This is not a humble brag but truly want to know if he scored high enough or should he retake tests?
He had to take ACT w/o writing for high school requirements scored composite 35(m36, s36, e32, r34) first try but no writing. He scored a little bit lower on SAT 2230 (m800,r710,w720) on a second try. Should he retake ACT with writing or is SAT high enough for good merit or to be super competitive at schools with good fin aid? Thanks for help!
His GPA is uw 4.0/ w 4.4 in rigorous IB program. Is ranked in top 5%.
Unfortunately, I think he missed NMSF by a few points. PSAT was 211.
He needs high proportion of school paid by merit or fin aid and wants chemical engineering as major.
His ACT scores are excellent for every schools and most of them don’t use writing for the scholarship. Also he can get great scholarships with that score. If he will like to go to IVY’s or some top schools, he will need to take ACT with writing and his SAT are excellent as well. Congrats to your son.
Check out the cost of attendance calculators on the websites of the various schools he is interested in. It seem like most ask for both financial and academic stats, so you can get an idea what this excellent test scores will net you. Then, for giggles, you can run the calculator again with everything else the same, but higher test scores and see if the aid changes. My guess is it will not. Also, many websites like collegedata will tell you the percentage of financial and merit aid various schools offer. As you probably know, the super elite ones don’t offer merit aid.
Good luck!
If you look in the scholarship threads linked from the sticky thread at the top of the financial aid and scholarship section, then you can see whether there are any of interest where just a few points more (or retaking the ACT to add writing because the school requires that) would gain a scholarship.
I would send both scores to colleges. For scholarships they usually only look at either the math and reading for the SAT or the composite ACT. Yes check the colleges he is interested in but I think in most cases his scores are high enough now.
He doesn’t need to retake either test. Both SAT and ACT scores are very good – send them both.
Congratulations to rockhoundson! 2230 is an excellent score and will put him in a competitive position for admissions & merit money.
If u can afford to retest, I recommend trying one more time. The merit money gates swing open wider at 2250 and open up completely at 2300.