Anonymous wrote:Assuming a kid wants to attend a college in the top 10. Is a 1590 or 1600 more helpful than a score in the range of 1530-1560? And is a 1600 better than a 1590?
Does it depend on his high school?

Of course it depends on high school. If the high school averages at 1000, 1500 is a superstar.

For T10 schools, 1580+ helps. I have seen several cases where 1580+ test score helps T10 admissions (with slightly lower gpa, slightly mid ECs, etc).

It also depends on colleges. For colleges that emphasize on intellectual fit, the impact of the test score plateaued after 1530. For T10 schools, the line is higher.

1560 or [780+780], see Caltech's bracket system.

I would have said it doesn't matter but there is evidence it does help. There's a journal article someone posted analyzing the effect of legacy preference on Asian student admissions that showed that students with SAT scores over 1560 did better than students in the lower 1500s. That said I think there are also diminishing returns. If you have a 1580 I certainly wouldn't spend time retaking.

NP. For a kid wanting a chance at T10, I'd aim for mid-1500s. But, there isn't a cutoff, and there are judgment calls to be made, e.g. how much does the kid want this.

Another factor to consider would be the GPA. If the transcript is insufficient for rigor or grades, SAT score isn't going to move the needle. Of course all

I have two kids at T10s, 4.0/1550 and 3.98/1560. Next kid is resistant to testing and prep; you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

Anonymous wrote:Assuming a kid wants to attend a college in the top 10. Is a 1590 or 1600 more helpful than a score in the range of 1530-1560? And is a 1600 better than a 1590?
Does it depend on his high school?

The data from Dartmouth, for that college at least, says that being in the 1550-1600 bin gives an applicant a higher chance of admission than one in the 1500-1550 bin.

In general the conventional wisdom is that a 1530 or above sets one apart.

My understanding is 1550 for T10s to feel "safe" but if a kid is struggling to get to 1550 and is 1500-1540, just be done with it and focus on other stuff.

Weirdos

I can tell from our naviance that 1520 and up kids get into HYP. No real difference btw red and green in that zone. Still lots more red

Anonymous wrote:1500+ is enough. After that, focus on other things, unless there’s a specific score cut-off for a merit scholarship.

+1

1500+ is enough. After that, focus on other things, unless there’s a specific score cut-off for a merit scholarship.

I feel that 1550 is sort of a cutoff line. No much difference above it. 1500-1550 need something else for Top10.

Say a kid scored 1530, your lowest example, in their first sitting. They are looking at their schedule ahead of submitting their college application.

They had the option of resitting the SAT plus all the prep required in the hope of getting a marginally higher score or to do an extra interesting EC, say a competition relevant to their major or a local internship.

There are only 24 hours in a day and a healthy teenager needs at least 8 hours sleep a day.

I would advise the kid to do the EC, I feel that colleges are going be more interested in that than an extra 70points on SAT.

I always figured that anything that translates into a 36 ACT is treated the same, since nearly all schools say they treat the two tests the same. So that’s 1570. (https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/scores/act-sat-concordance.html) If a school cares separately about the math section, it would be the same rule but applied only to the math section.

1600 or SHAME

Assuming a kid wants to attend a college in the top 10. Is a 1590 or 1600 more helpful than a score in the range of 1530-1560? And is a 1600 better than a 1590?
Does it depend on his high school?