Do I have a chance at Ivy League?

Test Preparation
1

<p>I'm a sophomore. I go to a small, country school in Oklahoma that has very little to offer, especially in terms of AP classes. (I'm ranked one in my class right now, but I don't think that's really saying much.) I don't have very many EC's to list. I play sports year round: cross country in the fall, basketball in the winter, track in the spring, and a little bit of each in the summer. Realistically, I have no idea if I'd be good enough to go to an Ivy League school for athletics. I have very little time to give to extracurriculars because I am devoted to and passionate about the sports in which I participate. I am in debate and I placed with my original oratory at the state meet my freshman year, last year.</p>

<p>I have not had a chance to take the SAT. I did take the ACT, however. I just got my scores back recently.</p>

<p>English: 35
Math: 32
Reading: 35
Science: 28
Composite: 33</p>

<p>I have no clue as to how good these scores compare to others competing for the Ivy League. I'll be taking it a few times more before I graduate.</p>

<p>I'm grateful for any advice or comments at all.</p>

2

<p>Your ACT score definitely falls within the range of ivy league applicants. Now all you have to worry about is "the other stuff" (essays, EC's, awards, recs, etc). Good luck!</p>

3

<p>What can help is taking a Virtual School or even self-studying. As long as your guidance counselor is willing to proctor the exams, AP tests are good to go. If you get 2200+ on the SAT you should fall in the range of a typical Ivy League applicant. To see that you're seriously going for the Ivy Leagues and your ACT scores mean that you're probably capable of doing it.</p>

<p>I hope it works out for you in the end.</p>

4

<p>Your ACT score is fine, no need to take the SAT unless you think you'll do better. Don't fret about lack of extracurriculars/APs... as long as you make the most of your situation, your efforts will be appreciated. If you have time to self-study, by all means go ahead and do it. Either way, being from Oklahoma should give you a little boost when it comes to admissions (geographical diversity!).</p>

5

<p>That ACT score is absolutely fine. It would be a complete waste of time and money for you to take the SAT 1, because the Ivy League colleges happily accept ACT scores. If you take the SAT 1, you also have to submit several SAT 2s as per the colleges' testing requirements. So unless you want to take 3 or more additional standardized tests, don't bother.</p>

<p>If I were you I might take the ACT again at the end of my junior year. Not because a 33 is bad, but because your score will almost certainly get even better. A 34 or above is considered excellent (at Duke that would merit the highest marking on your application) so consider trying again in the future.</p>

<p>Good luck....you're only a sophomore and you're already doing great. Don't worry about all the stuff you think you "need" to have on your applications. Colleges don't require you to have taken any APs at all. Just keep following your passions and doing well with schoolwork/testing.</p>

6

<p>i agree with the rest. i originally wondered whether or not i should take the SAT after getting my ACT scores back, and practically everyone told me it's not worth it. it's more important to focus on other things. </p>

<p>as for retaking the ACT, i agree with dukie11's comment. 33 as a sophomore is VERY good and by junior year it i will most likely get better.</p>

<p>good job :)</p>

7

<p>I think you could get into an ivy league school and do well there..</p>

<p>But a lot of people choose Ivies because of their name and prestige. It's all about the experience you make at any school you attend, and I think you should really try to find a school that is personally a "good fit" for you regardless of how powerful it will mean to others when you are wearing their name on your hoodie.</p>

8

<p>Quick tips:</p>

<p>1) I agree with earlier posters that your scores are good, but you could probably do even better if you retook in a year, so consider it. And yes, as everyone else has said, SATs are unnecessary.</p>

<p>2) You need to demonstrate that you made an effort to seek opportunities <em>outside</em> your immediate surroundings. You won't be held to the same standard as students at expensive East Coast prep schools, but you do need to show that you're seeking challenges. Taking some APs would be a great chance to shine, especially if your school doesn't offer AP courses. That would really show that you like to challenge yourself. Maybe you could qualify for an interesting opportunity this summer.</p>

<p>As far as ECs, don't throw yourself into a million different activities, but try to shine in one or two. Run for debate captain/president next year. Polish up that oratory and see if you can get to Nationals.</p>

<p>Much depends on next year, but I'd say you're definitely in the running.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

