I’m a pretty good student; my GPA, activities, and essay are all really good and could get me into some nice schools, but I did very poorly on both my ACT and my SAT. My highest SAT is a 1090 and my highest ACT is a 23. I got 30s and high 28s in the reading and english section but didn’t do amazing in the math and science section which brought my scores down substantially, and there’s no time to retake. I’ve always been a horrible test taker but am also just bad at math in general. I ran out of time on the science section after doing well and had to fill in random answers for half the section. I definitely could have prepared more and learned to time myself, but there’s nothing I can do now.
Should I be applying with my low SAT score or with my low ACT score? And for schools that require testing, like Fordham specifically, will this cause them to not consider me at all?
I don’t know if this helps but my school’s average ACT and SAT are not very high and are about the same as my scores. It’s not a very strong or competitive high school.
Apply to test optional schools? Apply where Naviance (assuming you have it) says you will be a competitive applicant with your grades and scores?
I’ve applied to some test optional schools but all of my top choices require testing. I just really wanna know if this will cause me to not get into any average/slightly above average schools that require testing.
apply to as many as you can, you may waste a few bucks but you never know which college will want you in the end.
I would use your ACT score of 23. A 1090 SAT score is equivalent to a 21.
If you want to apply to schools that require test scores, you should be aware that the weakest part of your application should help you make your school list. You can consult the Common Data Set for each school, look at section C and see what the test scores of accepted students look like. Anything where your score is less than the bottom 25% will be a long shot for admission.
You could take a gap year or apply to Fordham next Nov for Spring 2021, and retake the ACT/SAT in the spring.
When all of the other aspects of your application are where they need to be, but your test scores are low, you have to put a school’s “holistic” approach to admissions to the test. Apply with your scores and also apply to some test optional schools.
I know of someone who was just accepted EA to Fordham with an SAT superscore, not much higher than yours. However, she had a very strong application overall: high GPA, rigorous curriculum, nice portfolio of EC’s, etc.
I say apply. Have confidence in the whole of your application.
My daughter has nearly identical test scores- 22 ACT and 1120 SAT, and she has been accepted to six schools with merit scholarships around 85% of tuition so far- and no test optionals because she’s homeschooled. There are SO many schools in this country. You just have to properly match yourself to get positive results.
You are generally compared to your school and not others. If the test scores are normal for your school then just apply but be realistic in your approach. If your grades and ecs, essays are good then the Sat score can get watered down. Have back up colleges that you would want to attend also.