<p>You have amazing ECs, decent GPA, with a good class rank. Sal or val. or top 5%.</p>
<p>Now with that, you have the number: 2400.</p>
<p>How powerful is a 2400?</p>
<p>There’s no doubt a 2400 is very powerful, but as I’m sure you can imagine there’s more a top 25 university looks at in an application than your SAT score. It’ll definitely help you but it’s by no means an automatic “in”.</p>
<p>A 2400 is significantly more powerful than a 2300, measurably more powerful than a 2350, and marginally more powerful than a 2390.</p>
<p>A 3.7, 2400 should (I think) get in over a 3.85, 2100 - all other things being equal.</p>
<p>Well, although its impressive, a 2400 can in some cases look BAD if that’s the only thing standing out on your app. If you have a 4.0 GPA and a 2400, a college would think that you’re just some loser who studies all day. Compliment the 2400 with doing many of the various amazing EC’s, then it’s good.</p>
<p>Bad if you already have a great app, a 2400 would ‘raise the roof’, but definately helps you (depends on how many times you take it too)</p>
<p>A 2400 will ensure that every college atleast considers you even if you have some problems on your app. that would have knocked out someone with a 2350.</p>
<p>True that.
I am trying to get a 2400 because of our school’s grade deflation.
I am top 5%, but my transcript is not very good…</p>
<p>coolblues’s post gives me such hope :)</p>
<p>now if only I was an inventor or a charity founder…</p>
<p>hey idiotqueen do you have a 2400?</p>
<p>I don’t know. I used to buy in to the concept that the schools view SATs, class rank, and transcript as a baseline for determining whether you can do the work–which the majority of HYPSM and other top school applicants can–and then the rest being factors like ECs, essays, and the like, but then I went through the admission process. As #3 in my class with a 2260, I was rejected from Ivies (Dartmouth, Brown) where the 2350 val was accepted. 2350 val had no extracurriculars. Literally, none. I wasn’t a cancer cure-er or UN envoy, but I had done some impressive things in the political world, student govt, was captain of a state championship varsity sports team, charity work in my field of interest, etc.</p>
<p>Am I biased? Yes. Is it possible that this is an isolated incident? Yes. Am I bitter? Not really. Perplexed? Very much so. </p>
<p>My thought is that the very top schools–and here I am basically just taking about HYPSM–receive so many applications from 2400s, 2350s, etc. that it doesn’t catch their eye. Because those schools, especially HYP, have historically been considered–at least in the minds of the relatively uninformed general population–the best schools in the land, virtually every 2350-2400 kid feels obligated to apply to them. But the Penns, the Dartmouths, the Columbias, and certainly the Chicagos and the Dukes (no offense to any of these schools…all amazing, highly selective universities) see slightly less super-high scores and thus are going to be more impressed.</p>
<p>So my long winded answer to the original question is that it really depends on the university in question. Obviously, when we look beyond the USNWR top 25 schools and start talking about little-known state universities or more obscure private colleges, the 2400 is immensely powerful and usually yields nearly instantaneous admission and a full scholarship.</p>
<p>You are right clg210. Check your PM box.</p>
<p>^i’d send you a PM but your inbox is full, but anyway, sure i’ll read it.</p>
<p>@ Honorlions
No, your wrong. Colleges don’t look at superficial **** like that.
There is no form in which a 2400 can hurt you, however lack of ECs can.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much more “powerful” a 2400 is over a 2350. Both are impressive scores and the 2350 implies only a handful of wrong answers. To me a 2400 is most impressive if you get it in one sitting the first time you take the test. I’d be less dazzled by it if I saw the applicant took the test 3 times in order to super-score their way to a 2400; still impressed, but maybe just a little less so. </p>
<p>Lebron, you seem to be relying on a 2400 to make up for the grade deflation at your school resulting in your “poor” GPA of 3.7. I think this is a pointless exercise. Taking the SAT 2, 3 or 4 times in order to get 50 more points is not going to suddenly move your application from reject to admit. What if you don’t get to 2400? What if you only get to 2390? Does that mean you’re no longer a viable candidate? Hardly.</p>
<p>You also seem to be assuming some sort of linear relationship between test scores and GPA, i.e., a 3.7/2400 is a discernibly better candidate than a 3.7/2350. I think you’d be hard pressed to find evidence supporting that idea, except at schools with clearly defined admissions formulae. If a 3.7 puts you in the top 5% in class rank then AdComms are going to realize the rigor of your school. I suggest a better use of your time would be in starting to attack your essays. I realize that most of the new questions aren’t out yet, but you can certainly get some idea of what colleges want to know about you from this year’s questions. I think a well written set of essays is going to do a lot more for you than 50 more SAT points.</p>
<p>P.S. Tough break about the Orlando series, but you really do need a better supporting cast. So are you staying in Cleveland or going to Chicago/NYC? ;)</p>
<p>@vinceh
Thank you so much for your helpful post.
I am actually almost-salutatorian, so top 1% i guess.
Your post has opened a new perspective.
I sincerely thank you so much!</p>
<p>Oh, for that, …I can’t really say. I am thinking of NYC but Cleveland has always been my hometown.</p>
<p>should i bump this?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is a difficult question to answer. 2400 as opposed to what? 2390? 2300?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>hey turtle, my problem is that my GPA is very low for the Ivies. It is a weighted 3.8, and my transcript is filled with Bs.
That makes me the Sal, because I really work hard, and our school’s grading is notoriously difficult.</p>
<p>I just wanted to get a full score so that I can prove that I am not a lazy slacker.</p>
<p>Most posters told me that if I am the val or the sal I don’t have to worry but… it is HPS.
And they keep stressing Transcript, transcript, transcript…</p>
<p>So… yeah.</p>
<p>I could be mistaken, but didn’t you get a 35 or a 36 on the ACT? I remember you posting in February. </p>
<p>And I would say in your case, 2350+ or a 35/36 would be enough to show colleges that your school practices grade deflation.</p>
<p>No, I never took the ACT.
But my SAT scores are pretty good.</p>
<p>What about transcript?
Rank is high, like 2/121, but bad transcript?</p>
<p>How will I be able to explain that situation.</p>
<p>Let me bump this.</p>