raj91

With my very low critical reading score, how much will it really hurt? Keep in mind that English is not my native language. Please be honest! I love criticism

Location: Richmond, VA
School: Public
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male

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Stats:

SAT I: 2060 (800 M, 690 W, 570 CR) <-- Yeah, I know
SAT IIs: Math IIC - 780, Bio M - 740, Taking chem in January, expect 780-800
APs: Calculus AB (5), Statistics (5), Chemistry (4)
GPA: 3.85/4.8953 (Valedictorian has 4.908)
Rank: 6/418

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Senior Yr Courseload:

AP Biology
AP Calculus BC
AP Environmental Science
AP English
Biomedical Engineering
Advanced Math Topics
VA&US Government

(school doesn't offer as many APs, took most rigorous courseloads all four years)

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ECs on app:

Varsity Tennis (9, 10, 11, 12)
- 4 year varisty letter
- state championship team
- most improved award twice

Piano (9, 10, 11, 12)
- playing for 11 years
- 3 superior ratings in festival
- bach competition winner

National Honors Society (11,12)
- president of tutoring

Science Club (9,10,11, 12)
- co-found
- vice president
- organize activities, mentorship connections, design school projects

Math Honors Society, Math Modeling Team (9,10,11, 12)
- captain
- participated in contests such as Virginia Math League, Trig-Star, Math Modeling
- many first place awards

Awards Listed:

Intel ISEF Honorable Mention - international
Grand Prize Winner in International Space Olympics (science fair) - international
Math Modeling Competition - Meritorious Rating - national
Virginia State Science Fair - Grand Prize Winner - state
VJAS - 1st place multiple years - state
Top Score in National Chemistry Olympiad - regional
School Math and Science Center Scholar Excellence Award - School

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Summer Activities (worth noting):

Cancer and Engineering Research at VCU/MCV - 06/2007-current - 35 hrs/week
Volunteer at Science Museum of Virginia - 06/2006-08/2006 - 35 hours/week
Van der Meer/Nike Tennis Camps - occasional weeklong camps
Summer P.E. 9 and 10 - 20 hours/week
Travel (China, Japan, Turkey, Egypt, India)
Temple Volunteer - 6 hours/week

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Essays:

"Something for fun" - Wrote movie scripts - discussed some ideas
"Which program" - David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
"World I come from" - how India and America have influenced me (included alot, essay was good)
"Something you created" - discovered an antioxidant that will improve stem cell processes
"Anything else" - essay in 3rd person that is a personal profile of me


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Teacher Recs: excellent
Counselor Rec: excellent
Interview: Pretty good, think I will get a very good report
Supplementary Material: Will send in abstracts of my research projects and maybe an extra recommendation from my mentor.

Overall, everything was pretty decent except for the SATs obviously. I think my essays gave a good description for who I am and the passion I have for MIT. My science project record at fairs have been phenomenol, I've gotten first place in almost every fair state, regional, and local level, and got Honorable Mention at ISEF and was the grand prize winner of another science fair. These are definitely my strengths. Let me know where i stand, and don't be afraid to be honest. Thanks!

JSMGH

your math 2 subject test score is probably the worst thing you have on your app. isnta 780 like.. a 42/50 raw score?

st. aegis

CR will definitley hurt you, but everything else will cover. Relax, I doubt if you retake it, it is going to affect admissions. That resume is pretty top notch

Peytoncline

^ i may consider retaking it

a friend of mine's brother a few years back applied to MIT with a low-ish SAT score (i think it was a 1360 / 1600 -- back when the SAT was just CR and M).. they wait-listed him, so he took the test again.. he got a 1480 that time, and he had the score in to MIT (score report)... by the next week or week and a half, he got his acceptance letter

so if you have a low score but everything else is about set, you might want to consider taking the test one more time and see if you can raise it up at all

static75

yeah, just the one score is keeping you down, and since MIT superscores... all you'd really have to focus on is CR. in these regards, really, you can only go up!

raj91

Yeah, i've already taken them twice though. I'm taking SAT IIs again in January, but maybe I'll do what Peytoncline is saying, take it in March or April of next year and just send it to them, maybe they'll consider it. It kinda sucks becuase it's the only thing on my profile that's really bringing me down.

Peytoncline

well, if you get denied, then it won't do too much good

this guy i was talking about got wait-listed, so he got the opportunity to take it again

2 times isn't bad at all; 3 is usually a good cut-off point; 4 if you're really desperate

are you taking the one in december?

raj91

No, everyone told me not to take it three times so I didn't sign up I shouldn't have listened to them though. I'm taking the SAT IIs again in January, I'm pretty sure I'll get Math 2 up to 800 and Bio and Che close to it.

Peytoncline

a third time is fine, i don't know who told you that 3 times is not good; everyone on here will say that taking it a third is all right, but that it should be the last time you take it

you can still do standby on december if you want and have the scores sent to MIT

st. aegis

three times? this is a test you arent supposed to study for.
I hear after a certain number of times, that shows obsession, which is a really bad impression for colleges

Peytoncline

^ that's why 3 is usually a good cutoff; after 3, you're really pushing it (diminishing returns as well; the more you take it after a certain point, the less you'll improve and the more time you're wasting by taking the test again)

but 3 times is fine

LauraN

Are you actually retaking a 780?

Peytoncline

^ 780?

oh, you mean his math II score? no, we're not talking about that... whoever said that the 780 is the lowest score on the app was thinking wrongly i guess

he's talking about his CR score (570)

raj91

Yeah - my dreadful CR score. I'll try to retake it, and yeah, I didn't mean it would be easy at all. I just wish I didn't have this one hindrance that completely doesn't fit into my application, and I'm just hoping MIT and other schools don't throw me out for that one score.

TritiumKnight

One of the admissions reps told me that they really don't care how many times you take the SAT. I don't see why they would lie...