<p>I’m ranked 105th in my class of 405 but i got a 2360 on my sat</p>
<p>I am ranked 2/25 in my school and I got a 2330 on my SAT.
School sucks b/c it does not offer a lot of APs and a new student with a lot of APs (easy grades from easy teacher in an easy school) came in 11th grade in my school and took away val status.</p>
<p>2nd place 2070 and third place 1380 btw.</p>
<p>I am in the same shoes with “SonofSchool64” I am number one in my class, took countless AP classes, have taken two college courses at a nearby Ivy League, and still have done poorly on my SATs. It is upsetting, no doubt, to have a machine tell me that I am not as intelligent as I once imagined. So I did a little bit of research, and the truth is, the SAT is not an intelligence test. In fact it is biased towards students that have the time and money to take prep classes and study for them. As a minority, I do not have the leverage most people have when it comes to paying hundreds of dollars for a four week prep course. I actually came to America during grade school, and I do really poorly on the reading and writing sections of the SAT (2/3 of the test). What made me Valedictorian is my hard word and dedication. Although there is a correlation between high SAT scores and college success, I would like to point out that it takes more than good test scores to be success in life. Also 1600-1800 are considered average, with a good transcript, one could go to a fairly decent school. Who says people have to have high SATs and go to Ivys to be considered intelligent.</p>
<p>While not coming from a wealthy family may put you at a disadvantage because of a lack of resources, there are things you can do to make up for it. You can go to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of the official SAT ‘Blue Book’ along with my personal favorite, Direct Hits and you’ll have all you need to ‘study’ for the SAT. It’s a lot cheaper than taking expensive SAT prep class, and just as effective if you have the motivation to do it. </p>
<p>Furthermore, most top universities take into account family income into account when judging how much an individual has achieved in relation to the resources available to the individual.</p>
<p>is it grade inflation with valedicotorian with 2100 SAT exactly??</p>
<p>stonesn: slight grade inflation or possible you just didnt do as well as you could in that sitting. To me vals should score atleast 2200+ and some depending on circumstances 2000+. </p>
<p>To the poster who took 17 AP’s: Dang you have guts. But you have to realize that getting a 3 on the ap exam means you nearly got half the questions wrong lol. I know your standing on staderedized testing but its not like you have to be an expert to ace them. It just means you took waaay to many. If your saying you put as much effort you did, you should have been able to score higher.</p>
<p>“In fact it is biased towards students that have the time and money to take prep classes and study for them. As a minority, I do not have the leverage most people have when it comes to paying hundreds of dollars for a four week prep course.”</p>
<p>Sorry, this just sounds like an excuse to me.
Obviously any student with time and resources to study has an advantage; that isn’t anything new or difference. It applies to pretty much anything academic.
This isn’t about money; it’s about management. If a student does not make an effort to rearrange their schedule around to find time to study, that’s entirely up to them.
If absolutely nothing else, there’s all of summer to study. Even around a work schedule or summer courses, I don’t for a second believe high schoolers can’t find time to study for the SAT/ACT in two years between being a sophomore and senior.
As for the prep classes, I’ve heard from several people that the courses themselves are, for the most part, a waste. Sure, they can give you SAT words to study or a list of prefixes/suffixes; whatever. The biggest thing that they essentially tell you is to just practice, learn how to set your pace, and manage your time wisely. There isn’t any big secret magic fix to doing well on the SAT that is offered in any prep course that equals a nice score. And it isn’t even about having money to learn these tips; I’d say that Silverturtle’s guide here on CC is easily on par with most SAT books and prep courses. Even if for some reason there’s no internet access, I’ve never been in a bookstore (B&N, Borders, BAM…) that doesn’t allow people to sit and read inside. So long as you bring your own pen and paper to write on so that the prep book isn’t damaged, they don’t have a problem with students sitting at their tables to study. So as far as money factoring into access to prep, I don’t buy it.</p>
<p>"Although there is a correlation between high SAT scores and college success, I would like to point out that it takes more than good test scores to be success in life. "</p>
<p>By the same token, it takes more than strictly GPA. It’s all a balancing act. </p>
<p>“Who says people have to have high SATs and go to Ivys to be considered intelligent.”</p>
<p>It’s not a matter of proving intelligence. Any person could tell you that it doesn’t take an Ivy League education to be considered intelligent. There are plenty of qualified applicants that get turned down for dumb things like not having a legacy or URM edge. There are plenty of intelligent people who turn down Ivys for schools with a better ‘fit’. That said, it is pretty much socially accepted that, barring everything else, having a degree from Harvard generally carries more weight than just about any other university. This isn’t any sort of bias or anything. I’m more than happy with my school of choice and yadayadayada, but no matter how much I love Rice and personally believe that it’s a much better school for me, I’m not going to claim that that a degree from Rice or any other top-notch U will be more impressive to potential employer than a Harvard degree. That’s just social values. </p>
<p>Sure, a Val with low standardized scores could just be an anomaly, but you have to look at the reason we even have standardized tests: to set everyone on an internationally even field. Colleges may not be able to definitively compare the GPAs of applicants from different states, but they can trust that the SAT/ACT to provide a generally accurate depiction.</p>
<p>To counteract everthing:</p>
<p>My sister got into an ivy with a 2090 four years ago, as well as top UCLA and UC Berkeley. Believe it. How? She wrote amazing essays, had good grades, and had passion. Numbers aren’t everything. They don’t go, “OMG> that person has a 2350. Accept now!”.</p>
<p>New perspective. Too many think decisions are based on SAT. They’re not.</p>
<p>She’s Asian BTW.</p>
<p>Try to counteract this.</p>
<p>Stonesn:
I would hardly count a 2090 as a low score…
Sure, it’s not among the 75 percentile for Ivy applicants, but it’s still in a good range. If SAT were letter grades I would say 2000-2290 would be an A, and 2300-2400 would be an A+. I don’t think that something like that would really hurt a well rounded applicant. While it may not be absolutely above and beyond, a 2090 still a good score.
Overachieving CC kids have really skewed ideas on this kind of thing…
The kind of numbers this thread is focused on, based on the OP, is more along the 1600 range.</p>
<p>Congrats on your sister, though!! (:</p>
<p>@Stonesn
That’s not really relevant. First, this isn’t about what it takes to get into college: it’s about how adcoms would view a 1650. Moreover, a 2090 is at the 2100 point cutoff that people claim ivies use. Also, 2090 isn’t comparable to a 1650. </p>
<p>To be honest, 1650 looks bad- very bad. A few of my peers at my old school (a crappy Middle Eastern public school) got around 1550. These guys neither were native speakers nor were super students (top 10%). They usually got semi-perfect math scores and upper 300 in reading and writing. You’re telling me that a valedictorian at an English-speaking school got only 1650? That’s… unfortunate.</p>
<p>Well…a 1650 is not too good for a valedictorian…but don’t give up hope! SATs aren’t everything!</p>
<p>Melinia, you certainly did “a little bit of research.” If you spend a more time looking at the actual average score gains resulting from such SAT prep classes, you will find that they are hardly noteworthy at all. And you would realize that 1600-1800 is not average but above average.</p>