@nickster12 I’m super lucky to have that opportunity, even though it can only help me out so much. I’ve gotten really good evaluations from the programs I have done there, and since some of the counselors actually know me, I hope hope hope that can make up for some of my average/below average quantitative data.
Regardless of what they say, SAT scores especially math will almost always be the most looked at stat first in the application. I mean, it’s a math and science academy. There will always be extreme cases in both ends where perfect sat and app get in and terrible sat but amazing app get in and then the medians where avg sat and good app get in. To be safe, a good math sat doesn’t hurt. I think the main thing is that since math SAT is generally the first stat they look it, since you’re applying to a M&S academy, a generally low math score may not leave a good initial impression on the admission team.
hello guys! i also applied to imsa this year. i’m a freshman, and i got 610 for reading and 620 for math (it sucks, i know 
) i’m from marian catholic in the southern suburbs. anybody heard of it?
Hey everyone! I’m also a current IMSA student (I’m a good friend of Daisy’s, actually) and I want to clear something up that really worried me with my application.
Yes, SAT scores matter. But NOT THAT MUCH. I’m pretty tight with some of the admissions counselors (no, they won’t tell me anything about new applicants, that’s way too confidential) and I’ve talked with them a lot about how the process works. There have been people with 2400s who don’t get in. There are people with 1800s who get in. THE SCORES ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT.
Honestly, how much passion, confidence, and desire to succeed you show in your essays is what’s important. There is no one number or quality that will draw the line between acceptance and waitlist and rejection; it’s YOU as a person that the counselors look at. Yes, your scores are part of who you are as a person, but a very small part.
So stop worrying about it!!! 
I’ll try to be on here to help you guys and answer questions that you have- feel free to ask me anything about IMSA’s classes, or the Academy in general.
@SquadLeaderZ I’m taking Bio H while my friend, who also applied to IMSA this year, is taking Chem H. Does that give him an advantage over me? How big of an advantage?
Hey @sherlocked221! Since IMSA accepts students from all over Illinois, there is a variety of backgrounds that students come in from when it comes to previous classes. There really isn’t an advantage- the counselors do take into account your past when building your schedule for Sophomore year, but it doesn’t impact your chances of being accepted.
@ptvnicorn Thank you! All of us on this thread seem to be in love with IMSA (literally).@SquadLeaderZ Did any applicants get invited for interviews? A classmate of mine told me she had been invited, and I am assuming she was being dishonest (we don’t really like each other). But just in case…were they?
@priyaluvsbooks The only interviews I know of during the application process are when they occasionally invite back 8th grade applicants who aren’t accepted- the counselors like to get a better feel for some of the students who might apply the next year. Other than that, there aren’t interviews in the process. Maybe that’s what your classmate was talking about?
I know I didn’t get invited for any interviews when I applied.
@SquadLeaderZ I got invited for the 8th grade interview last year. However, she said that IMSA called her and asked for an interview with her. I’m assuming she lied. Because everyone i’ve asked has said that IMSA doesn’t do interviews.
@priyaluvsbooks I have never heard of IMSA doing interviews during the admissions process, but there might have been something in her application that needed clearing up, or something of the sort.
She might be lying, she might be telling the truth. All I know is that IMSA does not do interviews on a regular basis.
Dude yeah I know Marian, one of my best friends go there! I go to hf!! @sherlocked221
@priyaluvsbooks I signed up for some kind of mailing list with IMSA, and got the opportunity to do a shadow day there. The shadow day had a part where you could talk with an admissions counselor, and ask them questions and stuff. That’s the closest thing to an interview I’ve ever done there, because we had an in-depth conversation and it took about an hour, but I really wouldnt know much else about interviews because I didn’t apply as an 8th grader. I do know my friend who applied in both 8th and 9th grade got to talk to a counselor about what was wrong with her 8th grade application.
that’s so cool! @ptvnicorn. one of my friends goes to rich south, and he’s also applying to imsa this year. we have thr same credentials but i think that he’s got the upper hand because rich south is a bad school. you’re probably going to get in this year though! i’m not because i think marian’s pretty competitive with imsa admission or am i wrong.
@sherlocked221 well I’m not really specifically sure, but I’m the only imsa applicant in the track of classes that im in (which is the highest track and the most competitive looking on a transcript sent to imsa). My bf would go to hf but he goes to private school, and so far, you, him, me, and your rich south friend are the only applicants from this area I know of. Of course, there are more, but I’ve been told that our area didn’t have a ton of applicants like places such as Naperville, so it’s not as competitive. We’re more likely to get in 
@ptvnicorn so your bestfriend that goes to marian applied this year too? and what science course r u taking?
No, she didn’t haha but I do have a lot of friends from other schools that did. I did these things called seams and EIP at imsa and I have a lot of friends from there. I’m taking biology, and for math im in algebra 2/trig. By the way, I’ve been told that as a sophomore at imsa you have to take bio again and chem again (plus more) even if you’ve already done them. Some schools don’t teach equally and they want to make sure everyone’s on the same page. So I don’t think it matters what your science course is. @sherlocked221
I just thought of a question for you haha @squadleaderz why would you have to go to excel? I don’t want to plan my summer just in case I’ll have to
@ptvnicorn are you the only person applying from hf?
tons of new people since i last came on this thread! nice to see anyways, only a month left till may. the waiting process for me hasn’t been too bad actually, i’ve barely had time to even remember that decisions will come out- school has been busy. how about you guys?
@yeldarb1 lol same. i’ve been drowning myself watching doctor who and supernatural on netflix these days i forgot about the decision.