<p>You may be surprised about your ACT results. Give it a try. As others have said, you sound like a good candidate for a liberal arts college.? Definitely get the facts and data by running the NPCs. </p>
<p>I think the question about whether or not to retake SAT’s or take ACT depends on finances. In our experience, merit scholarships require scores but aid based on financial need does not require scores. And that was at several small liberal arts colleges mentioned on this thread. </p>
<p>It would be a hard decision about whether to submit scores or not though, since the verbal skills are clearly excellent and not submitting would mean those scores would be wasted. I do think many schools discussed here would accept this student with the current math scores.</p>
<p>Again, I wonder if the “slowness” mentioned by the original poster might be addressed somehow.</p>
<p>Only on CC would a math score in the top 30% of test takers be considered a bad score. Obviously a better score will open more doors, but you shouldn’t beat yourself up. Have you even tried a practice test for the ACT? So many people have said the science section is really reading comprehension, and it seems to be pretty unpredictable who actually does better on one that the other. I’d go ahead and take it once. It’s only a Saturday morning plus a few hours making sure you understand the format. I agree with other posters, that the test optional colleges will provide some good alternative choices as will the women’s colleges. Since you are thinking about Spelman, I would gather you aren’t averse to the idea of a single sex school. At Mt. Holyoke your CR is in the top 25% and your math is in the bottom 25%, so you won’t be a shoe-in, but it’s not out of the picture. My younger son got into a number of colleges with the same spread. </p>
<p>@mathmom I haven’t taken a practice test for the entire act yet. However, my school sometimes had us practice science sections from the act during a once a week mandatory standardized test class. I never grasped the act science section and got really frustrated. (Though that was only in my sophomore year and I think that I’ve grown significantly in terms of science since I took two languages and couldn’t take bio until my sophomore year.) I’m primarily worried about the amount of time I would have to reserve for prepping for the act and how my subject test results might suffer. </p>
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<p>The other factor, though, is that the higher ranked the school the student is admitted to, the more likely that they will meet full need. So in that sense the scores do affect the need based side as well.</p>
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<p>You will likely do better in MATH on the ACT since the ACT Math isnt tricky like it is on the SAT. </p>
<p>One of my kids was in a similar situation with highish verbal and lower math (quite a bit lower than yours, yours are not bad). She carefully chose a couple of test optional schools (even though her verbal was fine) and applied early action and got into both with great financial aid. The list of test optional schools includes some really excellent “top” colleges, as does CTCL.</p>
<p>She has ADHD and more test prep was not a possibility. Your subject tests, school grades, AP’s and extracurriculars are all important and test prep and stress may take away from them, as you say. I think you will have some great choices as things stand.</p>
<p>PM’d you.</p>
<p>Beyond the numbers (SAT and NPC) what are you looking for in a college? Is there an academic area of interest, sport, or extracurricular that interests you? Do you want a big Greek life? In the city or country? Large or small? Your current list is pretty varied and the common themes are not easily visible. If you take some time to think about what is important to you for your college years CC can probably suggest some schools that meet your criteria and can work with your numbers.</p>
<p>@1012mom I’m undecided for my future career/major. I play no sports and in college I will probably want to pursue extracurriculars that involve writing (my preference would be poetry) and multicultural groups. I’m considering joining a sorority (but I don’t want to just be friends with people in my sorority). I’m naturally more introverted and quiet so I’ve been told that I’d be better off at a smaller school (But I also want to be prepared for actual life where you have to communicate with larger groups of people). I would prefer a location in the city. </p>
<p>So other than wanting an urban school, most of what you listed there can be found at most schools. I suggest picking up a copy of the Insider’s Guide to College’s. Rather than statistics and programs it gives you a bit of a feel for the personality of the schools. Also, do some college visits to nearby schools (even if they are not on your list) in order to figure out the common themes of what you like and don’t like. For my DDs it became quite apparent when they visited campuses, and it helped them hone in on what was really important to them. Don’t listen to too much of what you have been told. In fact, many introverts would be happier in a larger school than in a small school where they feel they have to go to the big party the whole campus is going to on a given Saturday night. Hope that helps. </p>
<p>If you want a “warm location,” look into New College of Florida. Scripps,Pitzer and Occidental are possible, also, but obscenely expensive if they don’t offer you financial aid. Eckerd and Whittier would probably offer you nice scholarships; Guilford, too. </p>