<p>so, I was wondering which top LACs or Universities would put great emphasis on SAT scores?</p>
<p>im international if that helps</p>
<p>Which ones don’t? If that helps. Its the reality of the situation with tens of thousands of applications to process. But if you have poor grades or mediocre grades with a super high SAT scores that can also raise a red flag in some school’s eyes.</p>
<p>Well, which schools do more?</p>
<p>By the way, i have perfect GPA, 99+ Percentile SAT, good subject SATs and various interesting ECs. The thing is that i have never dealt with research in high school and I feel that it hurts my chances at top schools.</p>
<p>I think that as a matter of common sense the larger the number of applications an instituion receives, the higher the likelihood that they will rely more on standardized test scores for making decisions simply because of the arduous task of reading tens of thousands of applications. So if SAT scores are your strength, I would apply to the schools who receive the most applications.</p>
<p>Cute, thanks.</p>
<p>“the larger the number of applications an instituion receives, the higher the likelihood that they will rely more on standardized test scores for making decisions”
Not so. Colleges that receive large #'s of hi stat students use standardized test scores and GPA’s to sort out which “non-hooked” students make the 'first cut". Then they proceed to read the applications of students who make it past that first filter.</p>
<p>state schools have more emphasis on scores. but ur international</p>
<p>I believe you will find greater interest in top standardized test scores at universities that are ranked just below the very top level. Think Rice, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, Northwestern University, etc.</p>
<p>BMC in PA if you’re female.</p>
<p>There have been past versions of this thread - Rice, Dartmouth, and Duke came up.</p>
<p>Second tier schools. First tiers generally seem to care less about high test scores because they see so many 2350+s anyway, lol. But in second tiers, a high sat score can set you a bit apart from the pack. To echo others, rice, duke, emory, vandy, etc.</p>
<p>I would look at Dickinson, F&M, Haverford or most liberal arts colleges in PA because I think their SAT’s are optional, but they will require you to hand in a graded assignment.</p>
<p>NYU is supposedly really numbers-oriented.</p>
<p>It goes without saying that schools with top SAT scores place a high value on SAT scores.</p>
<p>Top 20 USNWR Universities, ranked by 25%-75% SAT scores</p>
<ol>
<li>California Institute of Technology 1470-1570 </li>
<li>Harvard University (MA) 1390-1590</li>
<li>Yale University (CT) 1390-1580</li>
<li>Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1380-1560</li>
<li>Princeton University (NJ) 1370-1590</li>
<li>Washington University in St. Louis 1370-1530</li>
<li>Dartmouth College (NH) 1350-1550</li>
<li>Duke University (NC) 1350-1540</li>
<li>Brown University (RI) 1350-1530</li>
<li>Stanford University (CA) 1340-1540</li>
<li>Tufts University (MA) 1340-1480</li>
<li>Columbia University (NY) 1330-1540</li>
<li>Rice University (TX) 1330-1540</li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania 1330-1530</li>
<li>University of Chicago 1320-1530</li>
<li>Northwestern University (IL) 1320-1500</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon University ¶ 1300-1490</li>
<li>Emory University (GA) 1300-1470</li>
<li>University of Notre Dame (IN) 1290-1500</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University (MD) 1290-1490</li>
</ol>
<p>Top 20 USNWR Liberal Arts Colleges, ranked by 25%-75% SAT scores</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvey Mudd College (CA) 1420-1550</li>
<li>Pomona College (CA) 1370-1520</li>
<li>Amherst College (MA) 1330-1530</li>
<li>Carleton College (MN) 1330-1490</li>
<li>Swarthmore College ¶ 1320-1530</li>
<li>Williams College (MA) 1320-1520</li>
<li>Claremont McKenna College (CA) 1310-1490</li>
<li>Wellesley College (MA) 1310-1470</li>
<li>Bowdoin College (ME) 1300-1480</li>
<li>Washington and Lee University (VA) 1300-1470</li>
<li>Vassar College (NY) 1300-1450</li>
