEFL in February and got 95. I got 4.0 Gpa as a Sophomore, 3.5 as Junior and I’ll get about 3.85-3.9 midterm Senior. I’ve got lots of volunteering year-round + work over 4 last summers for 2.5 months 5-day 7-hour workday at a milk factory.
Yes, consider me, an 11-th grader, a 12th grader by your system(senior).
Boxing contests are legit. Doing water polo for 4 years - Junior National Reserve (There’s 17 mil. people in my country). Participation at International Zhautykov Math Olympiad, a point short off a medal.Wins at internet mathematical olympiads and contests like Tournament of Towns (not significant?) FWIW as all else, my city has 1.5 mill. population.
We don’t do class rank. We have like 60 4.0 students for Soph and Junior years both in a class of 220 students. Did I mention that we have tough math and physics classes, English class is weak(our teacher probably has like 84 TOEFL and a thick Russian accent.)
i agree that a backup plan is necessary, but somewhat disagree about how many sittings are usual for Ivy admissions (if by that you meant Ivy admits rather than Ivy applications). Purely anecdotal data, and a small sample size, but my experience is that for most Ivy admits I know, it was “one and done.”
The Ivy admit that I know, who was “one and done,” got there with a lot of SAT studying beforehand. So by the time he sat for the actual exam, he was extremely prepared. I doubt most people can walk in cold to an SAT exam the first time and get an almost perfect score! Maybe not zero, but not many.
I know some one and done Ivy admits as well. But they took their SATs LONG before January of their senior years of HS.
My D’s ACT was one and done, but she prepared ACT for almost a year and reached a plateau target score in practice 4 months before the real test in junior year.
@thumper1 @billscho It must definitely be hard, but is it legal to send my first SAT I scores after the app deadline? It says on the duke website for example that you must submit any scores you have on these tests, but if I don’t have an SAT I or ACT , do I qualify to apply at all?
Your application would not be reviewed if not completed with all components by the deadline or the end of their grace period.
It is usually okay for scores and recommendations to come in a little late, but the only way to know for sure is to contact the admissions offices directly.