CONTAGIOUS 1500+ on SAT. Does it really matter?🥶

More often than ever, students are scrambling to score a 1500+ on SAT. Some of them are trying so desperately hard to ultimately land their dream universities, and others have reasons as unjustifiable as proving themselves to someone. Taking today’s climate into consideration - which I am basing on my experience and observation - I’ll tell you if it’s even worth it📝. 

Guess why I titled this post with the word “ Contagious”? It means something spreading swiftly. SAT 1500+ has just become truly common. There are two things to blame for this transformation; again, that is my subjective view. First has to do how the test is formatted: paper-based SAT Reading&Writing would expose test-takers to 5 lengthy passages and 52 questions. That would put them under serious time pressure, and test their critical thinking skills and reading abilities more extensively. They would have to analyze and study the passage in its entirety, because some questions would draw from others. Now, things are different. Students have 27 small passages for each question, where they do not need to care about locating an answer: it is there on the paper. I scored 730 on EBRW Section when I took SAT 2 YEARS ago, and trying DSAT (Digital SAT), I am scoring 800 consistently in the EBRW Section. What does that mean? Since scoring an 800 in Maths has always been easy, the same now applies to the EBRW Section of SAT, making it more manageable than ever. This has resulted in a recent surge in 1500+s, with every top applicant having that score in his/her application🏛🥇. 

NOW, DO YOU REALLY NEED IT? SAT is - not questionably - a significant part of your application. However, trying to score 1550+ is definitely not worth it. At the end of the day, there are tens of students submitting the same score, and you will fail to stand out. Once you hit the target, 1500+, no matter if it is 1520 or 1550, keep going. Focus more on qualitative aspects of your application: get involved in research, try to land a decent internship, raise your volunteering hours, and continue on achieving your athletic or academic goals. You do not need test scores to boast of - you need worthy stories to elaborate on in your supplementals and a persona with a range of positive personality traits🚣‍♂️🏊‍♂️. 

THAT BEING SAID, take as many tests as you can. Enroll into AP classes, take Cambridge Qualifications, and retake your tests only if you don’t need to spend excessive amounts of time on them. DO WHAT MATTERS🏋️‍♀️!

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