To what extent do test scores matter?

Test Preparation
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<p>This is an excerpt from a post in the Yale forum that I created. Although it refers to Yale as an example, I believe it applies to many colleges. Hopefully it is something that will help future applicants!</p>

<p>First and foremost, as I see on many chance threads, people worry about their SAT and ACT scores. Although no one can be for sure, from my experience and exploration through CC, admissions sites, and other resources, they have minimal impact on your chances <em>once</em> you reach a certain benchmark. For some colleges the benchmark may be 1750/2400. For others, it may be 2050/2400. For Yale, my guesstimate is it is about 2100, give or take 100 points. What this means is, in the preliminary examination of your application, you are categorized by your SAT score - whether this is a formal procedure or not, I am relatively sure it happens. Now having a score below 2100 does not mean you have no chance of getting admitted. What it means is that you better have a stellar application otherwise. In addition, once you hit that certain "benchmark," your score doesn't really matter. At that point, admissions officers know you can handle the coursework. This is why we sometimes hear people who score 2400 or 36 complain that they did not get in with their astounding test scores. Yes, they had the test scores to handle the course work, but did they have the rest of the package? Probably not. Test scores are important, but they do not always represent a person's ability to thrive in the college atmosphere. Especially at Yale, academics are not everything. Yale wants a group of students who will thrive in many areas of collegiate life - from academics to athletics and everything in-between. Ultimately my advice in this area is, if you have an SAT score below 2100, work on improving it if you can, but remember, you still have a chance, albeit a smaller one than if you had a 2300. If you have a score above 2100, GOOD JOB. This is something to be proud of - just remember there are 26,000 applicants who will have similar scores. Now focus on the rest of your application.</p>

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<p>For another example, at one LAC (Reed), test scores plus GPA together account only for 20% of admission criteria. Courses taken in HS, interview, recommendations, essays and ECs account for the rest.</p>

3

<p>While I agree with you for the most part, I think the minimum score is much higher if you don’t have special talents and are well rounded instead. I’d take the top 25% mark as a good target to set considering the athletes, legacies, URMs whose test scores are on AVERAGE lower. This leaves some room for you to make errors and I don’t think info is available on something like top 40% anyways.</p>

<p>I would say 2100 might be a bit low for top ivies since the difference between a 2100 and a 2400 is noticeable while something like 2300-2400 is negligible.</p>

<p>I’d say 2200 for most ivies would suffice. Lower is acceptable but keep in mind theres likely someone with a similar application who did receive that 2200 or 2300. Test scores aren’t everything but anything can serve as a tiebreaker really.</p>

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<p>I came up with 2100 in my overall analysis of test scores at Yale/ top schools and the 2100 is toughly based on Yale’s 25th percentile (based on this being 700 for each CR, m, and w).</p>