<p>^ Exactly. We’re a VERY small fraction of the population.</p>
<p>Intelligence/prep are the two biggest factors, with an edge to intelligence. </p>
<p>Some people, no matter how many practice tests they do, will not break 2300 (or come remotely close to 2400, for that matter). Others don’t need prep at all to score highly. </p>
<p>You can’t discount luck entirely because there are so many things that can go wrong during a 3 hr 45 minute period. </p>
<p>In regards to the argument over the degree to which the SAT is weighted: SAT scores are easily more important than anything but the transcript. Remember that those admissions officers are looking to get more applications because more applications –> greater selectivity –> higher rankings for the college. They’re not going to discourage the hordes of lower-scoring kids by emphasizing how important SAT scores are. </p>
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<p>Well lets not downplay the relavence of high scores though people. Don’t act like a 2400 SAT won’t increase your chanes in college admissions over a 2250. It will.</p>
<p>Princeton put out a quote saying how they rejected “nearly half” of 2400s. 50% acceptance rate (roughly). It’s 28% for 2300+ but around 10% overall. So while the other stuff may be important, there is a very strong correlation.</p>
<p>It is sad that the prestigious merit of a 2400 has been deflated because there are so many applicants with perfect scores. I’m applying to many of the nation’s top universities, and I’m rather worried. I don’t even have a 2400 on my SAT exam. :-\ A friend of mine (sophomore) is already studying obsessively. He’s salutatorian of his class (currently) and wants a perfect score on the SAT, which seems so banal now. (For the top-level applicants, anyway.)</p>
<p>Eden, perfect scores are not commonplace despite what it seems like on this thread. 2400 is above the 99.98 percentile among college-bound seniors.</p>
<p>In regards to how much of a role a 2400 plays in getting admitted to top tier schools, the answer would be not much. </p>
<p>And here’s why I stand by this:</p>
<p>I have a friend who got into Yale ED this year with a 2100 SAT. He was an alum and his parents had dinner with the dean of admissions the day before his acceptance (did I mention that the dean flew all the way to Jordan to sit with his parents?).
Meanwhile, another friend, same school, with a 2350 SAT got rejected from Yale. She has one of the highest gpas, is student council president, does a million extra curricular activities. . . yet she got rejected. Not even wait listed.
Another classmate with a 1970 got accepted to Yale. He had absolutely no personality but was one of the international top four with his A level scores.</p>
<p>Basically, what I’m trying to say is that although a 2400 is a nice addition to your application, it does not guarantee acceptance to highly selective colleges. Nothing does.</p>
<p>There are SAT tutors that consistently get 2400s to prove they know what they are doing. This shows that if you are smart enough and have studied enough, then luck is not a factor. However, for 99.999% of people, luck is always going to be involved. Just realize that you don’t HAVE to have luck to get a 2400.</p>
<p>I have a friend who got into Yale ED this year with a 2100 SAT. He was an alum and his parents had dinner with the dean of admissions the day before his acceptance (did I mention that the dean flew all the way to Jordan to sit with his parents?).
Meanwhile, another friend, same school, with a 2350 SAT got rejected from Yale. She has one of the highest gpas, is student council president, does a million extra curricular activities. . . yet she got rejected. Not even wait listed.
Another classmate with a 1970 got accepted to Yale. He had absolutely no personality but was one of the international top four with his A level scores.</p>
<p>Basically, what I’m trying to say is that although a 2400 is a nice addition to your application, it does not guarantee acceptance to highly selective colleges. Nothing does. </p>
<p>Well of course you don’t need SAT’s when you have the dean of admission coming to your house or you’re an international player. You’re just inviting new unquantifiable variables into the discussion. I think we are all assuming for the val-4.0-president of bunch of EC’s–kind of person here. In that instance, the SAT plays a huge role and the equation changes, so to speak.</p>
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<p>are very different claims, Lain. Obviously, a 2400 does not guarantee acceptance; in fact, no one on here said that it did. </p>
<p>But to employ three anecdotes in claimed support of the fact that a 2400 plays a small role in admittance is logically fallacious. </p>
<p>Even if we allow a small number of anecdotes in as acceptable means of proving a general practice, I don’t see how yours do anything to prove that a 2400 does not help much. Almost anyone could tell you that having a 2100 and alumni parents who schmooze the dean of admissions yields a better chance of acceptance than does having a 2350 and no hook.</p>