College admissions in the US, how important is your SAT score? January 2019

The answer - it depends…

Depends on the type of college you want to get admission to – Some US colleges need a great SAT score while other colleges do not consider the SAT score that important compared to say your GPA or Letters of Recommendation.

Depends on the subjects you want to take in College – There are Colleges that have very high level Math and Sciences courses and they will definitely look at your SAT score first and foremost for some of the undergraduate courses you have applied for.

Depends on the overall package you present to the Admissions Officer of that College – In the end, your application must convince the Admissions Officer that you will be an asset to the College and will excel in the chosen subject. Here, SAT score is just one of the important deciding criteria.

Let’s elaborate on each of the above three points:

Type of College:

It is a known fact that to get into the top 25 Colleges in the US, the SAT score is critical, if not the most important selection criteria. If your dream is to graduate from an Ivy League School then you better focus on getting a very high SAT score along with great grades in your high school.

The SAT Score plays an important role in the go-no-go decision to admit a student – The cut-off score is used to focus on the top 15% of students who have applied. For this pool of students who make the cut-off and their applications processed further, the actual SAT score now takes a back seat!

Yeah, that’s correct – The top colleges want to admit students who have done very well academically all through high school also and not just on the day of the SAT for a few hours.

So yes, Top Schools have high SAT score cut-off but do not focus on SAT alone for admission.

Then there over 800 Colleges in the US that do not consider SAT score that important, so do your ground work in understanding the Types of College you are aiming for.

Subjects you are interested in:

SAT tests your knowledge in English, Math and subjects you choose from Languages, History, and Sciences. But no College has the same cut-off in SAT score for all courses they offer.

Which subjects interested you in High School? Which Subjects and Sports or extra-curricular activities did you excel in? Choose the subject and then narrow down the good Colleges to get a better idea of the cut-off and weightage given to SAT score.

Overall Package:

You are going to be part of the College history, part of their investment in time and money – Why should they pick you? What is special about you? How will you convince them that you have it in you to finish grad school in flying colors and bring great name to your Alma Mater?

SAT score is just one of the criteria – Colleges look at how you well you have performed in the subjects that you have taken up in high school and the difficulty level of the subjects. They look at budding leadership skills that you demonstrate through extra-curricular activities taken up.

Last but not the least, excellent Letters of Recommendation from your high school play a very important role as well.

So, in a nut shell – do not sweat over your SAT score that much.

Do your best in SAT and apply to Colleges that excel in teaching the courses you want to study after doing thorough homework on the weightage and preference given to SAT score.

Good Luck!