What test score do I need?

Colleges and Universities Washington University in St. Louis
#1

<p>How much do you think I'd have to improve my SAT score to stand a chance at getting in? </p>

<p>I'm going into my senior year at a public school in the bay area (CA). Female. White. Middle class. Uncommon recognized religion.
3.97 UW
4.23 W (should go up next year)
I'm taking every honors/AP class my school offers, more than anyone has ever taken at my school, which breaks my schedule down to:
9th- 0 honors/0 AP/6 regular
10th- 1 honors/0 AP/5 regular
11th- 3 honors/3 AP/0 regular
12th- 0 honors/6 AP/0 regular
A total of 13 advanced classes out of 24, 9 APs
I've had all As until this year in which I got 2 Bs, one in honors physics first semester and one in AP Spanish second semester.
We don't rank but I'm definitely in the top 1-2% </p>

<p>SAT:2050 (730-CR, 650-M, 670-W)
ACT: 29 </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Club soccer: (8 years)
starter
9, 10, 11
Lacrosse:
-JV starter 9
-Varsity starter 10, 11
-Helped to organize and was a participant in the first annual Boys vs. Girls benefit lacrosse game to support a local family whose house burnt down
(-Varsity Captain 12)
Rock Climbing 10, 11
School newspaper:
-staff writer 9
CSF:
-member 9, 10, 11 (12)
-brain bowl committee and participant 9
-class representative 10
-publicity committee 10
-events committee 11
JSA:
-Chapter founder
-President 11 (12)
Multicultural Club:
-member 9, 10, 11
French Club:
-member 11 (12)
Interact Club:
-member 10, 11 (12)
(Senior Women:
-treasurer 12)
Clayton Pioneer (Local Newspaper):
-Staff Writer (regularly featured on the front page) 10, 11 (12)
-CVHS Student Correspondent 10, 11 (12)
-Columnist 11 (12)
Contra Costa Times (county newspaper):
-Teen Board member/columnist 10, 11 (only returning member)</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
-Shelver at community library 10, 11
-Peer/youth tutoring 10, 11
-youth soccer coach 10, 11 (coach of the year award)
-camp counselor 10
-assistant counselor for pre-school victims of domestic violence 11</p>

<p>Employment:
-youth referee 9
-Biology Tutor 11
-Library Clerk 11 (12)
-primary contributor (writer) for website 11</p>

#2

<p>well 25-75th percentiles for SAT and ACT are 1390-1530 (written not reported), 32-35. so probably at least 100 on SAT or 3 on ACT.</p>

#3

<p>I think if you raise your SAT by 150 points or the ACT by 3-4 points, you'll have a decent chance. Well, as good a chance as anybody else. But right now those scores are holding you down.</p>

#4

<p>I've always been a tad hesitant about replying to these chances threads especially as I'm definitely not a 'seasoned' Wash U student (if you get what I mean) but I just had to reply to this :P</p>

<p>I got in to Wash U with a superscore of ~2130 on my SATs (not that hot for a superscore), which, when put into the Wash U context, probably puts me at the low-end of the incoming freshman group. My SAT IIs definitely were not amazing (I even had a ~670 score flying around) and the stars of my application would have most likely been my extra-curriculars (which seem quite strong for you) and awards. In other words, I was probably just the average applicant. </p>

<p>Nevertheless, I went for an alumni interview where I argued with my interviewer, which, despite leading me to believe that I had completely destroyed my chances of getting in, probably helped me quite a bit as my interviewer told me later on (after I was accepted) that he had given me a thumbs up to the admissions office. </p>

<p>So I guess what I'm saying is that whilst I stressed over my scores a LOT during my application process, it wasn't my scores which got me in. Wash U does look at your application holistically and so, your scores may not mean as much to them as you think they do. Even so, I believe you can afford to increase your score by at least 50 points but don't go around thinking that a high score will surely get you in whereas a low score means a definite rejection/waitlist.</p>

#5

<p>A lot of people will tell you that your scores are really important. Truth is, they're not that important. You've got an excellent resume and I wouldn't be surprised at all if you were to be accepted. The thing is, Washington has a lot of great applicants, and competition gets worse each year as more people apply. I got in this past year but I deferred for a year. You have a hell of a lot more extracurriculars than I did, but I had an ACT superscore of 33. Each person is going to be different with scores and EC's and all that. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, sometimes that daunting fear of not having the right score isn't that big of a deal. You can stand out in other areas, as proven by everything you listed out. Of course, raising your score is something that will only boost your application. Right now though, you're looking pretty good.</p>

#6

<p>^An ACT score of 33 is well within the 25-75th percentile range though. There is that threshold where you have to be to remain competitive. The fact that a school does not admit many people below a certain treshold, DESPITE there being more applicants with those scores, indicates that people with those scores are not likely to get in, unless they are extremely atypical in some way compared to other applicants with those scores. I do agree that above that threshold, score differences matter much less, but they certainly matter below it (the distribution is like an S-function). I certainly believe people who retake 35s to get 36s are crazy. A 33 (I think I had a 32), is in the former group, while sub 30 scores are arguably not. At the same time, schools like WashU get a lot of applicants in that former group anyways, and that is why everything else in your application is so important.</p>

<p>That said, the OP's SAT scores is not really much lower than WashU's 25th percentile, so they're bad at all. The ACT score is a little on the low side, but he only needs one of the two.</p>

#7

<p>Wow thanks for the responses, they were much more positive than I was expecting :P
I know my ACT score is horrendous, it definitely wasn't my best effort but I like the SAT better so I plan on sticking to that and only submitting those scores.
I got my 2050 cold so hopefully I should be able to get that +50/100/150 points with some work.
However if I'm only able to improve my reading and writing scores and my math score pretty much stays the same do you think my writing focused extra curriculars would make it overlook-able?
Thanks for all of your help!</p>

#8

<p>I got in with a 30 ACT and a 2160 SAT... I think if you can improve your scores you should try. But don't feel like you have no chance if you dont.</p>