I currently go to a neighborhood highschool in the inner city of Chicago. My March ACT scores came back with a composite of 29. I’m planning on retaking it in June to try to score a 32. Anyways, my schools average ACT is roughly 18. Does this help at all in college admissions? Should I include the fact that I scored a lot higher than my school average? Thanks!
It sadly doesn’t to my knowledge. The only way a high score would taken as an advantage is if it’s well above the average for that particular college not the high school. Now things like gpa and rank are taken relative to your school etc. and be proud of your 29 it’s a great score and i hope you get your 32! good luck!
It reflects well on you in that it provides context for your achievements and intelligence. But as said of you can get into the target colleges top 50% of scorers that is more important. Stay strong!
No. If you think about it, the highest placed students always score higher than the HS average.
I am going to disagree with the above advice IF by an inner city school, you mean that the population of the school is largely disadvantaged. If you are an underrepresented minority, then I would say you are in very good shape if your grades are also up to par. A lot of kids in affluent areas can’t achieve that grade with many months of private tutoring so you should be very proud of yourself.
@educateddarcy Hey, I’m white, but I’m a minority at my school. It’s roughly 60% Hispanic, while the rest is split between whites, Asians, and African Americans. Over 50% of my school is below poverty line. I’m class rank #1 with a 4.0 GPA. I also do a lot of EC. Hope that helps. Thanks by the way.
I would ask your guidance counselor where he/she thinks you have a chance based on their experience with your present stats coming from your high school. I think you will move up on the ACT if you continue to prepare. You also have the fall. Congrats on your ranking. Your parents have a reason to be very proud!
Actually, yes it matters A LOT, provided your guidance counselor indicates that on the “school profile”. (YOU don’t mention it, but your counselor MUST. If you do it, it’s bragging, but if your counselor does it, it’s “providing context”, which is essential.)
Because few students at your school are likely to be applying through commonapp or to selective colleges, you must include this fact on the recap sheet you’ll give your GC (also calle “brag sheet”, it’s a document where you list all your achievements and accomplishments.) Otherwise you run a high risk, due to GC not being used to commonapp + overworked, to have this essential fact overlooked/not mentioned.
I’m assuming you’re a junior, right?
Look into The Posse Foundation
http://www.possefoundation.org/
and Questbridge
www.questbridge.org
On this website, seek out a poster named Jalaquan, who was in your shoes about a year ago.
Are you dual-enrolled with UIC? If not, can you do it? It’d seriously strengthen your application.
Are you first-gen (meaning neither parent have a 4-year degree)? Is English your native language/do you speak another language than English at home?
(All of these criteria factor in, in your favor).
What’s your GPA? How many AP or advanced/honors classes are your taking/have you taken?
What’s your schedule like for next year?
What major are you thinking of?
When people like @MYOS1634 take the time to help students like this, it really makes my day.
@MYOS1634 Hey thanks for the reply! I completely agree with dancelance. Comments like yours make this site so great. In terms of “first-gen,” I’m not. My dad was the first-gen from his side of the family, while my mom and her parents both went to college. I was born in England, so my native language is English, but I’ve taken Spanish class since about 4th grade so I understand/get the grasp of a lot of in. In terms of GPA, I have a 4.0 UW and a 4.9 W, with class rank #1 out of high 300s. I only take honors and AP in my schedule. The only regulars classes that I’ve taken were required (PE and band). Next year I’m taking AP Physics, AP Literature, Duel Credit Pre-Calc, Duel Credit STEM(computer software course), and a couple other honors classes. Although I’m not sure what major to go into, I’m looking at enginnering. Hope that helps. If you need clarification or need to ask more questions, feel free to ask away.
@JackLuzzy I don’t know if this will help, but a William and Mary AO wrote a blog this past admissions season on this topic. http://wmblogs.wm.edu/admiss/its-time-for-overheard-in-committee/
Clearly, this is only one school’s approach, but it is additional support for what @MYOS1634 said above. In my D’s school, the average SAT is pretty low (1307). The kids who all scored 400/500/600 pts above the average did very well in selective schools this year, even when their scores overall were in the <25% of admitted students averages at these schools.
HTH
@JustOneDad, No. If you think about it, the low SES kid from a poorly funded school who manages a 32+ on the ACT while everyone else (even the top 10%) scores below the national average is quite impressive and would be highly competitive for elite school admissions.