<p>Is “taking a chance” the difference between admitting a student in the 99th percentile and admitting a student in the 97th percentile? A friend of mine recently suggested, when I showed her Caltech’s average scores, that “when they are divided between two applicants, they just take the one with the higher test score”.</p>
<p>From the attitudes displayed here, I’d say that that would be close to accurate… although I hardly find a difference between scoring in the 97th percentile (or even the 95th percentile) and scoring in the 99th percentile. It’s just too close to tell. Making a stupid mistake from just not thinking could screw up your chances at Caltech, kind of like how I got all the trig and advanced algebra questions on the ACT right, but I missed a pre-algebra question. Stupid mistakes happen and re-taking the test just because of 1 or 2 small mistakes I see as rather silly. (And the difference between a 34 Math ACT and a 36 Math ACT could mean the world for an application.)</p>
<p>Oh, and as for the comment about retaking a test… some people just can’t afford it. I live with my mom who makes $17,000/year. My other friends were able to retake the SAT, but I wasn’t because I just didn’t have the money that they’re charging nowadays for it. (My school doesn’t allow one to have a job, so that’s out too.)</p>