<p>I'm a Pakistani applicant from California, applying to HYPS, Columbia, Duke, Dartmouth, Penn as my reaches.</p>
<p>To be completely honest, I feel I have great grades (4.0 uw, 4.6 w), amazing extracurriculars, complemented by some great essays and teacher recs. Oh, and I rocked my SAT 2's (790, 790, 750)</p>
<p>However, I got a 2150 on the SAT (760 m, 690 cr, 700 w), and a 32 on the ACT. I never retook either test, seeing how my extracurriculars seriously take up over 30 hours a week and I am a pretty busy guy. But looking over the chances threads for admitted early applicants, I'm starting to wonder...</p>
<p>Will my SAT/ACT scores kill me from acceptance to my reaches? Any real-life examples to console me? Thanks! Greatly appreciate it</p>
<p>Those scores will not get you rejected by themselves. If you get rejected, it will be for other reasons. There are many people with lower scores who get in.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t worry about the scores, especially if you have strong SAT II’s (and maybe even APs?) to back it up. I’m from California as well, high school class of 2008 and I got into Stanford SCEA with a 2190 super score (710M, 700CR, 780W - each from different sittings). My SAT IIs weren’t stellar either (Lit. 650 <em>blech, why did I take it</em>, Spanish 700, Math II 710). What I “lacked” in scores, I more than made up for in extra-curricular activities and GPA (4.0UW, 4.790 W). Just providing a real-life example :-)</p>
<p>Just don’t lose sight that there are 1000s of applicants like you that get rejected at top schools. You will probably get into a top school, but many will turn you down b/c it’s just so competitive now.</p>
<p>Hey man…I’m in the same position you’re in. I had a 2180 SAT and 4.0/4.79, and I got rejected early from Stanford. Most people will tell you that “those scores won’t get you rejected”. That’s pretty much true. However, for anyone unhooked, it will be significantly, and I emphasize the word significantly, harder to get into HYPS. I realized that after the extremely hard ED/EA round this year. There are just too many good students applying to those schools, and, since the acceptance rates are so low, your application is going to have to look more attractive than roughly 10 other people’s in order to get in. </p>
<p>Congratulations, Missy Jo! Your 2190 SAT story is quite inspiring, but, to the OP, unless you’re hooked, have some WOW factor (such as a person I saw on CC who windsurfed professionally), or are from a low-income family which cannot provide the same resources as those of other applicants, it is going to be extremely difficult to get an acceptance. With that said, I know exactly how you feel. I’m in the same position right now, and I’m preparing for the January SAT in hopes of having one more shot at raising my score. If I can’t, whatever. There are other schools other than HYPS, and I won’t have any expectations. I suggest you do the same, if you’re really up to it. </p>
<p>To check the competition, go search the EA results of Yale and Stanford, and use the Google CC Search to check the results of past years. You’ll realize just how many people with 2300’s get accepted and how rare an acceptance is of anyone (who is not hooked) with a score of under 2200.</p>
<p>I really don’t want to depress you or anything, and I hope you still apply…I just want to tell you realistically what it’s like. I was extremely disheartened after my Stanford rejection, but I thought about it, and I realized it was pretty obvious from the beginning. It’s just that I always thought I would be one of the few applicants who get accepted with a lower SAT instead of the many who get rejected. Anyway, best of luck with whatever colleges you apply to, and PM me if you want to talk about it!</p>