<p>I don't mean terrible as in, "Oh my god, I only got a 2150 terrible!" My score are for a lack of better word... HORSE ****! I mean, their, the equivalent of getting like a D or and F on the SATs</p>
<p>MY QUESTION IS: WILL COLLEGES TAKE ONE LOOK AT MY SCORES AND SAY, "NO WAY!" OR WILL THEY TAKE MY INCREDIBLE ECs INTO CONSIDERATION AS AN OFF-SET FOR MY SCORES?!</p>
<p>I'm not applying to Ivy League, Stanford, Duke, Vandy etc...</p>
<p>Start by understanding why you did poorly, If you didn't get the score reports perhaps pay a bit of extra money to get them. </p>
<p>Scores are important, if you read alot of posts here you read about the importance of test scores and GPA. They will count for sure.</p>
<p>Starting work now to improve your scores, take ACT's, SAT prep courses, online SAT review and strategy prep. Raising your scores is more important I think then worrying about the bad score you got and how college's wll react to them.</p>
<p>Not sure if you are a JR or a Sr. If you are a Sr, then time is not on your side. Hopefully you addressed the anamoly in your essays, and the admissions officer takes a holistic approach....If you are a JR, then take action now, as Ray11 has suggested...you may not be strong in taking standardized tests...friend of Ds fainted during her SATs...it happens. Find a way to address your own personal situation, and do the best you can. That's really all anyone can ask you to do. Good Luck!</p>
<p>^If you have such low SAT scores, you don't deserve to go into anything better than community college. SAT scores is the most important part of your application and shows that you are not really smart or motivated.</p>
<p>Scout...if you expect your score to hover around 1500...then it will hover around 1500. Now...if you take a proactive position, and look for ways to work with your strengths, ie: some people do better with the ACT than they do on the SAT...or...a one on one tutoring-concentrating on the areas you want the most help with, then you may be able to get over this "1500 hump"...as I said, you may be a person who does not do well on standardized tests, and then you will need to find schools that are more holistic in their reviews of your applications. If you have a GPA of 3.43, you obviously are a hard worker, and have the desire to succeed. Now use that desire to achieve the goals you have for yourself. The average stats for a college are just that-average. Look for schools that see your stats as desireable-and know you have value-because YOU DO! Good Luck!</p>
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^wow, you're a jerk. an SAT score in the low 1500s doesn't mean any of that ****. close that princeton review study guide and get a life man.
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Hey, I'm just saying what I learned from reading the posts/topics in the forum</p>
<p>If you simply are a lousey standardized test taker then it may be that regardless of what you do your scores will not improve dramatically. Some students have a learning style that is simply incompatable with standardized tests. The tests are a lousey means of measuring that student's actual abilities or as a tool for predicting future success in college.</p>
<p>There are many high quality well respected schools that recognize this and treat SAT's as optional and provide other means of evaluating a student. Muhlenberg and Sarah Lawrence are 2 that immediately come to mind. Those schools look at high school curriculum, grades, essays, recommendations, EC's and interviews to get a very holistic view of a student. Take the time now, as a jr, to think through what you are looking for in a school and what schools would be a good fit for you. Start researching schools now. It may be that a small liberal arts college that doesn't need the SAT's to filter 15,000 applications is better suited to you.</p>
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NO, I TAKE PRIVATE TUTORS, READ BOOKS ETC... I AM JUST A POOR TEST TAKER. SO TO SAY I AM UNMOTIVATED... YOUR A DUMBASS
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If you've done so much things, your score would have gone up a long time ago... Contrary to popular belief, people CAN change their SAT scores. Maybe you are not analyzing your errors enough and that your school has massive grade inflation</p>
<p>Personally, I've seen someone increase from about 1600 junior year to a bit over 2100. First off start with the writing section, if you're a decent writer all you have to do is learn the simple grammar rules and practice. Then you have the math section, another section that can be improved through practice. Chances are if you have a 3.43 average, then you can handle ALL the algebra and geometry within the SAT. You may not be used to the timed testing conditions. Finally, you have the Critical reading section. This section is the hardest to improve, however I must emphasize again. Keep practicing and your scores should improve dramatically.</p>
<p>if you're planning on taking the test again, try changing the <i>way</i> that you take the test
maybe you're stressed out during the test? maybe your nervous about time, maybe you're trying to answer too many questions ?
since it is a reasoning test, stuff like stress will prevent you from thinking clearly
if you have the time, i would suggesting sitting down a saturday and taking a practice test for 4 hours, then go back and reason out your mistakes
if you take the test enough times, you will develop your own strategies to cope with any disadvantages you have
but then again, sat's aren't everything, and perhaps your time would be better spent focusing on other things</p>
<p>Unfortunately, a lot of posters are fixated on the importance attributed to the SAT's. To state that tutoring and discipline in analyzing past scores will result in "dramatic" improvements is overly simplistic and inconsistent with uncontroverted and well established educational psychology in the area of learning styles and reliable, accurate measures of educational growth and achievement. Simply put, some students have learning differences or styles and styles of demonstrating proficiency that are incompatible with standardized testing. Standardized tests are simply not a good measuring device for them. In my professional work in the area of education law and IEP's under the IDEA, I have seen students who are very bright, capable and dedicated but whose standardized test scores do not reflect either their abilities or capacity to achieve. One such student, who took a load of of honors/AP courses through out high school and ended up with an unweighted GPA of 3.85 at a well respected National Blue Ribbon High School, had low SAT scores which only improved 110 points after several months of one on one tutoring. She chose her college selections wisely, based on her educational strengths, and was accepted at well regarded colleges and universities that recognized that there is more to a student's future successes than a score on an SAT.</p>
<p>So to the original poster, be honest with yourself and choose the path that is right for you. And to those who are making snide innuendo or overtly crass disrespectful comments, grow up and stop being so impressed with yourselves. You are not as bright or well informed as you think.</p>
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One such student, who took a load of of honors/AP courses through out high school and ended up with an unweighted GPA of 3.85 at a well respected National Blue Ribbon High School, had low SAT scores which only improved 110 points after several months of one on one tutoring.
[/quote]
I've read on this board how high GPA + low SAT makes admission officiers think of "Grade inflation"... Is this right?</p>
<p>Or they know the school, the quality of its programs, know how other students there with similar grades do on SAT's, read the essays, teacher and guidance counselor recommendations, look at the EC's and reach a conclusion based on informed individualized review and not a one dimensional screening tool. Some colleges will take the time to really look at the student and others don't because of size and sheer volume of applications. And in the example I gave, there was no grade inflation. There was, however, a measured learning style, shown on a battery of psycho-educational testing, that interfered with performing on standardized tests.</p>