<p>i did worse on verbal than i did on my oct and nov ones..... !@#%@!$#@! i want to kill myself....... i don't know how this happened.. i really don't.. but, it went down from 690 to 660 to 650 this time, despite my math went up to 800 on the nov and jan testing.... is there ANYTHINGi can do at this time to lessen the negative effect the drop may have? please, anything would be helpful... thx so much... just for my standarized testing info, my other sat 2 scores are 750 on writing, 800 on 2c and chem and 780 phy.... i sent my jan score to harvard princeton dartmouth and columbia...</p>
<p>i was deferred from ED from Princeton... now everything is ruined. every other part of my application is great, from recs, ECs to grades.. it's just the sat 1 verbal.......</p>
<p>after posting this on a few other forums.. i figured that parents would be the best to ask... you guys have given invaluable advice in the past.. i promise, this is the last time i'll be bothering you....</p>
<p>Congrats on the wonderful math score. As for the verbal going down, most colleges will look only at your TOP scores. So now you have 800M + 690V: 1490. NOT bad.</p>
<p>Marite is right. And I find it sad and depressing that a student would even jokingly say "I want to kill myself" and "everything is ruined" over such a high SAT score. I am 100% on the side of another poster who says students should kick the SAT drug habit - take the ACT once and leave it at that. I know a number of kids in Ivies who "just said NO" to the SATs.</p>
<p>Those Ivy schools aren't going to care in the least. Your scores are in the ballpark, and being in the ballpark isn't going to get you on the team. If you get in, there is going to be something else driving it.</p>
<p>Now chances are you are going to get rejected at Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, and Columbia - and that would be the same if your scores were 1590. Nothing personal - it doesn't have anything to do with you, and everything to do with the number of applicants. The best way to increase the odds are to find ways for your parents to become very wealthy very quickly, and share that wealth around. Other ways are to become a world-famous oboe player in the next month, a star quarterback, publish three scientific papers or a great second novel, or find out you are a member of a significantly underrepresented minority. Of course, you may already have done all of these, in which case you don't have much to worry about. </p>
<p>Chances are (pure mathematics) you'll end up going somewhere else, and end up with a great education, and love it just as much! Good luck to you - I hope you end up where you desire, and know that it won't be the end of the world if you don't.</p>
<p>This is not meant to be an i-told-you-so, but for the benefit of other students who might be contemplating taking the test for a third time, there's a fair amount of opinion and maybe evidence that the net increase in scores isn't likely to be that great for multiple takings (though of course there will anecdotal evidence to the contrary,t oo). Especially if you have an 800 on one part of the test, there may not be that much point in a third taking, so think carefully before doing this. In the OP's case it probably will not make much difference, and mini is right, the odds are not great anyway. I have to differ with his assessment of scores though--as a parent of one one child who scored 1510 kid and another who scored 1490, I would say, all other things being pretty mch equal, there is a surprising difference in how top schools view you once you pass the "magic 1500."</p>
<p>I noticed on the SAT score report that when the score has reached a certain level, the chances of it going down are equal or greater to the chances of it going up. 1490 is Excellent.</p>
<p>Yeah, the main reason i kept on retaking is i REALLY wanted that 1500...... when i found out my score, as you can probably tell, i was appalled.... i just sat there.... and kept on resigning in... i thought it was a mistake.. i found the test this time very easy and i was confident that i should be able to get over 730 - hence i chose to send my score to the 4 schools above who do not require rush reporting...</p>
<p>As an international applicant, everything i've done so far is at the same level or better than the people who have gotten into hyp from my school - cept my sat 1 verbal score.. hardest and most advanced course load in school history, first ap national scholar as grade 11 student, top ranking, numerous regional, provincial, and national honors in contests, competitions, sports, etc... so as you can again tell, i really wanted to make up for that little <em>flaw</em> so to speak.. but i guess it just didnt happen.... i felt really bad b/c my parents have been supporting me since day 1. i feel i kinda let them down.. not a bit, but a lot......... i dont' know what to expect now... just hoping that my eng teacher's outstanding rec and my well-written essays can make up for this somehow...</p>
