Questions about re-taking an SAT, also essay topic

wjdunlop
Mon, 03 Oct 2016 02:56:24 +0000

I come from a small highschool of only ~650 students in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of California. Our high school only offers 9 APs, and our demographic likely reflects this.

I’m considering applying Restrictive Early Action to Stanford University, and Stanford is my #1 Choice.

My GPA is 4.37/4, which is the highest in my school.
My SAT Scores on the New SAT are
Reading: 770
Math: 780
Composite: 1550
Essay: 13/24 (my question lies here)

I have extracurriculars ranging from coaching a tennis rec league to starting a competition team for the National Science Bowl for the first time at my school, and even taking it to 5th place in regional competition. In addition, I have an above-average number of community service hours, from youth group and coaching, among other things.

As you probably saw, I have the opportunity to retake the SAT in November, attempting to fix my essay grade, which I was dismayed at receiving. Now, upon reading several other articles about the importance of the essay grade, I was comforted by the fact that many call it “the least important thing from the testing category,” because the composite score is so much more important. I’m wondering if it’s a dealbreaker, and I’m looking for advice on whether I should apply Early Action or retake the SAT and apply Regular Decision.

Also, I was looking for help on what to do with the essay. I have a rather interesting circumstance - I myself just turned 15 in December. I’m applying without intent of taking a gap year, which means I’ll be entering college as a 15 year old. Shold I write my essay about this?

Thank you for all your help.