I have a 4.0 GPA, but my high school ranking is 26%
I have many extra curricular activities including UIL, 4-H, showing animals, ext.
I have one great letter of recommendation and I have went on a campus tour to show interest.
My ACT is a 23, which does not accurately represent my intelligence considering i did terrible in science and im wanting to major in science. I’ve always been great a science. Its my thing, so im pretty upset about my score.
does anyone know my chances?
It is certainly possible to get in with a 23, especially with your GPA. Have you take. The act more than once? If not, I would strongly suggest taking a few practice tests, particularly the science section. That is one that you would greatly benefit from becoming more familiar with. It is more a time pressed section so having more practice is very helpful. Also I would try the sat to see if you do a bit better on that one. Your chances of admission would be greatly improved with a better test score.
I’ve taken it 3 times. never practice though. I am by no means a fast reader and that is what kills me on the science. Do I have time to take another test and get it into my application? I want to apply fairly early.
Thanks for the help.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there are test days in the summer. I so wish they would offer that. Would leave make sense to give them during a time when the students would have the time to prepare. The next test date is September 9th. It might be worth waiting on that test to turn in your application and take several practice tests to see if you can get that test score up. My next advice is to make sure you do all 3 essays and make them really good.
A&M admits most of its applicants based on class rank: top 10%, top 20%. Even for top 20% students, there’s no guarantee you’ll get your preferred majors.
A 23 won’t help so prepping before retaking is important; even though it’s not the same test, using Khan academy can help.
Go to your library and borrow a recent act prep book and practice the science, borrow Melzer 's act grammar. Practice focusing on your mistakes.
As of now, A&M is a high reach. Your best outcome is Blinn Team.
Texas Tech is another reach but more reachable.
Texas Lutheran, St Edwards, UTD, and Texas State are matches.
You can apply and then update your file with test scores as they come in, up to Dec 1st. The school will count only your highest & ignore the rest so you can direct submit. The school uses rank not GPA by quartile, so you are in the second quartile – check back to see if the 26% changes to 25% due to people being added to the senior class - for some schools that happens, they drop off until summer school is completed due to not having enough credits(failing junior year) then redeem themselves with summer school grades & re-enter the senior class (you can ask the registrar if your school works that way or not). As is, with a 26% and 23 ACT, I’d say this is a far reach for you. The exception would be special circumstances (which you mention none). Be sure to find a backup school that you really like and apply there as well. After 3 tries on your own for the ACT – sign up for a review course & also try the SAT.
thanks for the help. I didn’t know that i could keep testing even after I submitted my application.
Thanks to everyone.
My freshman roommate got in with a 23 ACT, a 3.5 GPA, and being ranked #9 in her class. Nothing extraordinary when it came to volunteering and overall her other stats were average. If she was accepted into May’s, I don’t see why you can’t be accepted.
Texas A&M focuses primarily on class rank. #9 in class got her in, not her gpa or act.
Top 10% in TX are automatic admits. They only have to submit the scores from ACT or SAT, scores don’t count other than filling the box. That is why the stats are so skewed here – many do not even apply anywhere else if they are automatic admits. So, they have no incentive to spend time studying nor re-taking the exams to showcase their true abilities. Some students don’t even bother paying to submit a higher score.
If the ACT isn’t working out, try the SAT.
Other than engineering, it’s first come first serve, so those that apply early (with enough stats to get into A&M overall) will get their major.
so is everyone pretty much saying they wont look at my 4.0 just my 26% ??? that’s dumb.
Well, look at it from their point of view: there are 25% students in your class who did better than you, probably by taking harder classes and doing well in them.
They want kids who handled ap Chem, AP calc , and AP physics with an A for example.
UT also only looks at class rank (they don’t evaluate GPA either). So it isn’t just TAMU.
That’s because GPA is pretty meaningless without standardization. There are kids at my school with 3.8 GPA’s that have 34+ on their ACT. Would you say that your “4.0” GPA is superior to theirs? Not necessarily because every school has different standards.
Class rank is much fairer because class rank shows how you did compared to the kids around you, when given equal opportunity.
I have taken or will have taken all those mentioned classes and with an A in the ones that are already completed… ha
I made a 5 on my ap physics exam. Will that be seen? I am the best at physics in my entire district(3A schools only) and 3rd in regionals(only the kids that competed). And physics is the major I want into.
The reason my peers are ranked higher is because I am terrible at reading, and I never took any AP english classes. Im also a very slow reader due to me being dyslexic. On my school transcript it used to say that but then I started doing better so I am no longer classified as that, but yet dyslexia can’t be cured.
A&M is my dream school. Its close to home, well respected, and has a great physics department. So, if I do get rejected, can someone tell me how hard it would be to get into A&M at Galveston and then transfer to College Station? Also, will transferring into A&M effect my chances of getting into a physics major?
Will they take into consideration that I did manage to get an A in AP physics, AP chem, AP calc and dual credit US History?
Dyslexia is a special consideration, you will need to let TAMU know about it. It doesn’t have to be on your transcripts, you can write it into your essay. Explain your situation, your ability to overcome & the handicap it is for the exams. There is an admission category called Gateway. That is a summer admit trial period, if you pass your summer courses you become a full admit in the fall. It is for students with special circumstances, whatever that might be. To answer your other questions, since you’re a review admit - they look at everything to make decisions including your classes, your school write up ( academics of your peers ), essays, awards (do you have an award for your high physics score?), test scores, rank and recommendations (if submitted). Work very hard on your essays & pick your recommendation writer carefully. Good luck!
Yes, I do have awards for my physics placement in UIL but there’s no award for the AP test.
I chose my physics teacher(graduated from A&M) and my UIL coach for recommendations.
And which essay topic should I talk about my dyslexia in topic A, B, or C? you can view the prompt for each here:
https://www.applytexas.org/adappc/includes_v2/essay_prompts_2017.pdf
Every school calculates GPA differently. Once you submit your application, the school you’re applying to will recalculate your GPA based on your grades in academic classes (and possibly rigor of class).