<p>Ryno - My D has similar GPA but only scored a bit higher on her first SATs. She's spending the summer interning in a field she's planning to study and studying daily for a retake of the SAT and also for the ACT while also doing her summer AP work. She's not hanging out and having alot of fun in other words, but understands that if she wants to get into competitive programs these things will help her.</p>
<p>I would say that if
GPA=4 years of hard work, then
SAT= 10 years of lower monthly payments!!</p>
<p>If you want to feel more secure in your admissions chances and want the merit money that I'm sure you deserve, just so a little more work for it. Use your time to take practice tests and maybe take the ACT as well. I have a feeling she's always going to do better on the ACT than the SAT and you may too. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Ryno-- despite the fact that MOST schools need standardized tests, there are more and more that do not. Middlebury immediately comes to mind, and I know there are more; that can be researched. If you are a better student than a test taker (and those students definitely exist and thrive), then perhaps you can find SAT optional schools that will fit your criteria for programs.</p>
<p>At Md and Pitt I think you have no chance. You might object that schools use the SAT(or ACT) but they do.</p>
<p>Ryno - It's not too late to improve your position. I strongly recommend that you purchase an ACT review book, spend the next few weeks before school begins taking practice tests and then sit for the ACT. Some strong students find that they score better on the ACT than they do on the SAT. It's worth a shot.</p>
<p>"on the fence" Yep. Sometimes not even on it with high SATs and GPA when it comes to big merit money at name schools. You know that colleges as a rule look at BOTH test scores and grades. But really even with outstanding numbers on both, getting sizeable merit money is very difficult. Many threads about this on CC. Read about kids with both high scores and grades trying to get big money for college.</p>