why is everyone trying to get a 2400??? why isn’t getting above the nation’s average good enough… I’m having the hardest time understand this… why am I and a bunch of other people trying so hard to get over a 2100… why aren’t I satisfied with my 1830?
Maybe this is a dumb question, maybe not… but I honestly don’t understand… please explain.
Thanks for reading! :)))
- CC is not a very representative sample of the entire US population.
- An 1800 will almost certainly not cut it if applying to prestigious schools. It is definitely above the national average, but is well below the average score of many top universities.
very true @MITer94
The national average is just that, it is not the average of kids going to college, especially in states where all kids do standardised testing rather than just college bound kids.
In life, not everyone shoots for “better than average” or “just good enough”, whatever that is.
As already mentioned, CC does not represent the typical college-bound high school student. There are many, many students that are ecstatic because they scored in the 1500-2000 range…and they should be. Those are good scores. CC is full of 4.0, 36/2400 students that are applying to HYPSM because it’s HYPSM, and seem to see anything less than HYPSM as unacceptable. A lot of the typical content here has to be taken with a grain of salt. We get students in here that have 36/2400 scores, tons of AP and honors courses, internship experiences, tons of volunteer work, national contest winning, etc…but they got a single B+ in a class their senior year, and they need to know if their chances at HYPSM are now gone. That has to be taken with a few grains of salt.
Do you know the word “mediocre”? It means “of moderate quality” or “average,” but it’s unequivocally negative. Sometimes average is pretty bad. Such is the case for the SAT–many of the people who contribute to the average are either community college bound, after all. (No offense to them–CCs are a great way to get a start on advanced education.)
The most elite colleges have the most MONEY to give out. And the most elite colleges pick and choose whom they want. Since they have so very many candidates to choose from, they don’t need to admit “slightly above average”.
Because I need to feel special for 4 more years. I’m not ready to become a part of the crowd yet.
Because the most selective universities accept <8% of already self-selecting students…so top 50% won’t cut it.
Not everyone is trying to get a 2400 or a 36. But most are trying to do the very best they can. They derive personal satisfaction from doing well. And generally speaking, the higher your scores, the more choices you have among schools.