Are SAT's EVERYTHING for College Admissions

Applying to College
1

<p>I’m in my Senior year and got a 1420/2400 on my SAT (3rd time) and I really want to get into a good college NOT COMMUNITY COLLEGE.</p>

<p>Is admissions to colleges really only looking at SATs. I see that college websites say that look at grades extracurricular, and Teach. Recs, etc. but I feel as if its all a lie.</p>

<p>Are 2400s all what colleges want? I did poorly on my SATs but look at my profile:</p>

<p>Intended Major: Civil & Environmental Engineering OR Secondary Education <a href=“Have%20not%20picked%20yet”>High School History Teacher</a></p>

<p>-SAT Total Score OUT OF 2400- 1420 (Super Scored already)</p>

<p>Critical Reading-460, Math-430, and Writing-530</p>

<p>-Subject Tests:</p>

<p>World History-440, Math I-410, Chemistry-380</p>

<p>-ACT Composite Score: 17</p>

<p>-GPA: 86.72%(out of 100%)</p>

<p>Ranked 29 out of 341</p>

<p>-AP Exams:</p>

<p>AP Chemistry-1 (that’s a REALLY long story), AP European History-3</p>

<p>I’m currently taking AP Biology</p>

<p>I had AP U.S. History & AP English Literature but both classes were canceled because the teacher left and the latter class had half the lethargic students drop out in the middle of the summer.</p>

<p>So I’ll only have 3 APs (APs in my school are double period) under my belt when I graduate.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars- Working after school at Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education (help elementary school kids with HW)</p>

<p>Community Service- Volunteered at my job for the summer then was hired for pay.</p>

<p>WILL ALL OF THIS GO UNNOTICED AS SOON AS A COLLEGE SEES MY SAT? WILL IVY LEAUGES WILL JUST LUAGH?</p>

<p>Plz help me understand why clleges nowadys wants ppl to get 2400s</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>lol…</p>

3

<p>The number of people who get a 2400 on the SAT or a 36 on the ACT is vanishing small, so that isn’t a requirement. But yes, test scores are an important component of admission to selective schools. You can check a site like College Navigator to see the mid 50% (25th percentile to 75th percentile) scores of incoming freshmen. If you aren’t hitting the 25th percentile level, admission is highly unlikely unless you have some other major hook (star quarterback, etc.). With your scores you are not a viable candidate for schools with Ivy League level admission rates. They won’t laugh, but will they just cash your check and toss your application in the reject pile. So it’s not worth applying IMHO.</p>

<p>But remember that there are 3,000 4-year colleges in the US. 80% of them have acceptance rates above 50%, and you can find many that will fit. Your best bet is to try one of the online college matching programs. There is a link to one on the home page of College Confidential. You can enter your grades and scores as well as other filter criteria such as desired location. Then see what schools come up. That’s a good place to start.</p>

4

<p>There are many schools out there that are SAT-optional. You should take a look at those.</p>

5

<p>Who has told you you’re even viable for top schools? Your last statement is a straw man. Your “frustration” is lost in a false presumption of what you really are. The fact is your academic achievement is below average .</p>

<p>Colleges don’t want only 2400s. But you certainly aren’t realistic for colleges where the GPA is 3.9 or the avg SAT is 2250.</p>

<p>Both your SAT and ACT put you below the national average. You surely know that since it’s stated in your score reports. You have a B avg GPA. To even be discussing schools with admit rates below 20% is not realistic whatsoever. You’d be literally throwing your money away. What you need to do is meet with your school guid counselor and discuss your best options. And what you can afford. Have you discussed this with your parents?</p>

<p>Harping about the standards of top colleges makes you look silly. It’s like saying why didn’t I stand a chance at the NBA? Well, the fact that I’m below 5’6" might have something to do with it.</p>

6

<p>There’s nothing wrong with community college. However, there are a ton of schools between cc’s and the ivies. The College Board website has a school search tool. You can put in your scores and preferences and see what comes up. Start building your list by picking a safety school (one that you’re sure will admit you based on your SAT & GPA), that you can afford (run the Net Price Calculators at each college website to get an estimate of how much it will cost you), AND that you’ll be happy to attend. Discuss finances with your parents now to find out how much, if anything, they can contribute each year and start from there. Good luck with your search.</p>

