<p>Hi, I'm a rising senior and am currently looking for more universities to apply to this upcoming fall. I thought it would be a good idea for me to ask parents on this forum for advice or suggestions.
For background purposes, I am an african american female from PA. I have an upward grade trend. Freshman year ~3.5; Sophomore Year~3.87; junior year~4.1. My cumulative is currently a 3.83. My school has a weird weighted scale. It's out of a 4.3 which counts as an a plus but honors is awarded to anyone who has a 3.5 (b plus average) and distinguished honors to people with a 4.0. I am in the national honor society, multicultural club, and latin club. I have been working since the summer before freshman year answering telephones.
Awards: Excellent effort-Latin; Academic Achievement (Highest Grade)-Spanish; honorable mention (2nd highest)-Algebra 2; honorable mention for poetry in scholastic writing awards; summa cum laude-latin (freshman/junior); maxima cum laude (sophomore) for national latin exam, bronze on national spanish exam (freshman). Summer activities: volunteer with kids (who have mental illnesses)-freshman year, intro to law-sophomore, intro to business-junior.
Standardized Test scores: March 2014 (720 CR, 560 M, 660 W, 9 essay= 1940 total); June 2014 (720 Cr, 590 M, 680 W, 8 essay = 1990 total). I am taking subject tests in us history and literature in the fall. I probably won't elect to take sat again or attempt the act for personal reasons.
My college list currently includes UMiami, U of Florida, Spelman, Howard, Temple, St. Joseph's U, U of Penn, West Chester U of PA, Stanford, Fordham. I'm looking for more colleges to consider (but particular out of state since I would prefer to be out of PA). </p>
<p>Check out the Colleges that Change Lives website and the book of the same title by Loren Pope.
<a href=“http://ctcl.org/”>http://ctcl.org/</a></p>
<p>Your scores are pretty darn good but be aware that many top colleges are test optional so don’t stress about them.
<a href=“ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest”>http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional</a></p>
<p>Have you considered taking the ACT?</p>
<p>@Madison85 In my initial post, I addressed this question.
[quote]
I probably won’t elect to take sat again or attempt the act for personal reasons.
[quote/]
I just don’t think that taking the ACT would be beneficial due to my relatively low math capability and issues with speed (which I’m sure would hinder my performance. As anyone can see, I’m a consistent but lackluster standardized test taker (1940 and then 1990). Furthermore, I’ve already spent a long time (futilely) trying to get a higher sat score and don’t want to adapt to a new testing method. </p>
<p>Agree with @Madison85 that if you could get that math score up even to 650, as a URM a lot of possibilities could open up to you. </p>
<p>Have you considered women’s colleges? Mount Holyoke is test optional and gives very good financial aid if you need it – they are a “meets need” college, which is what you want if you are looking for need-based financial aid.</p>
<p>General questions, what is your financial situation? Have you run the net price calculators on the websites for each of the colleges you are interested in? (On the Financial Aid page, usually) What is your intended major?</p>
<p>I think you are more than wise to avoid further testing. Enjoy your senior year if you can :)</p>
<p>The list of test-optional schools is long and impressive. Plenty of choices. And the scores you have are absolutely fine. Colleges recognize that people have strengths and weaknesses: your verbal is great and your math ain’t half bad. Some test optional colleges wil require scores for merit scholarships, but not for need-based aid.</p>
<p>What are you looking for in a school? Did you like any of the Colleges that Change Lives schools? Another great book by Pope is “Looking Beyond the Ivy League.” Are you looking for big schools? Do you like Florida?! What are your academic interests? What kind of atmosphere do you like? Do you need financial aid (as intparent asked).</p>
<p>You could look at Vassar, Bennington, Bard, Sarah Lawrence (last 3 have a more “alternative” vibe), Muhlenberg, Elon, Davidson, and many more if you are so inclined, in addition to the CTCL schools. Clark U. and Goucher are on the CTCL list and are great schools: we have visited them.</p>
<p>Lots of choices for you but we need more info to suggest them :)</p>
<p>ps If speed is an issue, have you been evaluated (for processing speed issues, for example)? It is possible you could get extra time on tests…but I think it is fine and maybe healthy to move forward without this stress…Just think about it though because an evaluation with diagnosis could help in college w/accommodations. Apologies if this is not at all relevant! Just an afterthought.</p>
<p>OP, did you say in another thread you are being recruited for track at some schools? That makes a big difference in the picture.</p>
<p>No suggestions on schools, but I just wanted to tell you that both of my kids (one good at math and one not) did much, much better on the ACT than on the SAT. Why not give it a shot?</p>
<p>It was another poster (kalli-something) on the thread was recruited for track, not agraves. </p>
<p>I would pick schools based on your current SAT scores. Then it’s up to you whether or not to try the SAT one more time or go for the ACT. That’s what I did with D. She received the exact same scores on the ACT twice. We had already looked at schools based on that score. She decided to take the ACT ONE more time. The third time, her scores were significantly higher.</p>
<p>I would also suggest the Colleges That Change Lives. Have you looked at U. of Delaware? </p>
<p>Oh, sorry. I just saw what someone else had said. </p>
