<p>He scored a 31 composite (E-35, M-27, R-33, S-28), but with a little prep AND having taking it before, would a point or two help? Perhaps not even with admissions, but possibly merit aid?</p>
<p>I'm not sure how much difference any number of points makes. My son didn't take the ACT, just the SATs. He scored 197 on the PSAT, with no prep, and then took a Kaplan course offered at a discount through our town's community center. His SAT score was 2040, so it would appear that the course, or maybe just taking a number of practice exams during it, helped.</p>
<p>cpeltz, It might make a difference in merit aid, and it might not. I think it depends upon the school. Keep in mind that many schools will cap that merit aid based on his gpa too (which is unfair, because if you graduate from a tougher hs, your gpa is lower than if you graduated from a less rigorous hs). Some schools will post charts telling you the kind of merit aid you can expect. Some admission offices will tell you if you call and ask. I called 3 that had access to a chart. They were able to tell me that a 3.2 and a 1200 is x dollars, and a 3.5 and 1300 is y dollars. If your kid has a 3.2, they can have perfect SAT scores, but at a school like that. they will still only get x dollars (because they adhere to their chart). Other schools don't adhere to charts, and have other ways of deciding merit aid. At those schools increasing scores might be more helpful. I guess, it all depends on the individual school.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, I hadn't thought to call schools. Since we haven't yet started the visits, it's probably premature at this point. My son is (surprisingly) very willing to retake the ACT but absolutely not the SAT. He thought the ACT was much easier, and he did very well with no prep and no idea what the test was like. He's confident he will improve the scores. Of course, his time would be better spent improving his grades, but the 5 hour block of the ACT definitely would not be spent studying anyway!+++</p>
<p>CornellC08 - are you a student there? I think that's a very intriguing program. My son isn't sure, however, and I'd be interested in what a student thought of it.</p>
<p>He took a business class at a CC during a break, and it met 2X a weekfor 2.5 hrs. over 5-6 weeks. He aced it. I think it was because he knew what he had to focus on, and that focus is always a issue for him.</p>
<p>kwl718 -- Congratulations on your son's acceptance to Lawrence. It's a wonderful school. I think the fact that you are from one of the coasts may have helped -- last year my son from just down the road in Wisconsin never made it off the wait list with some substantially better stats. I got a bit of a vibe at the time that Lawrence was looking to diversify its class geographically. That may be good news for cpeltz's son if he can get over his initial impression. (Ironically, I think my son's college probably was more attracted to him because he was from outside its home state, too, and he's very happy there, so all's well.)</p>