<p>i am trying to get into the elite schools HYP and such, the rest of my application is strong, but i wanted to get your opinion on whether my SAT scores will give me a slight bump up compared to the other applications, a slight bump down, or won't help or hurt. i don't think i have time to retake ..so here they are....let me know what you think</p>
<p>SAT Reasoning
Critical Reading 770
Writing 740
Math 720</p>
<p>my brother had similar test scores to yours and he was granted acceptance to cornell, wait listed at harvard and brown, noted he was also number 2 in his class.</p>
<p>Definitely not a bump up. Not sure about a bump down, I'd probably lean more toward won't help/hurt. 1490/2230 are solid scores, but HYP will all probably get enough applicants with scores higher than those to more than fill out their acceptance pool. It's going to come down more to other parts of your application, anyway though, so it's really not that relevant. Your scores put you in the running, and that's what's important.</p>
<p>The subject tests, however, are all three fairly low by HYP standards. Many who apply to those schools with math and chemistry will have 800 or near 800 scores, since the subjects lack so much subjectivity that students strong in those areas are not going to do much less than perfect.</p>
<p>I don't know much about the literature test, but that's score is only 67 points over the national average and it's obviously much lower than the other numbers you gave, so I imagine it won't be too much of a help.</p>
<p>Subject tests I don't think are going to be as important as the reasoning test, though, so with a strong application you definitely have a shot.</p>
<p>The national averages for SAT IIs aren't comparable to those of the SAT I because the subject tests tend to be required only by the more selective colleges. In other words, if one of your SAT II scores is "average," you are actually "above average" when compared to all college-bound HS students. Of course, there's no way to know how far above average, and besides that, I doubt that simply above average will cut it for HYP admissions.</p>