7

<p>Why are you so against community colleges, may I ask? Especially considering a lot of them have auto-admit policies with the colleges I assume you consider “good.”</p>

8

<p>Not sure we should be paying attention to the OP. They posted a nearly identical post a month ago, got no response, or ignored any advice they got.</p>

9

<p>2300 SAT score. Rejected by UCB, UCLA, UCSD, and Cal Poly SLO. Waitlisted by UCD and UCI.</p>

<p>Yup. Colleges only want 2400 scores. Anything less than that means rejection.</p>

10

<p>Your problem isn’t your test scores - your problem is your list of prospective colleges. </p>

<p>Because, honestly, everything pretty much lines up. Your SAT scores are a little low for your GPA but not significantly lower. Your course rigor is eh, your GPA is eh, your scores are eh, I don’t see anything particularly spectacular in your ECs. The only thing that stands out is your class rank - you are top 10%, which partially redeems the GPA.</p>

<p>Looking at this, I think that you need to reconsider your schools. Plug your current scores and GPA into the Supermatch tool on this website and see what it spits out. Test-optional schools might be worth a look, but your GPA will still have to be in line with/above their average. They still need to know that you can do the work. </p>

<p>SATs aren’t everything, but they are important. They are the one factor that can be easily compared across all applicants. Your 1420 is the same as the 1420 of someone in Indiana or California or Shanghai. Right now, your test score doesn’t indicate that you could do the work, and that’s the first thing these schools check for. Sorry, but I think you may need a dose of tough love. If you need help constructing a new list, we would be more than happy to help you in a new thread. </p>

11

<p>Here is a list of test optional colleges:</p>

<p><a href=“ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest”>http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There are some decent schools on the list.</p>

<p>That said, I think you will have a very difficult time in an engineering major if the best you can pull is a 430 on your math SAT.</p>

12

<p>@Darksand99, on your earlier thread you said “I got a 1880 on my SATs.”
"<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/1696037-should-i-put-my-act-score-on-the-common-app-ivy-league-question.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/1696037-should-i-put-my-act-score-on-the-common-app-ivy-league-question.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Now, a month later, you are saying you only got a 1420? </p>

<p>Think you’ve got bigger problems than your scores…like your honesty.</p>

13

<p>I don’t think stats themselves (standardized tests, grades, etc.) will tank your application right away, but unless admissions officers find something extremely unique and attractive about your application, it will probably be rejected (at top schools). Like people have said before, aim for colleges around where your application lies - don’t go straight for the ivies with a 1420 unless you have some insanely insane other things; instead, look at less selective colleges. Then, you can work your way up (like this guy <a href=“http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/03/30/dropout-harvard/3JEYV7sdiHzhlFNOapHSuO/story.html”>http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/03/30/dropout-harvard/3JEYV7sdiHzhlFNOapHSuO/story.html&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>Colleges (ivies too) don’t want 2400s - they want people who will be competent and succeed in their schools. SATs are usually a screening test, a minimum standard to see if you’re likely to succeed academically or if you’re prone to failure. If you can ace all their classes, you can probably get at least 2000 or so on the SATs (for ivies). </p>

<p>Also, community college isn’t all that bad. I have a friend who has a 2300+ SAT and got a silver medal at an International Olympiad who opted to go to a community college over Cornell (right next door, has legacy too I think).</p>

14

<p>what are your EC?</p>

15

<p>Robotics and Track</p>

16

<p>Washington Post sifted through the Fairtest list of test-optional schools to produce this list of very selective schools that are test optional: <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/the-most-selective-test-optional-schools/2011/06/21/AGBB3heH_blog.html”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/the-most-selective-test-optional-schools/2011/06/21/AGBB3heH_blog.html&lt;/a&gt; It’s a few years old, so some schools might not be test-optional anymore. FWIW</p>