<p>I’ll chime in here. </p>
<p>If you have Score Choice, and time, why not just wait until you see how you do on the second round of tests (if you are taking the SAT-II again)? </p>
<p>That is, report the 780 now. Then wait to see how you do. If you get 700 and 680, then report one of the 730s you already have. </p>
<p>I don’t know if I understand Score Choice properly. If you don’t report one of the 730s right now, does it disappear forever, or could you report it later?</p>
<p>As far as other things: </p>
<p>I’m a Harvard alum and have interviewed for them for about 20 years. I don’t think there is much point in taking multiple SAT-IIs to attempt to show you’re “well-rounded.” They ask for two. Give them the best two. End of story. I don’t think reporting 5 or 6 will significantly affect your chances of admission in any way. Better to report a 780 and an 800 on two of them, than a 780, 800 730, 680, 710 and 720 on six of them. </p>
<p>Also, really, what are you talking about practically? I mean, if you had gotten a 750 instead of a 730, would you report a 750? I think you would. You seem comfortable reporting a 780… so really, what you’re talking about is 20 points, which is kind of ridiculous when you think about it.</p>
<p>This last year, in my metro region of about 1 million people (a small city somewhere in the US,) only ONE student was admitted Regular Action out of 115 who applied (4 got in early.) I interviewed that girl. She attended a public magnet school in the city which had the IB program. The highest grade allowed in the school was an A+ – 97%-100%. The girl had gotten an A+ in every single class she took every semester since 8th grade. This is one of the best schools in my city, and I’ve interviewed students form there before, and this was the most amazing transcript I had ever seen-- the school grades hard, and what she did was unheard of. No one has ever done what she did there. Ever. She also took several more classes than normal, removing her lunch period two years to fit in more classes, so she graduated with more credits than normal. In addition to the IB program, she had taken 10 AP exams and gotten a 5 on 9 of them and a 4 on one. Also, her school did not offer AP Chemistry, so she bought a book and taught herself. She got a 5 on the AP exam. On a whim, she took the Chemistry Olympiad test, and scored 4th highest in 8 counties and qualified for nationals— without ever taking the class. She taught herself entirely. Additionally, she did genetics research at a local university, and was the captain of the girls crew and cross country teams, and was manager of the boys’ basketball team. She got a 2400 on the SAT and 2 800s on the SAT II. </p>
<p>However, she did only take two SAT-II exams. </p>
<p>My general experience is this: Once you reach a certain threshold, which is somewhere over a 700, then many other things come into play. The prime one I have noticed is this: Have you not only taken advantage of everything your school has to offer, excelling in the hardest classes— but have you gone above and beyond that in some way? That “above and beyond” can be lots of things</p>
<p>It is harder than ever to get in to Harvard, and the quality of applicants has gone up significantly in the time I’ve been interviewing. There were several other very good candidates I interviewed who didn’t even get waitlisted this year. I am not making this candidate up that I discussed above. </p>
<p>I hope that gives you some understanding of how things are right now. </p>
<p>You’re stressing over 20 points, but there is so much more that goes into these decisions.</p>
<p>In all the years I’ve been interviewing-- I’ve interviewed about 40 students— only 3 were admitted, which is about right (about 8-10%). The girl above, and two others. </p>
<p>Here’s a summary of the other two:</p>
<p>One guy: So advanced in physics he was co-teaching his high school physics class. Additionally he had written a symphony under the tutelage of a famous orchestra, had written three novels, his poetry had won a major international competition, he had done cancer research at a famous research hospital, had taken 10 APs and gotten a 5 on all of them… I recall that he only had like a 760 and 780 on the SATs though.</p>
<p>One girl: Good grades and decent test scores, but not 800, 800 800 or even close. She was, however, the US National President of the Catholic Youth of America-- she had MAJOR responsibilities with this position— and had done an internship with the Pope in the Vatican. </p>
<p>There you have it.</p>