<li>Haverford College ¶ 1290-1500</li>
<li>Wesleyan University (CT) 1290-1480</li>
<li>Oberlin College (OH) 1290-1460</li>
<li>Reed College (OR) 1280-1460</li>
<li>Barnard College (NY) 1280-1450</li>
<li>Middlebury College (VT) 1270-1480</li>
<li>Colby College (ME) 1270-1440</li>
<li>Bates College (ME) 1270-1400</li>
<li>Hamilton College (NY) 1260-1460</li>
</ol>
<p>Compare the school’s acceptance rate or maybe even rank to its test scores. If the test scores are more competitive than the acceptance, then scores are a big deal.</p>
<p>Tufts, Brown, and Rice stand out on SarahDad’s list.</p>
<p>Does anyone know about George Washington University?</p>
<p>I have a 1290, but I don’t know if thats really all that good anyway.</p>
<p>Well 1950 on the new scale…</p>
<p>29 ACT equivalent.</p>
<p>The OP was wondering which “top” schools put a lot of emphasis on SAT scores. Assuming his definition of “top” includes all universities in the “top 20” national university list, I have a question for Sarah’sDad:</p>
<p>If a student with a very high SAT I score, e.g. 2380, applied to MIT as well as Vanderbilt or Rice or Emory, which school is more likely to give a larger relative weight to the SAT I score? </p>
<p>Your list of top SAT I score schools probably reflects the records of the applicant pool more than the priorities of the admissions committees.</p>
<p>I’d agree with DSC’s comments above - if a school’s SAT scores are significantly higher than their overall ranking, then SAT scores are probably weighted highly (see Wash U, Tufts). </p>
<p>Conversely, if a school’s SATs are lower than their overall ranking, then they’re probably weighted less (see Penn, Middlebury).</p>
<p>To follow up on DSC’s (IMO plausible) contention earlier about the relationship between test scores and ranking, here are the raw numbers for the USNWR Top 50 national universities and Top 20 LACs:</p>
<p>USNWR Rank, School , Avg SAT , Avg ACT , Acceptance Rate
1 Princeton , 1480 , 32 , 10%
2 Harvard , 1490 , 32.5 , 9%
3 Yale , 1485 , na , 9%
4 Stanford , 1440 , 30.5 , 11%
5 U Penn , 1430 , 31 , 18%
5 Caltech , 1520 , na , 17%
7 MIT , 1470 , 32 , 13%
8 Duke , 1445 , 31.5 , 23%
9 Columbia , 1435 , 30.5 , 12%
9 U Chicago , 1425 , 30.5 , 38%
11 Dartmouth , 1450 , 31 , 16%
12 Wash U , 1450 , 31.5 , 21%
12 Cornell , 1385 , 30 , 25%
14 Brown , 1440 , 30 , 14%
14 Northwestern , 1410 , 31 , 30%
14 Johns Hopkins , 1390 , 30 , 27%
17 Rice , 1435 , 32 , 24%
17 Emory , 1385 , 31 , 32%
19 Vanderbilt , 1375 , 30 , 34%
19 Notre Dame , 1395 , 31.5 , 27%
21 UC Berkeley , 1325 , na , 24%
22 Carnegie Mellon , 1395 , 30 , 34%
23 U Virginia , 1325 , 28.5 , 37%
23 Georgetown , 1390 , 29.5 , 22%
25 UCLA , 1295 , 27 , 26%
25 U Michigan , 1315 , 29 , 47%
27 USC , 1370 , 30 , 25%
28 U North Carolina , 1295 , 27.5 , 34%
28 Tufts , 1410 , 30.5 , 27%
30 Wake Forest , 1320 , na , 43%
31 Lehigh , 1310 , na , 39%
31 Brandeis , 1360 , 29.5 , 36%
33 W&M , 1340 , 29.5 , 32%
34 NYU , 1310 , 29 , 36%
35 U Rochester , 1325 , 28.5 , 45%
35 Georgia Tech , 1315 , 28 , 69%
35 Boston Coll , 1335 , na , 29%
38 U Wisconsin , 0 , 28 , 58%
38 UCSD , 1250 , 26 , 49%
38 U Illinois , 0 , 27.5 , 65%
41 Case Western , 1330 , 28.5 , 67%
42 U Washington , 1190 , 25.5 , 68%
42 UC Davis , 1155 , na , 68%
44 Rensselaer , 1320 , 27 , 67%
44 U Texas , 1245 , 26 , 49%
44 UC Santa Barbara , 1200 , 25 , 53%
44 UC Irvine , 1185 , na , 60%
48 Penn State , 1180 , na , 58%
49 U Florida , 1250 , 26.5 , 48%
50 Syracuse , 1225 , 26.5 , 51%
50 Tulane , 1322.5 , 29 , 38%</p>
<p>USNWR Rank, School , Avg SAT , Acceptance Rate<br>
1 Williams , 1420 , 19%<br>
2 Amherst , 1430 , 19%<br>
3 Swarthmore , 1425 , 19%<br>
4 Wellesley , 1390 , 36%<br>
5 Carleton , 1410 , 32%<br>
5 Middlebury , 1375 , 22%<br>
7 Pomona , 1445 , 18%<br>
7 Bowdoin , 1390 , 22%<br>
9 Davidson , 1345 , 30%<br>
10 Haverford , 1395 , 26%<br>
11 Claremont McK , 1400 , 22%<br>
11 Wesleyan , 1385 , 28%<br>
11 Grinnell , 1355 , 45%<br>
11 Vassar , 1375 , 30%<br>
15 Harvey Mudd , 1485 , 30%<br>
15 W&L , 1885 , 27%<br>
17 Smith , 1255 , 53%<br>
17 Hamilton , 1360 , 33%<br>
17 Colgate , 1345 , 28%<br>
20 US Naval Acad , 1265 , 14%<br>
20 Oberlin , 1375 , 34%</p>