bicyclekick

kjcastillo1990:

WHAT??!! you got a 590 in bio and got into a top school? If you don't my asking, what school did you get into and what were your other scores like? I'm asking because I got a similar score on one of my subject tests

Sequoia

look, don't worry so much about the SAT IIs. Other parts of your applications are far more important. My D got 740, 690, and gasp, a 590 in Spanish, and got into UCB and UCLA, USC with the top scholarship, Columbia and is on the Harvard extended waitlist. It's all the other stuff that counts a lot more.

bicyclekick

Sequoia:

Thank you for the info. It's a great relief to know that I can get a 500 something on a SAT II and still get into a good school, I was just intimidated by all the posts on here with people saying "I got 6 800s and a 780, I think I'll have to retake the 780 because that is garbage", anyway my scores are comparable to your daughter's, 790 US History, 650 Chemistry, 570 Math IIC

Ephemeral2

it's unlikely you'll get into a state school, you may want to shoot for community college

Sequoia

bicylekick, you're welcome. Also, SATs in general, really once you are in the 2100s, for top schools, you are competitive, as long as the other aspects of your resume are good. At Ds school for example, a very competitive one, we had students who were in the high 2300s who didn't get in to the tops, and others with 2000 or 2100+ who did, but who had great applications. There's just no guarantee with super high scores. GPA, ECs, awards, essays, etc all count for a lot more.
Best of luck.

Keep in mind though, that If one is planning on engineering or a math related field, they would look at the Math score more closely, same applies for other subjects.

kjcastillo1990

bicyclekick, I got into Tufts with a 650 in US History, SAT Reasoning--CR:590, Math:590, Writing: 610 (grand total of 1790 :/) I spent a lot of time moping about my scores but then decided to brush off the dust and take the ACTs, which I scored a 29 on, still not that great but better than a 1790. It just goes to show you that scores aren't everything haha

bicyclekick

Sequoia:

I took the SAT once so far and i got a 660 CR, 660 M, 690 W, 2010 overall, this was; however, without practice, i plan to take at least 8 practice tests and read an SAT book over the summer so I will hopefully improve my score by October.

Oh and I think my resume is decent, not too many extracurricular activities though (2 sports, a club, and 2 honor societies, and planning on volunteering or getting a job). Also, I'm #1 in my class and I take many rigorous Honors and AP courses so that should help .

So should I retake my Math SAT II or does it not matter that much like you suggested?

And kjcastillo1990:

Congrats on getting into Tufts! That's a tough school to get into.

Sequoia

bicyclekick:

RE SATII Math, it depends what you want to major in. If you are looking at the humanities (or History related since your score there is great) then no. If you're going into a science field or economics etc, then I'd give it another go. Your SAT I Math is higher than SAT II, which usually for most is the other way around given the more generous curve for Math2, so maybe you were just unlucky.
Also, it depends where you're applying but a lot of schools will just count the two highest and ignore the lowest.

Trying for the SATI again in Oct is a good idea. Not necessarily to increase your score, though with practice you no doubt will, but to allow for superscoring. If you are applying to privates at all, many superscore, meaning they take the best individual scores from the number of sittings.

Getting a job over the summer always looks good, shows initiative and responsibility. Your rank is obviously great, as is the courseload. You should be fine.

Neineibu

It's so weird... so many people did poorly on the SAT II Bio section and excelled at SAT II Chem section, but my friend is the other way around...-.-...

bicyclekick

i plan to do medicine so i guess i may have to retake my SAT Math II.