As a senior I feel rushed like anyone else. Idk if I should apply to colleges early. This might sound dumb but I want to apply to ivy league schools with a 25 on the act. Don’t get me wrong, i am taking it again soon expecting 31-32 bc I practiced a lot. I currently have a 3.96 GPA unweighted and a couple of 5s on ap exams. I also do a lot of community service stuff and have a common application ready to go. Should I apply just to give an impression to colleges? Tell me your thoughts
Three words: net price calculator.
In the absence of much needed information on your profile, the answer is yes it sounds dumb to apply- early or regular decision- to Ivies with a 25. Not only are you throwing away the application fee it sounds like you haven’t identified schools that are realistic matches. Do you think you are quite in the frame of mind to tackle your application strategy? Those AP scores and GPA show you are smart and can do the work. Something else going on?
Someone made this great analogy: when you to buy your first house, you don’t go with the agent and tour multi-million dollar mansions. Then, if you go to houses within your price range, they’ll all seem shabby.
Same with your college search. You should START with colleges that are matches for you. If you happen to get to a 31-32 (which isn’t much in the very competitive school applicant pools), then add a few “hail mary” schools.
You shouldn’t apply Early Decision unless you can 100% pay for the school, should you get in. Early Action is another story–but I agree that you shouldn’t apply EA or ED to any elites with your ACT score at a 25. Honestly to get your new scores back in time for EA/ED, you should have retested in September. At this juncture, you need to wait for RD because schools won’t get your new test scores in time, if indeed they will go up. Applying ED to an Ivy with a 25 ACT is a waste of an application fee–Ivies rarely make exceptions for 25 ACTs unless you are a recruited athlete or have another HUGE hook. (You get your score up to 31/32, you’re at least “in the ballgame” for RD)
I would plan a school strategy based on your current ACT score/stats, and then adjust your list only if you do bump your score up significantly. This means identifying matches and safeties where 25 is a score within their accepted range, or where they don’t weigh scores as heavily as GPA, or schools that are test optional. There are actually a lot of great schools who fit this category (I ended up at one with my comparatively low SAT score), and you can land somewhere really nice. I would plan for your score not going up significantly–I’m less familiar with average bumps for the ACT, but I know with the SAT they say you rarely raise your score by more than 200 points… a 5 point bump on the ACT is more like a 250 point difference. But that means that nudging up to a 28-29 may be realistic. But bear in mind some students don’t see significant bumps at all when they retest… many students fall in the same range despite studying. Some of us just don’t test well… and we still land at good schools (buttttt not Ivies).
FYI, my kiddo’s high ranked HS had a average SAT of 1334 or ACT 28 equivalent. They only have a handful of ivy-type admits each year.
For non-binding non-restrictive Early Action, it can be advantageous to apply early, because you may get an early admission offer. If the school is affordable, it then becomes a safety. The same goes for rolling admissions. In addition, some schools will fill specific oversubscribed majors or offer some scholarships on a first come first served basis for those who meet the qualifications for such, so applying early at these schools can be advantageous.
However, the choice becomes more complicated for other early application programs.
- Early *Decision* means that you commit to attend if admitted. It should only be used if you would have no regrets attending the school without comparing other admission and financial aid / scholarship offers -- typically, the school should be your clear first choice and which you know to be affordable.
- *Restrictive* or *Single Choice* Early Action is like non-binding Early Action, but you agree not to apply Early Decision elsewhere or Early Action to a set of other schools (restrictions vary; check each school's web site). So if you apply to such a school, you may have to forego applying Early Action to some other schools; you need to decide whether getting an early answer from this school versus the other schools is more valuable to you.
Another reason to apply early is that some schools have early deadlines for scholarship consideration. Check that for each school you apply to.