<p>A score of between 650 and 690 is within the same range statistically. Schools are not going to look at that and say "wow, 40 point drop!" In fact, if you look at your score report you will note that they include a "range" that probably goes up to 690. So don't worry - this is not a problem. :)</p>
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<p>As an international applicant....<<</p>
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<p>thatsme -</p>
<p>Is English not your native language? A 690 is an OUTSTANDING verbal score for a non-native speaker. And it's a pretty good for a native speaker too.</p>
<p>Truly, don't sweat it. Lots of students have gotten into very selective schools with lower scores. There is a psychological boost to getting over 700 (or 600), it's true, but it's not big. And the 800 IS impressive. If your parents have been supportive, they'll continue to believe in you.</p>
<p>And lots of applicants with 800s didn't. Don't sweat it either way. You are good student, with a good head on your shoulders, and will succeed wherever you end up. </p>
<p>Focus on all the things that are terrific about you. 30 years from now, you won't even remember your SAT score (or at least I hope not!)</p>
<p>One of Princeton's press releases last year noted how many applicants had SAT scores over 1400 (there were 7400), so my guess is that 1400 puts a student in the running. I agree with Mini and Marite that 1490 (with an 800m) and stellar SATIIs, as the poster has, are fine for test scores. There are of course lots of other considerations. Building a class of all sorts of people does seem to be what is done at Princeton, though I don't yet know any Princeton students quite as accomplished as Mini's hypotheticals.</p>
<p>Thatsme, if it is still where you most want to go, I hope you have let Princeton know, and updated your app. I also hope you have a "safety" university that you like that you can easily get into--the four you have listed have such tough admission, even for the best students like yourself. Most importantly, as you know, test scores are not a matter of life and death--and most people would be thrilled to have your scores, not to mention all of your other accomplishments. How outstanding! Continue to do your best, to be the best person you can be, and you'll do great no matter where you go to university. Chin up, smile on face, put all that brightness to good use!</p>
<p>"30 years from now, you won't even remember your SAT score."<br>
Well, for me it has been more than 30 years (!) and, for better or worse, I still remember my SAT score and even my SAT II (then called achievement test) scores. For better - because at least I've still got some memory left; for worse - because I'd rather use the brain cells to remember something more worthwhile. Just can't help that those scores, along with the words to every Herman's Hermits song, are stuck in my brain. But, to the OP - even if you remember them - 30 years from now those SAT scores won't mean a thing. In the meantime, congrats on your terrific, albeit less than you hoped for, scores!</p>
<p>I'm sure it is very frustrating. I can only relate by comparing it to training very hard for a race, putting in good workouts, feeling great, and then running a slow time!! But when you think about it, you are beating yourself up over what? You picked one or two "wrong" (wrong according to whom?) answers on a multiple choice test!!!</p>
<p>not sure what all thius dialogue is about since schools alklegedly only consider your highest score and most applicatiobs allow you to put that one in only.</p>
<p>Thatsme, it occurs to me, after thinking about your second post, that you are SO accomplished that this one part of one test just sort of gnaws at you. Please don't dwell on it. Don't look at the glass as 1% empty, but rather 99% full--full of all the wonderful things you have done, and have the ability to do in the future. Mini is right that even perfect scores DO NOT guarantee admission, neither will your scores keep you out. Either way, you can not "expect." You can only hope.
You have a whole wonderful life ahead of you. Be gentle with yourself.</p>
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I agree with the first part of this post; but adcoms see ALL SAT scores. They are sent directly from CB.
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<p>Probably varies a bit. Aren't there schools where administrative types transfer the student's stats onto the school's forms which includes space for the highest verbal test score and the highest math test score? So the decision maker only sees the highest scores. Not sure where I got this idea..... probably a novel I read. :)</p>
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Marite is right. And I find it sad and depressing that a student would even jokingly say "I want to kill myself" and "everything is ruined" over such a high SAT score.
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<p>I find it depressing that someone would say that over a SAT score period.</p>