<p>And I was exaggerating to prove a point :</p>
<p>Yup I saw his website when you had last posted it. Very impressive stuff.</p>
<p>ajayc</p>
<p>SATs are relative. As an athlete/URM/legacy, you can easily figure in the bottom 25% of the accepted applicants. But yes, I agree that International applicants are expected to have high SATs, especially if they're applying for Financial Aid at need aware schools. But no school sifts through applications to auto reject those with lesser scores. A Puerto Rican got into Princeton with a 1700 last year. He might have had something really exceptional and schools recognise this fact, they would never use the SATs alone to eliminate applicants. </p>
<p>Then again, the SATs are a useful tool for colleges to judge how you compare with an American applicant. If you're a guy with a nuclear reactor in your basement (or something similar) I don't see why a school would reject you because you did poorly on a standardised test. Adcoms invariably say that a low GPA will hurt you more than a low SAT. And the SAT, however debated a measure of abilties, remains to be the least weighed component of your application, not to say an unimportant one.</p>
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[quote]
And I dont think any Indian has a nuclear reactor in his basement...</p>
<p>I mentioned Greg earlier an awesome chap. Check this <a href="http://www.gregslab.com%5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D">www.gregslab.com
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</a></p>
<p>I don't think any Indian even has a basement =)</p>
<p>^
Hehehe I like the way you think.</p>
<p>My friend has a basement, though instead of a nuclear reactor there's a pool table there :|</p>
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If you're a guy with a nuclear reactor in your basement (or something similar) I don't see why a school would reject you because you did poorly on a standardised test.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Greg was rejected from MIT probably because of his SATs :p</p>
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A Puerto Rican got into Princeton with a 1700 last year. He might have had something really exceptional and schools recognise this fact, they would never use the SATs alone to eliminate applicants.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The key word here is Puerto Rican :)</p>
<p>Obviously a low GPA is going to hurt us more than a low SAT. But SAT is a STANDARD for Indians. Now every Indian school has a different examination question paper throughout India. Some of them are easy as hell and others are horrendous. So you can't judge anyone based on their school marks. If people can't do simple math on SAT, how can they go on to work successfully at college? </p>
<p>hahaha My grandparents have a basement. And yeah all my projects are lying there. :)</p>
<p>S33D: I would suggest visiting and joing Lunexplorers</a> - Home I'll send in more info in a while.</p>
<p>Nice.... I wasnt even trying to compare actually, just saying it might be better to take both.. Lol.... N I agree with whats been said, a stellar SAT score doesnt necessarily guarantee admission, but a non stellar one will have a more negative effect on your app, unless you have a nobel prize to your credit perhaps? :D </p>
<p>As for the basement, my house does have one, but we just store useless junk there, def no nuclear reactors!! </p>
<p>@Shreya - Dont think the timetable's out yet... Hell, I still have one preboard left :(</p>
<p>True. But if you're a URM/Recruited Athlete/Legacy, SATs aren't a problem. I'm not saying that if you're one of the above you're definitely going to be accepted, but if you are one of them and are rejected, you can rest assured that your SATs weren't responsible for your rejection.</p>
<p>As for exams being different all over India, schools won't bother much about it. A rank #1 in an easy school is any day better than being in the bottom 50% of an uber competitive school. They can compare you by your 10th board marks if need be.</p>
<p>But even then, there are different boards across the nation...</p>
<p>My mock practicals begin tomorrow, I have physics first.
Gah! I don't know anything!</p>
<p>Ah well, that old SAT war again...Although it can not be considered as a hook, but it is the first thing that the admission committee look for..it is very rue that they start filtering out with SAT scores, and in good range they find enough students they want. In case they don't find the quality of students in that region, they then look for second category of SAT scores and the chain follows...So, to be safe, SAT does has it's importance not ''Hook''...Perhaps that is what Ajay is trying to say..
