<p>Hi all! I’m currently going to apply to Boston College Early Action this year for the business program! Could you guys please let me know if I have a shot at Boston College? Thanks!</p>
<p>ACT: 30 (just took it once and never took the SAT)
Science: 35
Math: 33
Writing: 28
Reading: 24</p>
<p>SAT II’s:
US History: 750
Chemistry: 730</p>
<p>Rank: Top 10% (30 out of 320)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.9 UW with an upward trend… and 4.3 W</p>
<p>APs:
•AP Chemistry(4)
•AP Environmental Science(4)
•AP U.S. History(5)
•AP Government
•AP Micro Economics
•AP Macro Economics
•AP World History (4)
•AP Art History </p>
<p>Sadly though, I’m not taking AP Calculus this year, but Honors Pre-calculus… =(</p>
<p>ECs:
Community Service:
Recorded around 1200 hours of Community Service
I help the physically and mentally disabled every thurs from 6-9…
I head coached my middle school basketball team and asssitant coached my middle school football team
Presidential Award</p>
<p>School Related:
Track and Field: Freshman-Senior year (varsity this year)
Yearbook Staff Writer
Dance Club: President (senior year)
Korean Club: Vice-president/ secretary
Campus Ministry at my school</p>
<p>Leadership/internships/jobs
Worked over summer and spent around 150 hours…
Interned under a HandAds cell phone advertisement company
Currently interning as head Financier for a student run internship as well.
Went to California’s State Capital with my school and discussed political issues with senator’s and congressmen.</p>
<p>Recommendation letters: Spectacular!</p>
<p>Also, I go to a Jesuit high school … if that helps!
Thank youuu!</p>
<p>Dear Pandalover21 : While an ACT composite of 30 for the early action round is slightly on the weak side, the component scores are severely skewed. If the 28 writing does not eliminate you in the EA round, certainly the 24 in the reading section will. With your AP experience (and 4s and 5s in your scoring), it is almost impossible to believe that you have an average 26 in these two areas. Quite frankly, you should definitely be looking at a second sitting on ACT - we are already mid-October in your senior year and you only have one set of board scores. Surely, you had to have had advice from a guidance counselor to schedule a retest, no?</p>
<p>We could discuss your leadership positions, community service, and perhaps even your essay in more detail, however until we can explain why half of your ACT scoring is at or below the very bottom of BC’s admitted class, nothing else is going to really matter. Seriously, the 24 reading will be an immediate disqualification unless there is some explanation.</p>
<p>[Let me put this another way. An ACT score of 30 is the 25th percentile of the admitted class. If all things are averaged, you can expect that a 30 is therefore the 25th percentile of each section exam. Now, the range from 30 to 33 yields the midpoint 50%. Hence, about 2 points on the ACT provides each quartile break point. Therefore, you can consider that a 28 is the “zeroth percentile”. So, while your numbers in the math and sciences are very strong, the question is how would you handle the BC Liberal Arts core which is heavily oriented in reading/writing skills? The scores, coupled to a lack of English AP style course work, spell doom.]</p>
<p>Agree with Scottj: a retake is in order, even if English is your second language. It is always better to have an above mean test score if you can. Take some practice tests at home. Rumor is that BC is one of the few colleges that superscores the ACT.</p>
<p>fwiw: I don’t see anything in your post that screams out: business major. Instead, your resume reads well for A&S (except for the ‘low’ ACT). I’m not saying which college should should apply to, but just ensure that your essay to CSOM makes the case why it is a good fit for you and what you would bring to the table to share with and enrich your colleagues.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your advice! That’s kind of depressing to hear though, but I guess I’ll have to work on my ACT score! To XX55XX, I’m not really sure which business program, so I might just go undeclared in the specific major area, but I’m really just interested in business in general!
