<p>First, congrats on your val status. Thats something hard to achieve.</p>
<p>However, from what I know (and I know a bit. I’ve read a few admission books, though that doesnt mean much), when people say that SATs don’t matter that much, it is simply a rhetorical statement. In fact, SATs perhaps play the largest part, since its the one objective piece of numerical data that they can compare to others. Of course, doing good on the SATs doesnt mean you’re a good student, but it shows dedication that you’ve studied your as* off and really want to pursue a great education.</p>
<p>Colleges will probably think your HS is not that competitive and might suspect grade inflation, or (hopefully) they may look at your other test scores (ex: AP scores, IB scores) and think you are simply bad at standarized tests.</p>
<p>Personally, I dont like our futures decided by a standarized test such as the SATs, but colleges like good scores, and you must adapt to it if you want to go somewhere decent</p>
<p>Everywhere we’ve visited insisted that the only student that doesn’t stand a chance is the one that doesn’t apply. I always thought “of course, 1000 extra applicants at $60 a pop would make very nice change” but in reality that’s pocket change at that level. Apply. If it’s a financial hardship for you, I think many may waive the fee.</p>
<p>thank you thank you. I’m going to apply a ton of places, thankfully it is not a large financial burden to apply. I’m a lot more than the sum of my test scores and gpa, so hopefully a lot of hard work will pay off!</p>
<p>Guess what, I’m in the same situation as you. Acctually, I’m in the exact same position as you. I am likely to be co-valedictorian (just how it works here) and I have an 1860 SAT score. All this means is that, while we may not be super brilliant, we are smart and are able to take challenging courses (I take AP, honors, and CC courses) and work hard and do well in them. I commend your accomplishments. Good job and don’t sweat.</p>
<p>People with 1860s (unless the score was a fluke) are not incredibly intelligent people, but they’re smart enough to be fine (I realize how vague that sounds) if they work harder to make up for their lack of exceptional innate ability. For some people, no amount of hard work is going to make up for that in an academic context.</p>
<p>I hope everyone here knows that IQ DOES NOT equal “how innately smart someone is.” It is only used as a projector for how “academically successful” one can be in their lifetime. Someone with an IQ of 120 (or maybe a 2000 SAT) CAN be just as successful as someone with a higher IQ, (or SAT score) but they will have to work a little harder to do it.</p>
<p>So vals with sub-2000 SAT scores are no dumber than vals with very high SAT scores. They just had to work harder to get…</p>
<p>I am not sure I agree with you bartleby, i think the SAT is not going to mean a great deal in around five months. we’ll probably laugh that we cared so much. and i tend to agree with rszanto, i just had to work reeeally hard.</p>
<p>I’m kind of in the same situation. I’m valedictorian, and I got a 1860 when I took the SAT. BUT I only took it one time, didn’t study for it, and really have no intention of using it as a score to trump. I wouldn’t even send it off to colleges if not for the SAT Subject Tests I took.</p>
<p>The last time I took the ACT I got a 29, and this time I’m expecting/hoping for a 30 or above. Obviously the ACT score will be better. Try taking the ACT, you might do a lot better.</p>
<p>I will be the first to say that I’m a bit insulted by the fact that some colleges would immediately think your coursework isn’t rigorous enough. I consider myself an intelligent, hardworking person–I just don’t do well on tests I’m not inclined towards. On the ACT I do awesome on the English and Reading, but the rest is a bit hairy (which consequentially brings down my score). Another example: I’ve made a 5 on the Lang AP exam, a 4 on the U.S. History, a 4 in Art History, and 3 in World History…I got a 1 on the Statistics because I’m just not innately good at math, and my teacher was kind of dubious.</p>
<p>SO I would think most colleges would simply look at everything. I understand where you’re coming from; you should be proud of yourself for the position you have. I assume that you’ve also done more during your schooling to make yourself stand out, so that helps also.</p>
<p>In reading a few of the comments, I’m surprised how many people think SAT=IQ in some way. That’s not it at all. I’m first in my class and the first time I took it I got an 1870. After two more tries, I brought my superscored SATs up to 2210.