<p>@intparent, I thought the same thing as you did until I realized that the guy had gone to college in 2012. </p>
<p>@compmom I don’t have a preference for the size of the schools that I’m applying to. I do want schools that offer a large variety of majors and minors since I’ll probably enter college with an undecided/undeclared major. I would prefer to go to a warm location for college. My academic interests are kinda all over the place. I’ve always been better at humanities but since I’ve entered high school I’ve been really bored with English classes. But that’s probably just because I’m more of a reader than writer. I’m applying for financial aid but I haven’t ran any financial net calculators. </p>
<p>@benreb The ACT would pretty much demonstrate all of my flaws such as lack of math talent/skill, and speed issues. I’m also pretty sure that I would fail the math/science sections. I really just don’t want to disappoint anyone else (including myself) even further by getting lower scores on the Act or Sat. In my family, I’ll only be the second person to go to college (besides my mother) and because of this I’m supposed to be getting amazing scores/gpa (but I’m not and it al boils down to the fact that I’m just not smart enough).</p>
<p>You’re plenty smart, and those are respectable scores. I go along with the recommendation to look into “Colleges That Change Lives.” A number of those smaller colleges have holistic admission policies, seek diversity, and offer excellent scholarships. I also agree with the recommendation to look at some women’s colleges. </p>
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<p>This needs to be your next step. There is no point in researching further or applying to colleges that won’t give you enough aid to attend. The calculators are on the college websites on the Financial Aid page. Get your parents to help you. Note that if your parents are divorced, own a small business, or own rental property, they won’t be as accurate (usually show more aid than you would really get).</p>
<p>Since I’ve gotten a lot of responses which have stated that I should take a standardized test again I think I’ll take one of them in the early fall. Which one do you all think I would score higher on for the math section? </p>
<p>Depending on where you live in PA, Pitt may be almost out of state. You may also want to look at some schools in MD, like UMBC or UMD-CP</p>
<p>Just to repeat, I differ, respectfully, on the retake, unless you really want to. You can apply to test optional schools or submit, because your scores are good enough for many good schools. Believe it or not, your background is important too, as well as activities and recommendations, which show “character”, most important at top schools.</p>
<p>If you can, go on the websites of the various schools that have been suggested, and the CTCL website as well. There are many schools there that are truly excellent and would love to have you. Clark in Worcester is one of my favorites and very well respected. Goucher is in Maryland. New College is in Florida. But check them all out…You are a good candidate and will end up just fine.</p>
<p>@agraves I had asked about the ACT because I was thinking about a full tuition scholarship for under-represented minorities at UW-Madison. I knew of a person who received the scholarship who had a 31 ACT; but I don’t know what range of test scores are considered high enough for the scholarship. I assume it is a holistic approach and many factors are considered:</p>
<p><<<<<<<</p>
<p><a href=“http://provost.wisc.edu/csp.htm”>http://provost.wisc.edu/csp.htm</a></p>
<p>The Chancellor’s Scholarship Program is committed to developing gifted and talented individuals from underrepresented minority groups and culturally/educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in ways that help them explore and reach their full potential.</p>
<p>The mission of the CSP is underscored by its philosophy of: “Excellence in Scholarship, Leadership, and Service.”</p>
<p>Are you interested in joining an outstanding “Community of Scholars” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison? Then consider applying!</p>
<p>Each year, our selection committee utilizes a holistic review process to carefully choose a group of academically outstanding and talented young people pursuing a broad range of majors. Scholars are chosen for their demonstrated academic success in high school, the impact of their leadership skills, commitment to volunteer service, and potential to excel in the university’s rigorous educational environment.</p>
<p>CS Scholars</p>
<p>Eligibility:</p>
<p>Demonstrate outstanding academic performance (3.0/4.0 GPA or higher in academic units)
Plan to enroll as a new freshman in the fall following graduation from high school
Be a member of one of the following groups:
a. African American
b. Native American
c. Hispanic/Latino
d. Southeast Asian (Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, or Vietnamese)
e. Educationally/culturally disadvantaged
Be a U.S. citizen</p>
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<p>If the OP needs financial aid, it could be important for her to apply to meets needs schools. Most of them require test scores, so she could get a big bang for her buck from higher test scores. As a URM, she has a shot at some of those if she could boost that math score even to 650. And the math score is definitely the easier one to study for and raise vs. CR.</p>
<p>Nova Southeastern is in Ft Lauderdale, FL and is a school we were quite pleasantly surprised with when we visited. ALL classes are small if that interests you. You’d likely get nice merit aid with the scores you already have (I think). They’d make a nice safety school at any rate. We visited them on the same trip that we visited U Miami as the schools aren’t too far from each other.</p>