<p>For all of you who think that 100-200 points higher will make or break you for top colleges, please look up the phrase “holistic admissions”. Good luck getting into MIT with a 2400, 4.0 GPA, and no ECs.</p>
<p>RS, I was thinking that too. 100 points will help a lot but are certainly no guarantee of admissions.</p>
<p>“holistic admission” is BS. if you have a 2100 SAT score you are NOT going to get in(unless you have a hook) even if the rest of your application is good.</p>
<p>but in your case, 2260 is safe, but again if you think you could do better than retake!</p>
<p>dianna please tell me you’re ■■■■■■■■ and there’s not actually something wrong with you. Two of my closest friends applied to MIT this year. One of them was the president of two nationally recognized clubs, a national finalist in debate, had 600 volunteer hours, had a 4.0 GPA, and a 2080 SAT. He was accepted to MIT. The other one had a 2380 SAT, 4.0 GPA, but virtually no extracurriculars and was denied.</p>
<p>Quote from MIT admission officer: [What?s</a> the big deal about 40^2? | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/whats_the_big_deal_about_402]What?s”>What’s the big deal about 40^2? | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>“People make a big deal about test scores. No one seems to believe me when I tell them that when I’m reading an application, I just glance at the test scores to get a sense of them before moving on to the more important parts of the application – that is, who you are. But here’s an example. So, I’m reading this application of a student, a pretty strong student, who’s definitely overcome some challenges recently. I come to the second to last piece in the folder, which is the guidance counselor letter (the last piece is the interview report). The GC makes a big deal of the student’s “scoring the magic 1600 on the SAT.” Now, when I started the case, I mentally noted to myself, “Okay, this student has scores that are fine, let’s move on,” but it didn’t really make an impact on me that the student had “the magic 1600.” Yes, scoring a 1600 is something that you, your school, your parents, and your guidance counselor can be very proud of. But it’s not something I’m going to bust out my highlighter for, circle in big red pen, make it the focus of your case. In fact, I don’t think I have ever in my summary of a student used high standardized scores as an argument to admit that student.”</p>
<p>I wish you good luck despite your ignorance.</p>
<p>ilovediannaagron wrote: " ‘holistic admission’ is BS. if you have a 2100 SAT score you are NOT going to get in(unless you have a hook) even if the rest of your application is good."</p>
<p>Um, actually, it is not BS, it is reality. Reality also is that if you have a 2400 SAT you are NOT going to get in unless you have a hook. </p>
<p>Go back and look at the mid-range test scores for the Ivies. You scored 2350? Great! How many other people applying to HYPSM do you think have 2350s? (Hint: quite a few) Remember, most people applying to these schools are qualified applicants. A great SAT score DOES NOT distinguish you from other people in the applicant pool, it just doesn’t. I think I have interviewed one student who did not have an SAT over 2100.</p>
<p>@relativelysmart</p>
<p>That sounds all nice, but it’s false for 99% of colleges. They only care about their rank in US world & news ranking, and admission rate and sat scores are how colleges secure position. Why else would Columbia tell unqualified students to apply? To lower their acceptance rate.</p>
<p>I’m just gonna say that the SATs are not a particularly good predictor of College success, especially for selective colleges because while the trend overall (600-2400 as the Domain) is a fairly solid positive correlation of .8-ish (I think) for score vs. college performance, that correlation is practically non-existent in the high range of scores (2000+). The better predictor of how well a student would do is considering their personal integrity, interests, extracurricular and etc. stuff.</p>
<p>Also, Diana: </p>
<p>Given threads you have started up in the past (i.e. “I got a B in AP Biology – how bad is this going to kill my chances for Caltech”), I really don’t think you understand how the admissions process works for any top college.</p>
<p>@harasNN; Untrue. How does a college look better for having a lower acceptance rate? If someone were to start up a college in an apartment complex and refuse to let anyone inside, would it be #1 in the nation? Colleges need people who can be proficient in what they’re studying, people who have proven that they desire to learn, and people who have demonstrated their ability to innovate or get active. The SAT is only reading comprehension and basic math (up to Algebra 2). Anyone can score high if they study hard enough. Does this mean that they’d be able to bring something new to the college or be proficient in their research/studies? No.</p>
<p>I think colleges just use SAT scores to do exactly what a standardized test is supposed to do, standarize. It helps them guage your general ability. If you have a GPA of 4.6 but 1550 SAT score, that college can assume something is wrong and look into it. An SAT/ACT score is the one thing that is universal amongst college applications, so it just goves the admissions officers a reference point. </p>
<p>I don’t think it provides any ither usefulness other than serving as a reference point.</p>
<p>@relativelysmart</p>
<p>Recently there has been light shed on a few universities that confessed to falsifying applicant data to raise their US News rankings. This includes SAT scores as well as admissions rate, which factor in the ranking algorithm used by US News. So, while your apartment university wouldn’t be #1 per se, refusing admission would in fact increase your standing.</p>
<p>[Caught</a> cheating: Colleges falsify admissions data for higher rankings - Open Channel](<a href=“Investigations: U.S. & World News Investigations | NBC News”>Investigations: U.S. & World News Investigations | NBC News)</p>
<p>They’re saying the next test is like October 5th, 2013.</p>