Hullo.
Can anyone post colleges where they got in/their kid got with a 31 ACT (or other scores around that)? I have a 31 and am having trouble finding good match schools. Though I’m taking it again this April I want to see which colleges I can start looking at.
(I plan on majoring in bio or chem and being a premed student if that helps any)
(I also have a 4.2 GPA as of right now)
Based on what you’ve posted, colleges in the about #107 vicinity below could serve as fairly predictable matches for you (in that you’d place statistically above – but not way above – average for them).
https://amp.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9.
If you go to websites like “College Simply” and put in ACT 31, they will show you colleges and chances of admission with those scores. Look for ones that a 31 is 75th percentile and this should be a good start.
In general, I would look first at your in-state flagship public college for premed and save your money for medical school which is extremely expensive.
My d got accepted to URoch with a 31.
Which part of the country are looking for schools? College Budget?
@Gumbymom I don’t really mind the location, and after grants, loans, scholarships and such we’d like to keep it what we pay under $15k a year (unless it’s a super good school).
What is your home state since $15K/year is not much to work with for many out of state schools?
How about looking at it as, “Colleges for me?” There are lots and lots of terrific schools out there that would love to have you as a student. Think about it this way, isn’t it best to find one that is A) AFFORDABLE, and B) a place you love, a place you want to live and learn for four years, a place that offers great academics for you, and a place with people who will help you become your best self.
Without any exceptional achievements, the Top 20 or so national universities and top LACs are reaches for everyone. So maybe do this? Think about region (South, New England, Midwest, etc.). Think about small (<4000), medium (4000-10,000), and large–what works best for you? Think about urban v. college town v. rural–what works best for you? What about culture? Heavily Greek? Very liberal? Low key?
First, identify a couple of in-state public schools and put those on your list. There’s a good chance they’ll be the most affordable, and that is paramount. You don’t want to apply to 8 schools, get accepted to 6, and not be able to afford any.
Then start at maybe Number 20 on any well-known ranking and scan down to, say, Number 200, marking schools that might fit what works for you based on the above. The University of Michigan is fantastic. I’d love it. But maybe you want a small school, so you’d skip past it. I love Bates, in Maine. You might think, too cold, not going there. That’s very fair, why go to a place where you won’t want to climb out of bed on bitterly cold, icy morning for an organic chem class.
Then research the schools that you’ve marked a little more. Do any jump out at you? Run the net price calculator (NPC) for them. How does that look?
AND/OR, you can google “colleges that meet full financial need” and “colleges that give generous merit aid.” Do you see any overlaps. Maybe you live in KY, and want to stay relatively close, and Miami of Ohio looks good, right size, etc. It might give you good merit aid,
https://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-guarantee/
A lot of state flagships, like Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, etc. would probably give you merit aid. But depending on you and your state, that might or might not be appealing.
Note on colleges that meet full financial need: they might be “need aware,” so it might be easier to gain admission if paying full price; they might calculate you can pay more than you can pay. But it’s a place to start.
But again, think about the idea that the “best” place might not be the “best,” i.e. highest ranked school that you can afford. The “best” school might be the one where you are most comfortable, where you feel your best self, after all integrating successfully and being happy and maybe even inspired contribute greatly to academic success.
For example, I know a current student who went to an elite national university with a reputation for rich, country-club type students and vibe. They did well, but were not really happy or inspired. They promptly transferred to another excellent school with more of an intellectual, quirky vibe. They love it and are a top student. The second school is ranked maybe 10-20 spots lower than the other in major national university rankings. But aren’t they better off at the second school?
Take the college search process as a journey, as an opportunity to explore who you are, what you like, what inspires you, who makes you a better person. I think that makes the process less stressful and more rewarding, and probably more successful. Good luck!
Unweighted HS GPA and/or rank along with rigor of course choices are typically as important or more important than test scores, though they may be more difficult to compare outside of your high school.
I.e. a test score by itself says little, and a weighted GPA with no context says little.
also interested in this thread. Looking at URochester, Pitt, Vermont…but interested in whether there is any chance at a Tufts, BU, Carnegie Mellon, Case? Think they are reaches, but my kid may try.
@parent1973 Tufts, BU, CMU, and Case have low acceptance rates (15-30%). You can also find admission stats (such as the middle 50 percentiles for ACT scores) on colleges’ websites. Google the college name and class profile, which may bring up stats for admitted or enrolled students (the latter group is lower). In addition, you can look at their Common Data Sets on their websites, which include stats for enrolled students. CMU includes extensive detail by school.
There is nothing wrong with having reaches on the college list as long as there is an understanding that they are reaches. A 3.4 unweighted gpa may have very different admission results than a 3.9 unweighted gpa, even with the same test score, and likewise for other factors like rigor. Check to see if your high school has Naviance and whether it includes scattergrams (graphs of gpa, test scores and decisions).