9

<p>I don't see why you shouldn't take the SATs. If you did this well on the ACT, you can surely do well on the SAT (maybe even better). If you don't do well, you don't need to send your score to any schools. There's no harm in trying. Also, you're still a sophomore, so time probably isn't much of an issue.</p>

10

<p>^well if he takes the SAT, and DOESN'T do well, it's kind of like having a bad mark on his record, yenno? and he will have to send in his SAT score if he decides to take SAT subject tests.</p>

<p>and plus, who the heck wants to waste time studying billions of hours for a test and then waste another saturday TAKING it, when it's not going to make much of an impact?</p>

11

<p>^He can omit sending his SAT scores if he doesn't do well on it. </p>

<p>Assuming each part of the ACT is equally weighted, you've got a 33 composite right there. That's equivalent to around a 2200 SAT score. And that is a GOOD SCORE--well above the average SAT score for the Ivies, excepting Yale and Harvard, whose are 2230 and Princeton's, whose is 2210. However, people having the average score, or even significantly above the average score, still have a crappy chance of getting in. With that score, you'll <em>most likely</em> get in to <em>an</em> Ivy League school.</p>

<p>Howeeeeeeeever. . . . As amcd said, most people do opt to go to Ivy League schools for the prestige. However, an experience at Dartmouth's rural middle-of-nowhere Hanover campus would be entirely different from one at Columbia's Urban NYC campus. Are you a liberal? If you are, Yale probably isn't a great place for you. Do you hate snow? Stay away from Cornell. Do you like hard work, but aren't ready to kill yourself over the course load? Harvard isn't your school.</p>

<p>My point is, they're not just "Ivies." Each school has its own personality, and if you decide you want to go to <em>one</em> or <em>two</em> Ivies, chances are, you won't get in with that score. You've not a shoe-in at any Ivy, but as your SAT/ACT score goes up, so too your chances of admittance. After they take into account your scores and GPA, it's quite random whether or not you're accepted. Well, not random. Subjective. You want as much of a boost as you can get, especially if you decide you really like . . . [Columbia? I do!] and don't really want to go to . . . [Yale? I don't!] even if you're accepted.</p>

<p>I'm a Sophomore too, and here's my un-empirical advice: Keep your options open. Consider retaking the ACT, consider taking the SAT, because it cannot hurt. I've already started studying for the SAT, because, although I could save it for March '09, study only a month or two, score a 2250, and get into <em>some</em> Ivy League school, I don't want to just drift over to the most prestigious school that accepts me. I'm studying now, I'm going to score as high as I can, and even if I don't reach my 2400 goal, it won't hurt me! Regardless of my arrogance, any studying will help in the long run, as it will you. If you're already scoring the equivalent of a 2200, then you can basically score whatever you want. All depends on your ambition. Get that 36. Get that 2400. Don't replace time otherwise allocated to EC's, but I'm sure there's plenty of TV time in your life (as there is in mine: indeed, I'm watching Law and Order SVU as we * speak [type]) that would be ecstatic to be replaced by ultra-obsessive studying.</p>

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<p>i indeed was just watching law and order(and flipping to CSI: Miami during commercials, don't you hate when two good shows come on at once!).</p>

<p>Anyway, to the guy above me, wow. I just want to say incredible. You have so much planned and your only a sophomore. It goes the same to the starter of this thread! I am a senior and it seriously took me down to the nitty gritty to decide where the heck I want to be next year (and I still have not quite figured it out).</p>

<p>Props to both of you!</p>

<p>=)</p>

13

<p>Wow, thank you everyone. (I am a girl though, by the way. Haha.) I'm planning on taking the ACT as many times as I can before I graduate. I have a 4.0 and I take all the AP courses offered by my school. But thank you, really. My parents got a little gung ho about me going to a really nice school instead of just University of Oklahoma where I had planned on going when I got my ACT scores back. I'd love to go as school as nice as one of the Ivies, I was just getting worried about disappointing them if I didn't have any chance of getting in. The only reason I had to get excited about the possibility was my ACT score, and I didn't know how important that would be towards my getting accepted. (And I'm trying very hard not to have a college freak out my sophomore year!)</p>

14

<p>My two cents--also remember that you MUST take the SATs in order to qualify as a National Merit Finalist.</p>