Hi, I’m really stressing out about my applications that are due in the coming days and I need help. I’m an international student, UK, with quite a strong academic profile (12A* GCSEs and 4A* A-Level predicted). I have sat the SAT once on August 2020 and attained a 1460, I also have a Math Level 2 SAT Subject Test score of 800. The schools I’m applying to are mainly reach schools, Yale, Stanford, UPenn etc etc, and I lie either on the 25th percentile or just below. I’m not sure whether I should send my scores in as it might weigh my whole application down, giving them a reason to reject me. Any advice on what I should do? Any help is appreciated, thanks!
I think almost all schools in the U.S. are waving SAT scores this year, so if your score is on the lower end, I wouldn’t submit it. I think a good rule of thumb, is to apply to a few reach schools, a few target schools, and a few safety schools. Good luck!
Assuming no issue and assuming you took the math pre-COVID… send the subject test and not the SAT.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply
I took the Math subject test post-covid, September 2020, and there’s no option to send just subject test, I’m assuming I shouldn’t send either of my scores?
I would focus more on what makes you unique and a good candidate for their program. Essays will probably count more, volunteer experience, if you have a specific talent, well rounded, political activism, etc. Also, if you can show determination despite all of the craziness that happened this year!
Are you SURE you cannot use “score choice” to send only that SAT math subject test?
Yes, in my common app application, the question simply states if I want to send my SAT scores in. Score choice only applies when I’ve been accepted and have been requested to send my SAT scores in. Then, I’ll be able to pick which tests to send in.
I am not often wrong on this, but possible I am. Believe you can send what you want to. Please check it. Sometimes rules change and I am old. I would send the subject test, I think, and make it look as if you never took the SAT.
There are two steps to sending scores. One is that you say on your app that you intend to submit scores. The other is contacting the College Board or ACT, and requesting that your score(s) be submitted. I am quite sure that College Board allows you to send scores by test date, so you could ask to only submit the scores taken on a certain test date. Obviously, you didn’t take the SAT and the subject dates on the same date, so no problem with requesting that only that 800 math subject test be sent.
Agree to not send your SAT score (unless you are a URM…then I would probably send it if you are at the 25%ile mark, it’s difficult to make this recommendation without knowing your full app).
You should be able to send only the official subject test thru CB, but do self-report that score for the schools that don’t require official scores and save the money.
What’s a URM?
URM = under represented minority
Underrepresented minority…so for many (not all) US schools that would typically include students who are Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, American Indian, among others.
@Xenith @Mwfan1921 @parentologist thank you, would it be weird if I sent only my SAT Subject test and not my SAT. Surely it would be suspicious?
First of all, your GCSE and A-Level results/predicted grades out outstanding. I am sure that those test scores say a lot about who you are as a student. The reasons schools want test scores is because that want to prove that you can do their work and succeed. Your A-level results show that. As for the SAT, I would advise that you do not send it in because it is on the lower end for these schools (although it is still an excellent score overall). As for the SAT Subject Test, I would send that in as well. It can’t hurt you.
Why would it be suspicious? You are allowed to not report your SAT scores at test optional scores…AOs are not going to presume you did badly if you don’t submit.
It would not look suspicious at all. It’s been a tough year, with Covid, so they’d see that 800, figure you didn’t get a chance to take the SAT, and put everything into context with the rest of your excellent achievement. Not a problem whatsoever. But you should send them that 800. It implies that your SAT or ACT would have been superb, also.
@parentologist @Mwfan1921 @michaeluwill Thank you all for replying, it’s been very helpful and has assisted me in deciding which scores to send it and which not to. Happy new year in advance!!!
I accidentally sent my scores to Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins via collegeboard, but I am applying test optional, will they see my scores and judge my application based on that