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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a junior who has straight As, highest rigor, 1500+ SAT, 2 varsity sports that he should be captain senior year, summer internships, academic clubs and competitions but no national or international recognition in anything.

He is such a hard working kid. I thought a 1500 would be good enough but he is trying to get 1550 on his SAT. Not sure how big of a difference 1510 or 1550 is.

I have seen some superstar kids get rejected from all the top schools and making me nervous.[/quote]

My nephew got into Yale (REA) and Harvard (RD) with a 1520. He had a very high (perfect) GPA and took most rigorous curriculum. I really don't think the SAT score going up 20 points here or there mattered. I think once you hit 1500, you clear a bar and it's about the rest of your application - GPA, recommendations, EC/activities, major, jobs, essay, full pay, etc.

I would put the additional energy into the rest of your son's profile, OP rather than wasting time trying to improve the SAT once you've already reached the 99th percentile.[/quote] This. I don't know why people keep thinking that there is a distinction between 1500 and 1550. The Harvard lawsuit explained that a 1500+ got the same as a 1600. Getting rejected with a 1500 will not be the reason for the rejection...[/quote]
I’ve heard the cutoff occurs at 1520/1530/1540, depending on the source. [/quote]

The cutoff is actually much lower to get your application read. Sometimes 1440.
The test score won't make your application - plenty of perfect test scores and 4.0uw aren't even waitlisted.

Now, having a higher test score can help bolster the case of a STEM candidate, but I know of a test-optional humanities applicant admitted to Northwestern this year in RD (private HS).

There is no clear line in the sand.[/quote]

That cutoff I mentioned was the score below which AOs in top Ivies would think your SAT score is low![/quote]

It's all about context and peer group. Look at your high school's college counseling profile - it will list the average.
From West Virginia, a 1400 would be considered amazing to Yale (and they have explicitly mentioned it on their podcast). Always, it's about high school context.[/quote]
The OP didn’t mention any hook (geographic or otherwise), so let’s just assume it’s the normal situation.[/quote]

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