What are competitive SAT scores for top colleges
I scored a 1540 on the SAT. My twin sister scored a 1530.
Are these scores competitive to get into top colleges (harvard Mit stanford etc.)
I've heard that once you get 1540+ threshhold, they don't care about 1600 vs a 1540 because simply it can be a 1-2 question margin of error.
Is this true?
Thanks all
Earn karma by helping others:
1 answer
I think that what matters more to the admissions is what you did during high school rather than just SAT's. You are right, however, that there is not much of a difference between a 1540/1530 and a 1570 or even a 1600. The SAT in this case will not be the dealbreaker, or the GPA if we consider it 3.8 and above.
Nevertheless, your demographics matter a lot. If you are international students, your chances of admission are twice as low with such SAT (again, given the fact that everything else in the application is in place such as GPA, Recommendation Letters, Extracurriculars). Generally, the Admissions in top tier colleges want to see that you overachieved your demographical opportunity sets. If your family income is high and you did not devote yourself to anything that you are passionate about, that will be a dealbreaker; the opposite applies if you have low income and extraordinary achievements; however, you may get rejected for totally random reasons. If you are not a good fit for a college, but you are qualified, you will get rejected for sure, and vice versa.
I hope that this is helpful.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!
1540 is great but what will get you in is your list of ECs and internships etc. The most prestigious the Ec are the better the odds.