My daughter just finished her junior year and will be applying to Midwest and East coast schools in the fall. We realize that essays, ECs, and interviews will play a large part in potentially receiving merit scholarships, but as far as her scores go, is there any advantage to only submitting her SAT score? Stats as follows:
GPA: 4.75 weighted, 4.0 unweighted
SAT: 2380 (780 math, 800 other two)
ACT: 35 composite
Has taken 3 APs, will take 6 next year
She’ll take the ACT again this month but, if there’s no change, are her SAT scores stronger by themselves? She is our oldest child so this is our first time down this road. Any feedback would be much appreciated.
@txstella - currently considering Duke, UVA, U of Chicago, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Miami U. Did you mean running calculator for need-based aid? We probably won’t qualify for much so I was just questioning our score strategy strictly relating to her chances for full-ride merit consideration. I have to believe that other candidates will have 36, 2400, etc. Correct?
@thumper - we agree that a 35 is good. If possible to improve, though, isn’t it worth trying? She has only had one attempt in February.
It is hard to imagine an admissions reader caring about the difference between 2380 and 2400 on the SAT (and a 36 on the ACT would essentially be duplication of that).
She had a 240 PSAT so we are assuming that NMF is in play.
Hmmm. Shipman does appear to be the largest. It’s significant, though: $10k per year plus room and board.
We’re not targeting any specific net cost. We are simply going to evaluate any offers that she receives based on each of their merits, with net cost being just one (albeit, important) factor.
As others have said, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with either score. They are about as close to perfect as you can get. She probably only missed a question or two. You actually run the risk of her doing worse. The odds of that happening are about the same or higher than the odds of her getting a 2400 or a 36. Many of the schools on her list probably require all scores. So if that does happen, she’ll need to report. Send her two stellar scores and be done with it. Has she taken SAT subject tests yet? Some schools require these. Focus on those - and her essays and applications.
Well, she’ll definitely be a NMSF, and a likely NMF since her grades and SAT are qualified. As long as she does the paperwork, sends her SAT score to NMCorp, and writes a decent essay, she’ll make NMF. There are more full or near full rides for NMFs.
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Shipman does appear to be the largest. It’s significant, though: $10k per year plus room and board.
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So it’s about $20k per year total for a school that has an OOS cost of over $50k.
If you have a hard limit as to what you can afford, you may want to figure that out now – having a choice between a $70,000 school and a $65,000 school does not help if you can only afford $45,000.
It sounds like your strategy is for your DS to chase some competetive full ride scholarships (tough to get), apply to a few NMF automatic full rides (AU, TX Tech, OU), and then apply to the schools she really wants (Duke, UVA, U of Chicago, Miami U.) and hope she snags a big scholarship. You need to carefully research scholarship details for each school. I don’t think Miami U has a full ride scholarship but I don’t really know. You will need to carefully watch out for deadlines.
The NPC is the Net Price Calculator. Each school has one on the website. When you out your financial info in, it will generate your EFC (expected family contribution). Play around with it if you will have children that overlap while in college. You need to come up with a number you can comfortably afford unless you tell your DS she has to attend a NMF scholarship school if that is her only full ride offer (this could be the case).
Your DS scores are fantastic. Retaking won’t help win scholarships. Her life story, ECs, and passion for scholarship will be judged through her essays.
We’ve spoken a bit with her guidance counselor but not a lot. No advice to re-take the tests was given. My daughter is doing it on her own initiative and mostly for her own satisfaction.
We are in Ohio. What we can or would pay in the absence of a full-ride scholarship to a school of her choice is still being determined. For this discussion, my question centered around score release strategy in order to maximize chances for the best merit scholarships.
Retaking ACT after getting 35 is not uncommon if one is seeking for the top merit scholarships. I know students did that and I sometimes regret my D did not do it. However, it may be not necessary if OP’s D got 2380 in SAT as well. ACT 35 is right at the threshold for large scholarships at many top public flagships and the extra edge would definitely help. I found in the forums that many students with ACT 35 still did not get any major scholarships at the schools my D was accepted. While SAT 2380 is already in the mid range of ACT 36 equivalent so getting ACT 36 again may not add anything.
My gut says that re-taking the ACT for her would help her chances if she moves from a 35 to a 36.
So, back to the original post. If she does not improve and as far as merit scholarship consideration goes, is she better off submitting only her 2380 SAT score (since that is equivalent to a 36 ACT and her actual ACT is a 35)? Or do we just release all scores because they’re all good? I lean towards the latter because I generally like presenting a full picture anyway and then let the chips fall where they may.
I acknowledge that this is a very fine point and that there may be no material difference. What I’m really learning is that essays, ECs and interviews are what will be the difference makers.
Full ride merit scholarships at incredibly selective colleges are extremely hard to come by. Larger amounts of merit money will come from Schools ranked 30th and above.
I don’t think there is any question she can go to a very good school for next to nothing. Going to a top 30 for next to nothing is not easily achieved, nor is being admitted at such a school.
Research the Common Data Sets of various schools your daughter is interested in. Review their available scholarships and what the expected criteria are to be a candidate for them.
Your daughter has remarkable academic accomplishments, her LOR’s and EC’s and Essays will also need to be exceptional to gain admission to the most selective schools, and other worldly to receive their top merit scholarships.
There are people here that can assist you with the automatic NMF scholarship information and the schools where your daughters academic credentials will provide automatic full or near full scholarships.
Aside from those options the big merit money comes most consistently from schools that are second tier and above.
Your daughter would benefit by strategically casting a wide net from an applications perspective.
The good news is that her hard work will provide her with lots of options.
Receiving large merit scholarships from top tier schools cannot be counted upon though and could have she and yourselves boxed in a financial corner if you have not been strategic in crafting her list of schools to apply to.
Some schools(perhaps many or most of the schools you are targeting) require all standardized test scores be sent. You don’t have a choice. For example, see standardized testing scores for Duke at this link: