<p>You know, for about six months after I became interested in Caltech, I was kind of like you - always trying to make excuses to myself about my 640 SAT math score. Then, I spent an hour or so each day for the first month of last summer studying SAT math (a research paper enveloped the second half of my summer). I re-took the SAT and scored a 770 on math, and raised my overall score from 2010 to 2220. I felt so proud of myself, until I logged onto CC and saw everyone else bragging about their 2300s and 2400s.</p>
<p>Then I realized that it didn’t really matter. SATs aren’t crafted by God, and they aren’t the final word on anything (contrary to the words of some CCers who seem to connect SAT scores with some sort of ill-defined “innate ability”). If you put enough effort into it, you might very well score perfectly but… why?</p>
<p>I like to think of it this way. Any ability, including mathematical ability and/or the ability to survive at a top university, is an N-dimensional quantity (N>>1). The SAT I math test is a projection of mathematical ability into a single dimension. High SAT scores (like yours) indicate that, when viewed from some arbitrary angle determined by the College Board, your mathematical ability is sufficiently well-developed to place you within the group of student Caltech deems mathematically able enough to survive there. So, forget about scores, and work on extending yourself into higher dimensions - something you’re clearly good at.</p>