I wouldn’t consider my course load to be easy, just because the valedictorian had a score of 1870. After all, I’m an IB Diploma candidate with mostly AP and IB classes, and my school even had 6 students who got 2300+ at my school. We all have the same/similar classes (I was one of two to take BC Calc as a sophomore, so I had one more AP class under my belt than the rest of the students in my year), but I refuse to consider myself “less intelligent” in any way, shape, or form because of my SAT scores.
Colleges look at your achievements in context. They look at your school report to see what kind of classes/scores are typical of a student at your high school. If your curriculum vitae shows that you’ve gone above and beyond what your school expects of you, then you’re not doomed. Especially since you only have the one score, they might think it was a bad testing day, though they’ll wonder why you never retook.</p>
<p>that’s awesome Missy Jo-1870 to a 2210! Yeah, I wish…I brought mine up from a 1980 to a 2110…and I’m ranked 6th in my class of 530. I know kids below me in ranking who got 2300+ as well, kind of makes you feel like crap, like you don’t deserve your rank, and that you’re not really as bright as you always thought you were. I’m so not inclined towards tests like the SAT either and I hope this flaw won’t ruin my chances!!! …though, it probably will. Kind of upsetting. But, on the bright side I took the ACTs today and I think I did well! (hoping for a 32-34!!) please, oh please, oh please.
P.S. Dear SAT,
Why couldn’t we just have been friends?!</p>
<p>Yeah, people can be pretty rude, talking about how “undeserving” of your rank you are if you don’t have a 2000+ SAT score. At first, I was pretty upset by some of the comments, but after a while I realized the reason I’m number one is because I got straight A’s, and they got some B’s, so they have no right to criticize my accomplishments. It’s not arrogance, it’s putting it into perspective. GPA does not equal SAT; IMO they measure two different things and should not be equated in any way.</p>
<p>I brought my PSAT score of 180s in junior year to my SAT I superscored in the 2300s after much, much practice. I definitely agree the SAT does not measure IQ. It’s a test that you can study for – heck, I brought it up 500 points.</p>
<p>this is such an inspiring page of posts. yeah, i agree. i think most of the people on CC go straight to either your school sucks… i’d like to think admissions people are looking FOR reasons not admit kids. not reasons to NOT admit kids.</p>
<p>I disagree with some of whats said here. Certainly GPA and SAT measure different things, but I would argue what GPA measures is capacity for work, whereas the SAT is more closely correlated to raw academic ability. There was a girl in my HS class that couldn’t break 2000 but was in the top 10% (not an easy feat at my school). I had a 2310 but was only in the top 20%. She’s at Qunnipiac now, I’m at NU. AS her friend, I feel comfident (Though not great) saying that I am smarter than her- I knew that prior to the SAT’s, and still know that now. </p>
<p>All that said, hard work is just as important as intelligence. I’m a slacker and I vastly underperform because of it, and so I get what I rightfully deserve. But its important to face the music: The SAT may not be perfect, but it has some merits, and if you can’t crack 2000 it says something.</p>
<p>lol im rank 23/712 in my senior class. there are 5 kids in my graduating class that scored above 2300+ on the SAT I’s. I’m one of them. I got a 2310 (on 2nd try though, not first). I go to a moderately competitive public school. Send kids to Stanford, Dartmouth, Cornell, Rice, JHU, etc. last year.</p>
<p>Why am I ranked so low? Freshman and sophmore year, I played games 24/7. Didn’t do my hw. But starting 11th grade, i did my hw, and made straight A-A+'s in all my AP/IB classes (EASY as hell lol), and still had time left over to chill with my friends. </p>
<p>So yes, there is some correlation between intelligence and SAT scoring. grats on the badass vale status though. Wish I had that. ;)</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. My school’s valedictorian has the same SAT score as you. In my grade, the highest score is by my friend who got a 2090/1500 on his first try without prep. I got a 1970 (retaking in dec), and we’re both in the top 20% percent of our class. But then again, I wouldn’t say that circumstances attribute to everything. I come from a pretty poor area, and I assure you, no one pays for classes or anything. At most, they’ll just get a prep book.</p>
<p>do you think that at a school like santa clara, i’ll get some good merit money for being val+GREAT extra curiccs. I am just freaking out because I have great GPA and lower SATs, so does that not make me as good as a candidate for merit money?</p>