High enough ACT for a scholarship?

Applying to College
1

<p>We have eliminated ivy league schools for my son (expense and fit). Ideally, he'd like to go to a top engineering school in the Midwest. We are hoping for a large merit scholarship. SAT CR=730, Math=790 Writing=800. ACT Eng=36, Math=36, Reading=34, Science=30. We don't think he can top his SAT score. His ACT scores were higher than practiced on everything but science (he averaged 32.8 in practice). Composite ACT was .5 point higher than practiced.</p>

<p>We are wondering....
1) Are these scores high enough to qualify for a 75% tuition scholarship at, for example, a school like Purdue (we live in KY)?</p>

<p>2) Do schools like Purdue give any credit to students who only take the SAT/ACT once and score well? We think he could improve Science by at least a couple of points, but his Math and English MIGHT drop by a couple. Does the credit schools give for taking the test only once outweigh the possible .5 point gain in composite?</p>

<p>3) Do engineering schools give a lot more weight to the Science ACT score (his school grades are straight A's in AP courses)?</p>

<p>If it were totally up to our son, he would rather not take the ACT again. We are wondering if we should push him to try again.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help,
Tom</p>

2

<p>There are a number of threads on topics like this in the Financial Aid Forum, and some more in Parents. This one is pretty much up-to-date: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Two older ones worth reading for the search strategies discussed are:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Really, his scores are excellent. There probably are better ways for him to use his time than by re-taking the ACT.</p>