ScottJ: Hi! Yeah my reading and writing scores were really low =/. It’s because I was never too great at time constraint related exams, so as a result my scores in reading and writing were always relatively low. But I have a great work ethic that allows me to excel in my studies at school. Would a low score on the Reading and Writing really disqualify me instantly? Or would I at least have a chance of being deferred? Because I really want to attend Boston College and I was hoping for some form of a scholarship… But if not, I want to withdraw my Early Action application instantly and apply regular decision instead in order to increase my chances. Thanks for the feedback!
BlueBayou: Hi! Just wondering, on my next ACT exam, if I scored say a 30 on science and a 30 on math, but also score a 30 on reading/ writing. Would that necessarily be a bad thing? Since my math and science scores are lower, but my reading and writing higher? Or would the superscore just say that I received a 35 science, 33 math, 30 writing, 30 reading? Thank you!</p>
<p>Dear Pandalover21 : Thanks for considering all of the input from our community.</p>
<p>
Approximately 20-25% of EA applications are outright rejected. To be honest, I would not put a 28 on the table in the EA round, much less a 24. Yes, you run the risk of an outright rejection.</p>
<p>
Have you done research on Boston College? The only merit scholarships are Presidential Scholarships and we are quite some distance from that mark right now. Aside from playing the financial aid game, you should expect to be paying full freight. </p>
<p>
Honestly, I think you need another set of test scores - this current ACT set will not gain acceptance at Boston College.</p>
<p>Assuming that BC does in fact superscore the ACT, the adcoms would look at your highest individual sub-scores. Note, I said assuming that BC superscores the ACT, bcos I have only read that they do on the internet, but not written by any official BC source. A student tour guide once told me that they do superscore the ACT, but I don’t put much stock in that answer since even well-intentioned volunteers can be incorrect. Regardless, I’m with scottj on this one. If you think you can raise your English (which you did not list, unless you mislabeled it and English was a 28?) and Reading scores, I strongly suggest a retake. (I’m not sure colleges much care about the Writing subscore, just that you complete the essay.)</p>
<p>fwiw: a 30 composite is not very competitive for a scholarship from top ~50 Unis, even those that offer merit aid. Scholarships at UMiami, for example, start at a 31 composite score. And note, that Miami does not meet full need, so it could still leave a huge gap.</p>
<p>Oh ok thanks! I guess I’ll retake the ACT and try to really improve in my grammar and reading skills! I’ll also withdraw my early action application then. Thanks for the advice guys!</p>
<p>tbh i don’t think you’re even close to running the risk of rejection…it seems rather foolish to pull your application. if you are deferred, you can still add your new ACT score for the RD round.</p>
<p>Strong GPA with a rigorous course-load.
Top 10% Rank
Strong SAT IIs
Satisfactory (by my scale) ECs & community service</p>
<p>The indifferent:</p>
<p>Adequate composite ACT (roughly 35%-tile) held down by a poor English score</p>
<p>The ugly:</p>
<p>An English score below the 25th%-tile (I thought writing was on a 12 point scale)
Carroll is reputed to be a tougher admit than the regular BC population.</p>
<p>I’m less pessimistic than scottj and blueb, but only a little. The obvious “hole” in your application is the English score, yet your GPA implies that you do strong work on an on-going basis in class. Your AP scores in World & US History imply that you can score well on essay oriented timed tests. So it comes down to, was your ACT English a one time problem or is it a real assessment of your skill? Frankly I’m not sure about the retaking the ACT strategy; perhaps the SAT would be a better choice. Or, as the old saying goes, better to sit quietly and let people wonder about your intelligence than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.</p>
<p>I think you’ll be deferred in EA and without stronger standardized tests scores in English you’ll probably be rejected in RD.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! Yeah… I’ve never really been the most gifted test taker… I have to reread the material around 2-3 times, while most students will read the material just once, but I attribute most of the scores on my AP exam’s to my work ethic that i’ve developed as a student. I guess I’ll try to submit an EA BC app! And if I get deferred, then I’ll send my ACT test that i’ll be taking in December, in the hopes that I can score higher! Thanks guys! I really appreciate it =)</p>