5 ms·

I’m probably a failure in the eyes of people like you. I’m 23. What should I do now instead? I only got a 1500/1600 on M+R. Didn’t get into any elite schools.

I’m probably a failure in the eyes of people like you. I’m 23. What should I do now instead? I only got a 1500/1600 on M+R. Didn’t get into any elite schools. This is a serious question. I didn’t score well on the SAT and didn’t have prep tutors despite having very intelligent parents and lots of prep.

scarface74 7y ago
I went to a no name state college in the same city I grew up in - you know the one I said was the one of the poorest cities in the US? Why? They gave me a full ride scholarship including room and board even though I stayed at home. I really just wanted the piece of paper to get pass the HR filters of “needs a degree in CS”. My first job out of college based on an internship I had the year before was as a computer operator. I took it so I could move to the “big city” where I still live and figure out my next steps.
- akhilcacharya 7y ago
  Well, I didn't get into my school's full ride scholarship either....
  - scarface74 7y ago
    Well, right after I graduated, any state resident with a 3.0 GPA and 1000 SAT score (out of 1600) could get their tuition paid for any public college in our state thanks to the lottery funding. The standards are slightly higher now and it only covers 90% of tuition I believe. So there is that....
    - akhilcacharya 7y ago
      Yeah, that's definitely a difference. I still feel the sting of not performing well on my SAT to this day, and it's been 5 years! It's like a mark against my humanity.
DuskStar 7y ago
99th percentile is "didn't score well" nowadays? (going by the 2018 charts - the ones from when you were presumably in high school are out of 2400 - and in 2012 the cutoff for 99th percentile was 2210/2400 [0]) 0: https://blog.prepscholar.com/sat-historical-percentiles-for-2014-2013-2012-and-2011 https://blog.prepscholar.com/sat-historical-percentiles-for-...
- akhilcacharya 7y ago
  My superscore was 2230. 99th percentile or not, it’s irrelevant because it’s not good enough to get into any top schools.
  - DuskStar 7y ago
    That's actually around the median for Harvard students, IIRC. It's not enough to guarantee your admission, but then 2400 isn't either.
    - akhilcacharya 7y ago
      The median includes recruited athletes and legacies. It’s effectively useless as a measure.
      - DuskStar 7y ago
        Half of Harvard students are athletes and legacies? In any case, my experience was that SAT basically doesn't matter past 2200/2400 - everything after that is extracurriculars, connections and luck.
        akhilcacharya 7y ago
        I have doubts - most people I know got far more than me and none got into elite institutions. I can’t even imagine how exponentially superior the people who got into multiple must be.

scarface74 7y ago

I went to a no name state college in the same city I grew up in - you know the one I said was the one of the poorest cities in the US? Why? They gave me a full ride scholarship including room and board even though I stayed at home. I really just wanted the piece of paper to get pass the HR filters of “needs a degree in CS”. My first job out of college based on an internship I had the year before was as a computer operator. I took it so I could move to the “big city” where I still live and figure out my next steps.

akhilcacharya 7y ago
Well, I didn't get into my school's full ride scholarship either....
- scarface74 7y ago
  Well, right after I graduated, any state resident with a 3.0 GPA and 1000 SAT score (out of 1600) could get their tuition paid for any public college in our state thanks to the lottery funding. The standards are slightly higher now and it only covers 90% of tuition I believe. So there is that....
  - akhilcacharya 7y ago
    Yeah, that's definitely a difference. I still feel the sting of not performing well on my SAT to this day, and it's been 5 years! It's like a mark against my humanity.

DuskStar 7y ago

99th percentile is "didn't score well" nowadays? (going by the 2018 charts - the ones from when you were presumably in high school are out of 2400 - and in 2012 the cutoff for 99th percentile was 2210/2400 [0]) 0: https://blog.prepscholar.com/sat-historical-percentiles-for-2014-2013-2012-and-2011 https://blog.prepscholar.com/sat-historical-percentiles-for-...

akhilcacharya 7y ago
My superscore was 2230. 99th percentile or not, it’s irrelevant because it’s not good enough to get into any top schools.
- DuskStar 7y ago
  That's actually around the median for Harvard students, IIRC. It's not enough to guarantee your admission, but then 2400 isn't either.
  - akhilcacharya 7y ago
    The median includes recruited athletes and legacies. It’s effectively useless as a measure.
    - DuskStar 7y ago
      Half of Harvard students are athletes and legacies? In any case, my experience was that SAT basically doesn't matter past 2200/2400 - everything after that is extracurriculars, connections and luck.
      - akhilcacharya 7y ago
        I have doubts - most people I know got far more than me and none got into elite institutions. I can’t even imagine how exponentially superior the people who got into multiple must be.