<p>Alright so I'm a senior in high school with a 3.5 GPA and in top 15% of my class. 27 act and a 1720 sat 1200 cr+m. Captain of cross country and track, had a job for a year, helped start a cycling club (captain there too) and will have taken 7 ap classes by the end of senior year. </p>
<p>OK now my problem is deciding between colleges. I Narrowed my college decision between UT austin, TAMU college station, and university of houston. I choose these colleges because they are in Texas, not too far from home, and are ranked very high for my desired major, Geology.
I applied to Houston in mid October and was accepted in a week. I applied tamu and ut mid November (really late I know).
UH just sent me a 20k scholarship with acceptance deadline of march 1. The problem is ut and tamu might not respond to me before that time.
Should I accept the money and go to my safety school or should I wait to hear back from my dream schools?
(P.s. I know my chances at ut are low but I have a sister there, I've expressed interest, personally talked to head of the geoscience department, and quite frankly Geology is not a competitive major)</p>
<p>You don’t have a predicament unless you have a similar offer to compare. It would be fair to agree that UT will be unlikely but it seems unlikely either school would offer you money, right? 20K for an instate school has to be a good offer? </p>
<p>Wait until you get your admission and FA notices.</p>
<p>Your rank is too low for UT w/o some other hook (like athlete). </p>
<p>When it gets closer to March 1st, you can request an extension. Schools arent’ supposed to require a decision before May 1st.</p>
<p>Besides, if UH refuses to extend their deadline, then accept it…and if UT or TAMU works out then tell UH that you’ve changed your mind.</p>
<p>I understand thanks for giving it to me straight.
But I have another question. I made a 27 on act without any preparation and l feel as if I can make a 29 at least if I was ready. Can I retake it in January and send the score to UH for a little more scholarship money? Or will a couple of points not make a difference? </p>
<p>It would at some schools. You need to check with UH to see if they will up their offer with a higher ACT.</p>
<p>Look on UH’s scholarship website and see what is the latest test score they will accept for seniors. Also call them and find out if they’ll increase an already-awarded offer for a higher score. </p>