<p>Hey, I am an international applicant (Nepali) and am relatively new on this forum. I had a really important question to ask since I’m applying Ed to Brown because I am hoping that I will have a better chance at it than at RD. Anyways, I don’t really know about my chances but the rest of my application is reasonable and I am hopeful about Brown. As for the SAT:</p>
<p>SAT: 620/730/650 (2000)
It was my first attempt since my school did not arrange anything for the SAT and I had roughly two months to prepare for it. I am retaking it in December but since I cannot make changes on the commonapp after I submit my application to Brown, I will have to mention that, right? So wouldn’t Brown defer me to see if I score better on the December test date and review my application again in the RD phase? I don’t understand what to do. Please help me.</p>
<p>For ED, Brown will only consider your earlier SAT score. You could get scores in if you took it during the November date, but December is way too late. I’d suggest just applying RD and taking the December SAT.</p>
<p>No, I get that and I know what you mean but I don’t want to waste the increase in admission rate that applying ED would grant me. What I’m trying to ask is, even though they only consider the October SAT score, if I mention that I am retaking the SAT in December (I have not registered yet), wouldn’t they automatically defer me to see if I can get a better score? I mean, if I did not mention that, they would just have the Oct SAT score and the rest of my application to decide whether to admit me or not, but if I mention that I want to take the SAT in Dec, wouldn’t they be better off deferring me? I really don’t know what to do because I am applying ED to Brown already, but if Brown doesn’t accept me, I would probably need the score boost that the Dec SAT may grant me for my RD application to other colleges. I had already signed the early decision agreement before the Oct SAT scores were published so I have to apply ED. Please help me out here. Should I retake the SAT? I don’t understand what to do.</p>
<p>Hi Relativity? I think the best thing to do is the simplest one. And it has the benefit of telling Brown the truth. Put down your October scores, say you will re-take them in December. This is what you are planning to do anyway. </p>
<p>If they like you enough overall (SAT’s are not everything) then they will accept you ED. In other words, you have a chance to get in ED despite your not-so-stellar SAT scores.</p>
<p>If they like you but they hesitate and prefer waiting to see how you do in December, then they will defer you. Be outright honest with them – it always pays off (and will not diminish your chances). </p>
<p>Consider this: if you don’t tell them you are re-taking SAT’s in December, then they will think you are completely satisfied with your October results – which could have a negative impact on your application. If you tell them you are taking them again, there is a chance they will think: OK he’s great but his SAT’s are not super brilliant. But he knows that too, see, he’s taking them again.</p>
<p>That’s brilliant! Yeah, honesty definitely is the best policy. I can see how mentioning it would affect their view of my application. Thank you very much! I’ll just try my best with the rest of the application and the supplement. Thanks again! :)</p>