lilyrobin

I am a rising senior girl very interested in attending Yale for college. This isn't a chance me thread, because I know I am not a stand out or hook applicant, but as fair as grades extracurriculars go I know I have just as good a chance as everyone else applying. I am not concerned about those areas. What I am concerned about are my test scores!

I just got back both my June ACT and SAT scores, and I need a little advice.

For the SATs I got very good scores in math and writing (both well within Yale's middle 50% range) and a total of 2240. However, my critical reading was on the lower end, being 690 (I know this is a very good score, but, just not really for Yale). June was my second time taking them, by the way.

I don't know as much about the ACTs, but I think overall I did worse compared to the SATs. I got...
31 composite
30 Reading
33 Math
30 English
32 Science

What I need advice on is what to do about sending scores. I plan to take the Math and Chemistry subject tests in the fall (and maybe Latin), and I am pretty confident that I can get good scores in those. (I want to major in math, by the way).

So should I retake the SATs to get my reading up...?
Or should I send my ACTs...?
Or send my SATs how they are now with the subject tests in the fall...?
Or something else...?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! I am also likely applying to MIT, BC, UNH, and a few others that aren't set yet, but MIT and Yale are definitely my biggest concerns for my scores.

Thanks!

Weasel8488

You have great scores as is, but I would still recommend retaking one more time to try to improve the CR score. If it goes up, great, if not, then don't worry too much about it. Definitely don't send the ACT scores as they are significantly worse than your SAT score. Also, why are you applying to Yale if you want to major in math? Harvard and Princeton have much better math departments.

rd31

Let me tell you what I did (I'm class of 2011).

I got a 2200 on the SAT's, with a 690 in CR just like you. I got 760, 760, and 710 on three subject tests (but you only need two this year). I received a 32 on my ACT. I sent all my scores, and was accepted. I think your SAT is decent, and that's the score the admissions office will probably use. If you have the time, money, and desire to retake either or both of the tests go ahead, but only do so if you know that you can improve.

However, remember that test scores aren't everything.

yalie343

Weasel, stop trashing Yale when you probably didn't get in here. HPY are all top 10 in graduate school mathematics rankings (Princeton =1, Harvard = 5, Yale = 7 on NRC) and Yale is known to have much stronger undergraduate programs than graduate programs so those rankings are misleading anyways. Apply to Yale if you want to attend Yale -- the math program is more than strong enough to well-educate any student.

lilyrobin

Thank guys! I know scores aren't everything rd31, which is pretty much why I wondering if it's worth it to retake them or not. I'll probably see how much time I have this summer to actually figuring out how I could improve, and then decide.

Weasel-I'm applying to Yale because I love the school. I know there could be better math programs out there, but that isn't everything. Yale obviously would have a great math program, as it has great everything, and I like the school as a whole. Princeton is not an option for family reasons, and I visited Harvard and got a horrible vibe there. I know one visit isn't everything, but I do live very close to Harvard and have never gotten a good feeling about it.

Any other thoughts? Opinions?

azsxdc

Retake it one last time in Oct. to get your score up IMO. The 2240 alone is perfectly fine, but the 690 CR individual score is doubtful. You have a chance to do it again; Why not do it? That's my reasoning.