I just got my ACT score back today and got a 36. I am wondering if there are specific colleges that give standardized test scores more weight than others. Are there a few selective colleges that are known for placing more weight on test scores?
I am mostly interested in this have fairly good extracurriculars, but nothing stellar, so I am searching for selective colleges where this ACT score would give me a fair shot.
Thank you so much!
Vanderbilt. At my school, the average admit GPA for Vandy is lower than that for UCLA/UCB, but the average test scores are higher than that of MIT/Stanford, and stand up to those of Caltech.
Vandy seems to like high test scores. UChicago too. But it’s a lot less helpful than one would think. Seems like most of the selective schools don’t seem to care much once you hit about 32-33. You will qualify for some great merit aid if you have a decent GPA at several schools like Alabama.
The UC system definitely doesn’t seem to care at all about test scores. DS has quite a few friends with 34+ scores that got rejected at many of the campuses.
Congrats anyway. It’s a great accomplishment.
I think Vandy wants to see some interest from you. I know two kids (admitted to higher ranked schools) with a 35 ACT who were waitlisted but I don’t think they visited or otherwise showed interest.
Agree on Vandy. WashU seems to be similar. Especially if you apply early to them.
Also depends what you consider selective. NEU also seems to like high scores.
But for most very-selective colleges, test scores are just one data point ( and not a very important one at most). The UC’s definitely put more importance on GPA and other factors than standardized tests.
However, that test score can get you big merit awards at a good number of places.
Also, Canadian and UK unis (besides Oxbridge and a few of the other very popular English ones) seem heavily stats-based in admissions.
@PurpleTitan brings up a good point. A 36 ACT at Northeastern will get you quite the big chunk of change…
@PurpleTitan @thisisfine2020 Do either of you know if NEU has specific merit aid amounts for specific scores? I can’t find a chart or anything like this on their website.
^ no, I think it varies by major/school at NEU. Invite to honors seemed to, last year.
Thanks, @OHMomof2 ! Anyone else know of other schools that care a lot about test scores?
No advice, but I love this question, and wish I’d thought to ask it years ago when my top SAT, run-of-the-mill ECs kids were applying. Best of luck to you!
WUSTL
I just want to caution that all of this is very rumor-driven and “word on the street” and mostly based on the fact that the published 25/75 percentiles for these schools are high. “Everyone” says that Vandy, Chicago, and WashU give more weight to test scores, but the only factual basis for these statements is their published stats (which do tend to be on the high side). Adcoms at all of the schools mentioned above will tell you that their admissions are holistic and that they do not give more weight to test scores than their peers.
On the other hand, large state schools are very upfront about being much more “on the numbers” simply because they have big classes, many applicants, and they don’t have the private school resources to fund the staff necessary for a holistic review. Just remember that some selective state schools do limit OOS enrollment, so they’re more competitive than their published numbers might suggest.
Well, if you look at Naviance experiences with in your children’s high school, it is often quite telling from the data which schools tend to be more holisitic and which are more stats driven.
I’ll put in another vote for Vandy and WUSTL. The UCs don’t seem to care much about test scores. There are also some large public Us that give good scholarships based on test scores.
The top publics may also care about OOS yield (and many weight GPA as or nore heavily than standardized tests), so just having top scores may not be enough.