I have a relatively low score in SAT. Are the Ivy Leagues impossible?

Question

My score is 2100, with 800 in maths. But I'm afraid my reading score is too low for me to be considered in Harvard or Yale, or Stanford,or MIT
I have a GPA of 4.6 ( on 5). I'm also a member of my school editorial board and the students council. I've taken professional training in vocal music, and am into art, debating and atheletics. I've won several national scholarships a scholarship to study in singapore.
I'm actively involved with an NGO against child labour, and have participated in international conferences, where I represented my country, India. I've done several surveys in the villages, and have written an evaluation report for the NGO.
Would these extra-curriculars make up for my SAT-1? I'll be giving SAT-II, where I should get above 760.
Should I apply with my present resume, or should I wait and give my SAT-I again ? ( If I do, I'll have to give it in June, which might get too late. I also dont want my parents to spend double because I didn't get enough the first time

could you name some 'good' universities, where I stand a chance?

Answer 1

I don't think that it is impossible for you to get into an Ivy or one of the other elite schools such as Duke, Stanford or UChicago. Aslong as you keep in mind, many thousands of top students are applying to each of these schools, and they are rather small, each of them only enrolls about 1000 - 1600 freshmen each year. So, to a large extent, the admissions depend on factors beyond your control - how the people at the college want to balance the class between American and foreign students, or between techie or non techies, or male/female, etc

Each of the Ivys and the other elite schools has its own personality. A person who is perfect for Dartmouth is not a good fit at Brown or Columbia. A person who is a perfect fit at Duke is not well suited for UChicago. Columbia is in the heart of the city, Cornell is in the remote country in a small town.

I think you should definitely take a closer look at the other elite schools. You list mainly academic credentials so UChicago might be a great fit for you, but if you are really into Athletics then Stanford or Duke might be a better choice. Chicago, Harvard and Brown are probably more left wing. Stanford, Princeton and Dartmouth more right wing (but still not very right wing).

Another thing to consider is that there are many excellent schools in the next 100 of the US News rankings. Schools like Syracuse, Fordham, Tulane, Rochester, George Washington, BC, BU, Reed, and some of the state universities such as Virginia, UC Berkeley, Michigan. Not to mention, the excellent and highly respected small colleges such as Williams, Middlebury, Claremont, Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Davidson, Grinnell, etc

Do some more detailed research, keep a positive attitude and you will find a school that is a good match.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Based on your stats you would stand a good chance at most schools if you were American, but since you are international then you have stronger competition with more competitive stats. Still apply though, because you are competitive, even for the top schools you listed. I would suggest looking at other safety schools though. Do not be discouraged by your SAT score because it is extremely high, probably in the 99th percentile of all who take it. As for your ECs...yes, they make a huge difference. They are very impressive, and they will make you stand out in comparison of the other international students with perfect SAT scores. As for other schools you can apply to...umm it depends on what program you are interested in pursuing, and what location/atmosphere you want. If you only care about prestige then just look up the schools on the us news site.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

after a while they stop listing SAT scores, but you can find those online.

Answer 3

There is no lowest SAT score. If you're the child of an American president, apparently you can bomb your GPA and SAT and still get into top schools. And there's no highest score either, because they routinely turn down perfect scorers (on GPA and SAT). So do your best and if that's not very good, rethink your choices of schools.

Answer 4

i'm pretty sure 2100 is good enough to give you a good chance at the ivies, and those sound like good extra-curriculars, it would definitely be worth a shot applying, you should check their websites and the princeton review to find their average SAT scores.You didn't say how low your reading score is, if it is really low then it would be worth your while taking the test again.

Good Luck anyway! I was hoping to someday get in to a university like MIT though if the other applicants are as good as you i won't have great chances.

Answer 5

if you really want to go to a university, it's always worth it to apply.
there's no specific cut-off for any major school, so you aren't out of the running, but you're right, the scores are a little low. take it again, apply this coming year, and see what happens. but don't bank on MIT, stanford, or the ivies. be sure to have a few safety schools in mind if you really want to study in the US.