HSE Admissions - How did I not get in?

WordJumble · Post by **WordJumble** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:55 pm

If anybody is familiar with the HSE SAT admission process I'd like to hear your story.

346 aplicants for 23 spots.
Lowest mark accetped 1320.
My mark: 1310.

I am a native English speaker. I did really well on the Reading Comprehension section but only got a 630 on the Math section. The Lowest accepted Math score was 770/800!!!!! People who go to Yale don't get those kind of scores! But that also means the lowest accepted reading score was only 550 (VERY average). Is it fair that some applicants received inflated scores because of the math section?

I feel so dejected. I know there were a lot of applicants this year (more than 4x more than last year), but I really thought I had made it. A 1310 is a good mark, especially considering it was my first time taking the test. I studied like crazy for it and thought I pulled it off. When I checked the list this morning I felt like throwing up when it said I didn't make it. I feel terrible, but I can't be the only one.

Did anyone else get this close?

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Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:05 pm

WordJumble wrote:How did I not get in?

WordJumble wrote: Lowest mark accetped 1320.
My mark: 1310.

My short, alcohol-fuelled assessment, thinks maybe you missed by 10 points?

Wishing you better luck in the future.

WordJumble · Post by **WordJumble** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:24 pm

Yeah I know...

My point was that I thought 1310 would be good enough to get in. Evidently I was wrong. I'm just having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I have to change my direction in life over such a small margin...I feel almost cheated....

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:28 pm

But whats your location in the line is now what counts, theres always people getting somewhere else so the queue might nudge... difference is if you're # 27 or #327

Mark I. · Post by **Mark I.** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:33 pm

Try again next year with better luck.

I remember a technique I used when studying for business administration entrance exams long ago: I herd one familiar girl was doing the same thing, and we started present questions about our material to each other - that was the most effective way to active knowledge, instead of passive. That way one really learns how to answer.

She was 3rd out of some 450 applicants, I was 11th, 15 best scores were taken straight in, another 15 based on combined high school (lukio) diploma grades and that entrance exam score. I think I got the best score on economics -section, 60 multiple choices (or was it 30, I´m not sure I remember it), I got 59 right and left one without an answer, so I got 59,5 points.

WordJumble · Post by **WordJumble** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:36 pm

Pursuivant wrote:But whats your location in the line is now what counts, theres always people getting somewhere else so the queue might nudge... difference is if you're # 27 or #327

For some reason that for the life of me I can't figure out there is no waiting list at HSE....

If anybody has been in a similar situation I would really appreciate some words of wisdom. I seriously feel about 2 inches tall at the moment.

ajdias · Post by **ajdias** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:42 pm

WordJumble wrote:I am a native English speaker. I did really well on the Reading Comprehension section but only got a 630 on the Math section. The Lowest accepted Math score was 770/800!!!!! People who go to Yale don't get those kind of scores! But that also means the lowest accepted reading score was only 550 (VERY average). Is it fair that some applicants received inflated scores because of the math section?

Probably because most ppl applying are non-natives. Years ago I tried going trough SAT and failed miserably, due to my english... The following year I got in and received compliments on my GMAT score (in the mean time I had graduated from my uni back home).

Good luck for next year!

WordJumble · Post by **WordJumble** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:58 pm

ajdias wrote: Probably because most ppl applying are non-natives.

[/quote]

Yes I realize that most applicants don't have English as a first language. My rhetorical question was: "Is it FAIR that applicants who get very high math scores but only mediocre English scores get into the uni when students who do well in both areas (like myself) get rejected?"

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:09 pm

well its fair if you think of it as not being too advantageous for some - as mathematics is an "international language" - ajdias, mark and you would not have any "unfair advantage" over each other in maths. maybe thats what counts in business - maths

ajdias · Post by **ajdias** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:18 pm

WordJumble wrote:
ajdias wrote: Probably because most ppl applying are non-natives.

Yes I realize that most applicants don't have English as a first language. My rhetorical question was: "Is it FAIR that applicants who get very high math scores but only mediocre English scores get into the uni when students who do well in both areas (like myself) get rejected?"

Let's turn it around. Is it fair that native english students should have such an advantage? HSE is not a language school. English/Language is important but what is the SAT the best possible test to evaluate candidates from international backgrounds?

Btw, is 550 a mediocre score? I think my score was in that range

AldenG · Post by **AldenG** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:21 pm

I'm so sorry to hear about this disappointment. I know how tough that can be.

That does sound like an awfully high math requirement. I don't know how the current-day SATs are, but back when I took them, 770 on the math would have been quite high in the 99th percentile. One-in-500, 1-in-1000, maybe -- I'm not sure. I recall that 750 was above 99th percentile for all takers but only 1-in-100 for uni-bound takers. It's a humbling statistic but still a fairly exclusionary standard to apply as a minimum. Is HSE one of the international leaders?

I suppose it comes down to competition. You mention Yale and SAT's, so I'm assuming you're American. Stanford or MIT would be a better point of reference, where quite a few students get 800's. Yale is not a math-centric school and even though its averages are pushed up by the high requirements for students who enter on the merit system, they are also held down by the large number of students who enter on the legacy system. (Must. bite. tongue. Must. not. make. any. President. jokes.)

It's possible the HSE admissions department doesn't quite understand the SAT rankings or (more likely) chooses to require higher scores from foreigners. On the other hand, math and science are after all Finland's strongest educational areas and they are among our weakest. Finland's achievement levels in math and science for university-bound high-school students blow ours clear out of the water. In fact, historically they have blown almost everyone else's achievement levels out of the water. I'm not talking about you in particular now, simply the level of expectation in the respective school systems.

What are the options you're weighing now?

AldenG · Post by **AldenG** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:25 pm

ajdias wrote: Btw, is 550 a mediocre score? I think my score was in that range

In the U.S. it gets you into many state universities but you'd need special circumstances (such as non-native speaker like you are) to get into private universities with it.

WordJumble · Post by **WordJumble** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:31 pm

ajdias wrote:
Let's turn it around. Is it fair that native english students should have such an advantage? HSE is not a language school.

Good point. I didn't really consider that...

MagicJ · Post by **MagicJ** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:50 pm

HSE Helsinki School of Economics. That's why.

I'm crap at maths, knew it would be an issue doing SATs so i'm going to Haaga-Helia instead. The entrance exam was easier than a SAT but it did contain some maths.
It just depends on what degree program you want to follow, you obviously chose something based around finance.

forest_girl · Post by **forest_girl** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:21 pm

MagicJ wrote:HSE Helsinki School of Economics. That's why.

I'm crap at maths, knew it would be an issue doing SATs so i'm going to Haaga-Helia instead. The entrance exam was easier than a SAT but it did contain some maths.
It just depends on what degree program you want to follow, you obviously chose something based around finance.

Which program in HH have you applied for? Have you been accepted?

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