<p>Hi all! I am applying to a lot of schools with my intended major being "Engineering physics". However, my Physics subject test score is abysmal. It's a 770 out of an 800. Will I be advisable? I really want to major in Engineering physics. I mean, will colleges think I'm a fool because my SAT Physics score is low and I want to major in Eng. Phy.?
PS: This question is <em>not</em> specifically directed towards MIT. I posted this in MIT forum because what holds true for the most selective, holds true for less selective as well!
I am applying to CalTech( hehe, not good on MIT forum! :D), Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, and Princeton.</p>
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<p>A 770 and an 800 will be viewed equally.</p>
<p>Are you kidding? You should AT LEAST have an 800 to be even qualified.</p>
<p>what is happening</p>
<p>I think I should speak here, admission to top schools does not rely on test scores alone as I once read that scores and GPA are actually the least important because everyone has great scores. I think probably that a 750 and an 800 are viewed the very same. As long as you have crossed a certain bar test score won’t matter anymore. </p>
<p>I saw that you’re posting a lot threads in several places and it seems to me that you’re fretting too much. This will make you feel less confident about your application, will bring too much stress and worrying and it will definitely show in your app. </p>
<p>Moreover, scores are viewed in context. I’m pretty happy about my 750s in Math 2 and Physics since I studied overall 15 new lessons in both in only 7 days. If you’re still worried ,mention a reason for those score if there is any.</p>
<p>Finally, get off CC for a while and go hang out with a friend or something. You’ll be less worried and depressed especially if you keep viewing the results threads. If you’re truly confident about your app, then you don’t need to be doing this. This is just my opinion though.</p>
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lol. You guys are hilarious.</p>
<p>DANNY007, you will be perfectly fine. Your physics score is fantastic.</p>
<p>^And for anyone who does actually have a relatively low SAT score in their intended major, this would also not be a big deal, as long as there’s other evidence in your application that you can succeed in the GIRs. Intended major isn’t used in that way.</p>
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<p>Only on CC!!</p>
<p>@molliebatmit (or others who are acquainted with the admissions process)</p>
<p>That makes me curious: what is the purpose of the intended major question? I hypothesize it is an attempt to elicit a passionate response about something (certainly did that for me).</p>
<p>basically to see if you’ve thought about why you’re applying</p>
<p>^lmao!!!</p>
<p>Guys, in all seriousness: 770 is an excellent score, but the SAT II Physics exam is such a joke that anything less than an 800 should be seriously taken as suboptimal. You can literally miss about 15 questions out of 75 and still get an 800.</p>
<p>For all practical purposes, however, MIT will not care about you getting a 770. If you are truly passionate about physics, however, a 800 should be easily within your reach.</p>
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^That’s a common misconception people have about physics curve. I had an acquaintance who was an IPhO gold medalist who OMITTED only 3 questions and had a 790… I myself guessed on ONLY 4 questions( even I was misinformed about the curve; so i thought nothing wrong in guessing only 4 questions… ) and had a 770…
The only good curve I had was in math II. That curve was valid only in 2007-20010 period…
If what you are saying were true, percentile for a 800 would be MUCH lower than it is now.</p>
<p>Danny:</p>
<p>Not true for me. I thought I was going to get a terrible score for my physics but I got an 800. I answered MANY questions with doubt. And I thought I nailed my math subject tests but I got 760 for math1 and 770 for math2. I really thought I would get perfect scores for both of them. Maybe because I was too confident I didn’t pay much attention but yeah, I think the physics curve is much more generous.</p>
<p>“However, my Physics subject test score is abysmal. It’s a 770 out of an 800.”</p>
<p>ARE YOU SERIOUS?! WITH A 770 YOU CAN’T APPLY FOR ANY ENGINEERING MAJOR! YOU NEED AT LEAST A 830/800! Did you consider majoring in something like English or Journalism?</p>
<p>Seriously, many students would pay to get a 770! There is no difference between anything >750. Don’t believe who says otherwise.</p>
<p>You are going to be fine!</p>
<p>@ ANNA THE GREAT :But it can’t be that generous as arrhenius says. Because if it were the case, the percentile of the ones achieving 800 would be lower than what it is now. Another possibility is that it varies wildly from test to test( though I am skeptical about it). Or what happened with you on math, would have happened with us on Physics lol. ( Overconfidence is DANGEROUS)
Nevertheless, how does it matter anymore? My 2 highest scores don’t include Physics 
samMIT: lol. Thx buddy!</p>
<p>I have 770/800 on physics. I don’t think it’s bad, don’t worry!</p>
<p>Danny - have you ever even done a practice test before? Take a look at the Official Collegeboard SAT Subject Test study guide - you’ll find that the curve for the Physics exam is around 60 out of 75. The exam is not trivial. The fact that only a small percentage of people get a 800 is an inherent feature of the exam and is completely independent of what the curve actually is.</p>
<p>On that note, anecdotal and shaky evidence doesn’t constitute a legitimate argument - the fact that you and some Olympiad gold medalist omitted only a few questions doesn’t imply at all that the curve is that much higher than it actually is. In fact, I’m shocked that the IPhO guy even omitted questions (this is probably indicative of his shaky foundational knowledge). Stop trying to defend the difficulty of the exam, get off CC, and spend your time studying physics or what you truly enjoy doing.</p>
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First and the foremost, you ought to know that not all the questions tested in Physics test ‘physics’. In my test, a question was what did Galileo not discover. I know, and you should also, that this has nothing to do with one’s physics conceptual knowledge. Another possibility for my score variation can be the wildly varying nature of curve or my silly stupid bubbling errors.
Second, You’re better off studying maths and reading because your statements contradict with each other. In one post you said one can miss 15 questions and get an 800. So, that means -19 raw scores. And in above post, you said that curve is 60/75( that’s 12 wrong). Moreover, your either post is wrong because I got an online curve which says the cutoff for an 800 is 66( you can find it [here](<a href=“SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides”>SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides)</a>) not what you dogmatically assert. Take an algebra class bro.</p>
<p>I got in to MIT with a 720 on the Physics SAT II.</p>
<p>what i’m trying to say is that all admissions committees everywhere will probably call all their friends and laugh collectively at the 770 on your application, like a scene out of some twisted horror film. </p>
<p>relax.</p>