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Watch this article as a video:
The question in the title of this post might seem a bit surprising if you know anything about me. After all, aren’t I, Kristina Semos, a top-ranking test prep and college application essay expert who’s personally coached hundreds of high schoolers and helped them get into hundreds of their dream schools? So, wouldn’t it be my party line that, yes, you NEED a top score to get into your Harvards, MITs, Stanfords, and UChicagos?
Early June is a great time to address this very common question. With the school year coming to an end, many rising Seniors plan to use the summer to get started on their college applications/Personal Statements. Or, if you’re a rising Junior, your testing timeline likely entails choosing between the SAT and ACT this summer.
Article Contents
1. Video version of this article
2. What matters most on a college application
3. Will a perfect score get me into every college on my list?
4. Why don’t all applicants with perfect test scores get into an elite school?
a. SAT/ACT score case study: Yale admitted students
5. So…DO I need a 100% on my standardized test?
6. What to focus on instead: the most efficient college apps plan
What matters most on a college application
When you’re applying to college, the full list of factors that make a difference to admissions officers is a LONG one.
But the most important parts of your application are usually:
Grades overall: your GPA across all the classes you’ve taken in high school.
Grades in college prep classes: your GPA in classes that are AP, IB, Honors, etc.
Academic rigor: did you take a challenging course load? An A- in AP Chem will make a bigger impression than an A+ in Flower Arranging.
Standardized test scores (if a college requires them): your scores on the SAT and ACT.
Now, some of you may be applying only to Test Optional colleges, and are choosing NOT to take the SAT or ACT. Which is a-ok, so long as you have carefully considered the pros and cons of this decision. If you won’t be sitting for either test, this post isn’t for you! (But please pass it onto any friends of yours who do find themselves in the test-taking boat!)
However, if you are in the class of 2025 or later, and thus more likely than not WILL have to take the Digital SAT or the ACT, read on! I’m going to clearly explain whether you need a 1600 (SAT) or 36 (ACT).
Will a perfect score get me into every college on my list?
When a new family first sits down at my desk for our Ace the Test: Game Plan™ consultation, we’ll typically discuss the colleges the student is interested in applying to. Often, this list consists of the same 20-30 colleges or so that my high-achieving clients are all interested in. When I start working my magic and show them the “median 50 percentile ranges” for these schools so we can create a target SAT or ACT score together, many of these new clients make the knee-jerk assumption that they need a 1600 on the Digital SAT or a 36 on the ACT. After all, HOW WILL JOHNNY GET INTO PRINCETON IF HE’S NOT UTTERLY PERFECT?! (I’m using Princeton as an example here, but insert the name of any top-tier or Ivy, and you get my point!)
But the thing is, a perfect score on the ACT and SAT is pretty rare! Only about one-tenth of 1% of ACT test takers get a 36, and it’s roughly the same (a fraction of one percent) who get a perfect score on the SAT. Seems like if you spend so much time trying to grab that gold ring, the admissions committee has practically got to let you in, right?
Not necessarily, I’m afraid. Stanford rejects around 69% of applicants with perfect SAT scores, while Harvard rejects over half. That’s pretty daunting! I mean, if all those “perfect” students got rejected, do you even stand a chance??
Don’t worry: you very well might! Let’s break down why.
Why don’t all applicants with perfect test scores get into an elite school?
It’s actually pretty straightforward:
A perfect test score will not disguise an applicant who’s boring, who only cares about scores and grades and has no real passion in life.
A perfect score will not save you from a past 3.5 years of slacking off at school and doing the bare minimum to keep your mom off your back.
A perfect score will not override major personality red flags, like being arrogant, smug, judgmental or condescending.
A perfect score will not make admissions officers ignore a cliché application that shows no self-awareness, no non-academic interests, no risk-taking, and no initiative.
SAT / ACT score case study: Yale
This might all sound kind of grim so far. But, we look at some of the statistics in a different light, we can begin to see where they might not necessarily spell doom for your top-school dreams. For the 2021-22 admissions cycle, the median 50% of students actually admitted to Yale scored 1470-1560 on the SAT or between 33-35 on the ACT. That means that half of the students who got in fit into that range, sure. But it also means that 1 in 4 were above it (likely perfect scorers)…and that 1 in 4 were below it. Yes, you heard me right. Below it.
And because I love numbers, let’s get geeky with it! That same year, Yale had 50,060 applicants and admitted only 4.57% of those applicants. That means it admitted roughly 2,288 applicants.
Even IF we’re assuming the 25% above the range all had perfect scores, that would give us 572 perfect scorers who were admitted…but that would ALSO mean that Yale admitted 1,716 NON-perfect scorers!
So....DO I need a 100% on my standardized test?
If a perfect score isn’t a guarantee of admission, and there are actually more non-perfect scorers than perfect scorers getting into elite institutions…why are you driving yourself nuts trying to hit that 100%? And, more importantly, why are so many other test prep companies encouraging you to do so?
I’ll come out and say it: I’m not going to recommend you push yourself to the brink of insanity just for the sake of “perfection.”
I’m here to tell you that turning a 34 into a 36 is often a waste of your time.
Thing is, nailing a score close to the top gets you almost as much credit, in the admissions office’s eyes, as nailing a perfect score. It makes sure the door to a prestigious institution isn’t slammed shut before you’ve even lifted up your hand to knock. But that’s all a standardized test score can really do, as Stanford’s and Harvard’s patterns of rejecting applications with perfect scores show us. A strong score is just another piece of evidence that you’re college-ready…NOT a magic formula that heals any other flaws in an application. (Although it can, granted, sometimes be an IMPORTANT piece of evidence—if your coursework rigor and transcript are not great and therefore don’t provide sufficient proof of your academic readiness themselves.)
But now that the door is ajar because of your strong score, you need to be the type of interesting, passionate, inquisitive student that the college admissions officer knows will contribute to the campus. That means pouring time and energy into your talents! You need to show a strong transcript—which takes consistent effort (and time!) throughout the course of your high school career to study, do homework, and prepare for finals and tests. And you also need to convey all of that coolness and intellectual curiosity creatively and eloquently in your college application essays (this post can help with that!). Which takes thought and—you guessed it—TIME.
Time that you can’t afford to squander trying to be completely perfect on your SAT or ACT. Or worrying about it.
The most efficient college app plan
Instead, what if your test prep process could be streamlined, so that you are using half the time, but still locking in 90% of your test score potential? So that you score in the top end of your dream school’s median range and call it a day with test prep…and use the rest of your time to BECOME that amazingly interesting and inquisitive person who’s found their purpose and shows tremendous initiative turning their passions into reality?
If this sounds appealing to you, then I’m your gal! Book your Ace the Test: Game Plan™ to see how I can make your junior and senior years saner by dramatically increasing your SAT and ACT scores in the most streamlined, strategic way possible! I also have self-study options available if you’d prefer to tackle the Digital SAT or the ACT on your own time with a fully guided digital course.