And believe me, it's not a mythical conclusion...</p>
<p>A university can get a good idea of your abilities through your Class Rank and aggregates. Adcoms reading international applications will know of all the boards we have here. Most applicants are from CBSE, and even those who move onto the IB can be compared roughly with the others through their 10th Board marks.</p>
<p>As for those under the ISC curriculum, colleges will know it's level of difficulty. That said, a compartitively harder curriculum is no excuse for a lackluster performance. Colleges would prefer a 95% CBSE 10th Board to an 85% in the ISC equivalent anyday. Whatever be the Board you study under, colleges want only the top of the crop.</p>
<p>isaacnewton</p>
<p>No college filters students by SAT scores. Had they been into such a practice, Harvard wouldn't have rejected 1000+ applicants with perfect SATs. </p>
<p>Think of this, Harvard admits ~ 1500 applicants each year. Does this mean that 1000+ have 2400 SATs?</p>
<p>Princeton admits applicants from the 1600-1900 score range too, provided they're exceptionally talented. Had colleges been as mechanic in their admissions as you suggested, Harvard wouldn't have had 20,000+ applicants a year. </p>
<p>No college uses SATs to sift through applications. They will read your application entirely, but yes, this does not mean that extremely low SATs aren't a problem.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Ah well, that old SAT war again...Although it can not be considered as a hook, but it is the first thing that the admission committee look for..it is very rue that they start filtering out with SAT scores, and in good range they find enough students they want. In case they don't find the quality of students in that region, they then look for second category of SAT scores and the chain follows...So, to be safe, SAT does has it's importance not ''Hook''...Perhaps that is what Ajay is trying to say..
And believe me, it's not a mythical conclusion...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is a heavenly misconception we have in India. Your transcript can be used to "classify" you, but not your SAT scores. Colleges don't refuse to evaluate your profile if you underperformed on a 3 hour test. Not to say that low SATs are acceptable, but colleges would lose out on a lot of talent of they went about "classifying" applicants.</p>
<p>I never said that students with perfect SAT scores are the only ones taken into consideration...Not every good SAT scorer is a good individual performer. As I said, they move on to second category. As it has been said earlier, there is a set of pattern that the committee follows :
1. Scores
2. ECs
3. Essays and Recommendations..
This is a general sorting way for initial and second stage..If you pass these, then comes the aid factor and other ECs and essays factors (Of- course most students can get good recommendations) come in to consideration and at this stage you are in a really good position to get in...
And I am not telling this in air...I have not stated any misconception (Not when you have spent loads of time on CC and that too for a year!:p)..
Further, why would anyone want to waste time in reading the whole app when you have more than 10,000s of apps to be sorted..</p>
<p>isaacnewton</p>
<p>No college follows such a naive principle. The first thing that is seen in your application is your high school record, not your SAT scores. Colleges don't just reject you because you performed poorly on a standardised test. One of my family friends is a adcom with a Top 50 college in the US, so I know a thing or two about admissions.</p>
<p>Well yes, some colleges auto-reject you if your score in any section is, say below 600 or so. After that, your SATs mean nothing. SATs are used just to sift you initially, but it is your HS record and ECs/Recos/Essays which determine whether or not you make it to the admit pile.</p>
<p>Adcoms invariably say that HS records are valued more than SAT scores, I wonder why we Indians are akin to believing it is the other way round.</p>
<p>In fact, scores are often the last thing seen in your application. UChicago clearly states that "Our admissions decisions NEVER hinge on SAT scores". A kid who works towards the SAT in his senior year and scores well will never be prefered over one who has worked hard throughout high school. </p>
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[quote]
Further, why would anyone want to waste time in reading the whole app when you have more than 10,000s of apps to be sorted..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Don't assume stuff. As I said earlier, had colleges seen the scores first, you wouldn't have people with 1700s making it to Princeton. I've heard it from the horses mouth, just a month of hardwork for the SATs won't put you in a better position than a student who has worked hard for four years, the former being something we Indians are notorious for.</p>
<p>US colleges don't regard the SAT in the same way as an Indian college regards it's entrance test. Unlike Indian colleges, you can't make it to the US if you're a slacker with great SAT scores. I suggest you look at the admission statistics of Ivy league colleges, that'll give you a good idea about their score ranges.</p>
<p>No college follows set patterns. The first person who reads your application summarizes it for the rest of the adcoms and post that stage, your SATs are just another statistic.</p>
<p>Take a look at this: <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/</a></p>
<p>Dude you are not making sense. I havent read your posts completely (posting from my cell but...) I can get into a ruddy govt. school in some locality be #1 there. Adcoms would be impressed? Yup. They dont exactly know which school I am from. SATs serve as a base to measure students abilities.</p>
<p>ajayc</p>
<p>As I said earlier, SATs just classify you. They don't matter more than HS records. Look it up in any website, HS records matter more than transcripts.</p>
<p>Anyways, I don't think the SAT v/s HS debate can ever end. Check out the first thread in the UChicago forum. Libby Pearson says that "SATs are the last thing we look at in an application".</p>
<p>ajayc</p>
<p>What are your scores by the way, and HS marks?</p>
<p>I'm ICSE FWIW</p>