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> All the best colleagues I've worked with aced the SAT and/or other standardized tests

I did not do well on my SATs (1500/1600) - do you think there's any way to make up for this? Or am I supposed to be as unimpressive as I was at 17 forever?

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I believe 1500/1600 is top 2%, so it's weird you'd consider that not "well" to me.

It’s not good enough to get into any top school, and top 2% is simply not good enough when it’s effectively the same as the top 20%.

It's enough to get into any state school, and many people in places like MIT/Harvard/other-here have scores around yours.

It's definitely in range [1]. You could also consider retaking it, or taking the GMAT, LSAT, or GRE.

[1]https://www.thoughtco.com/sat-scores-for-ivy-league-admissio...

That range includes triple legacies, Jared Kushner types and recruited athletes. I doubt it’s applicable to people like me.

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