I took the old SAT and got a 1540 (800V, 740M) and took the new sat and got a 2300 (800CR, 760W, 740M). I am applying early to stanford and an worried cause i only have decent ecs and class rank (5%ish). Would it look bad to retake if i knew i could do better?
<p>Colleges look first at difficulty of curriculum, then gpa/rank, and then standardized test scores. After you qualify with those, they look at EC’s, essays and recommendations. For EC’s, they look for passion and long-term commitment in one or two areas. They don’t want a laundry list of clubs and activities with no real engagement. You write about your passion in the essay and the EC activity list backs it up. When selections are made, they are done from informal areas such as URM’s, legacies, athletes, international students, different geographic areas, and etc. It is easier to be admitted from some informal categories than others.</p>
<p>After you hit a certain level with the SAT’s, further improvement doesn’t mean that much. Once you have a 800-790-740, it isn’t going to help to get a 800-800-780. The EC’s and recommendations outweigh any maginal improvement in standardized test scores. You could also get worse.</p>
<p>I would work on how you are going to market yourself in the essay and EC’s. Acceptance is easier during ED. In addition, if you are deferred under ED, it will still give you an advantage under RD because of the interest you have shown.</p>