<p>I just got my SAT back and I got a 2070, but only a 1320 in M and R. </p>
<p>My ACT is 29. How will this SAT help my shot at better schools?</p>
<p>With around a 3.6 W GPA and good ECs would I have any shot at higher tier schools like Northwestern or Berkley (UC GPA is higher)</p>
<p>You’ll should aim for a 32/2100+ for Cal and Northwestern, and perhaps higher given your gpa (which is low for those schools). Cal rejected plenty of 4.3 UC gpa’s this year.</p>
<p>would you consider those reaches or super reaches for me ?</p>
<p>For Northwestern you should definitely try and improve your SAT scores. Your ECs and other portions of application are just as (if not more) important, but if you think that you can improve upon your scores, I’d definitely say go for it. </p>
<p>I don’t know if Northwestern was particularly selective this year, but I was waitlisted with a 2260 (1500).</p>
<p>I have a rule I follow: CC people are nuts about SAT scores.</p>
<p>For your first question, a 2070 is (quantitatively speaking) slightly better than a 29 ACT. Your ACT score is in the 94th percentile (which is more like a 2010-2030); your SAT score is in the 96th percentile, which is more akin to a 30 on the ACT. So you’ve already done very well, as you’ve scored in the top 4-6% of college-bound high schoolers.</p>
<p>The middle 50% at Northwestern is a 2030 to a 2280.
At Berkeley, it’s a 1810 to a 2190.</p>
<p>So do you need a 2100 to get into either school? No, that’s absurd (especially at Berkeley). Would it hurt to retake and try to get a 2100? No, not really, but is it worth it just to climb <i>one</i> percentile rank (a 2100 is 97th percentile)? Over 3 little questions, possibly less? Particularly when your SAT scores are already squarely in the middle 50% of applicants?</p>
<p>As a general rule if your SAT scores are already right in their average range, you are fine as far as qualifications go. If you don’t get in, it probably won’t be because of your SAT scores. For example, I highly doubt that star_s didn’t get into Northwestern because she or he had a 2260; it was probably a combination of other factors (after all, most people who were admitted over him or her had lower scores, since his or her score is actually at the higher end of their middle range).</p>
<p>Your GPA technically is a bit low for Berkeley, since only 4% of admitted students had a 3.5 to a 3.74 (and 91% had a GPA higher than 3.6). However, since your GPA is relatively close to 3.7, I think you should try your best to raise it but I wouldn’t worry too much. I would put these schools in a low-reach range for you, since your stats either match or are just slightly below their regular profile. (Are you in-state for Berkeley? Because if you are OOS it becomes more competitive. Sometimes a higher SAT score than needed can sort of “balance” out a lower GPA; for Berkeley it doesn’t matter (your SAT score is already pretty high for there) but for Northwestern you may want to consider.</p>
<p>thanks for the responses!</p>
<p>i’m out of state for both living in FL now. I know I can bring up with CR on my SAT so hopefully I will be above a 2100 when I apply.</p>
<p>what “tier” or types of schools would you put as “fit” schools as opposed to reaches or safeties for me? (sorry I just didn’t expect that I’d be having a shot at schools I’ve only dreamed of going too!)</p>
<p>oh and I know my GPA is low, but I have a pretty steep increase since freshman year… for what it’s worth.</p>
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<p>You need to learn a LOT more about UC admissions if you are gonna opine. Each University of California campus accepts 33% Pell Grantees. By Collegeboard’s own data, test scores and income are positively correlated. Thus, it is easy to conclude that the vast majority of the low testers are hooked candidates by UC standards: Pell grantees, first gen to attend college, single parent, overcome life adversity, attend inner-city California HS, and the like. Any and all of which produce low test scores. </p>
<p>For the typical suburban candidate, a 4.0 UC gpa/2000 has a 50% rejection rate. The OP has a 3.6 WEIGHTED, and is way below the mean. Moreover, UC counts gpa much more heavily than SAT scores. The OP is OOS. Since the OP can’t do much more about GPA at this point, his/her best shot is to crank up that test score, a lot, IMO. </p>
<p>Northwestern’s 25% is a 1360, which places the OP below that target. 73% had an 30 or better on the ACT, so the OP is below that number as well. Neither is a good place to be, without a hook. A school with similar stats, Vandy, had a 32 cutoff this year, for unhooked candidates, in that I mean a 32’s were waitlisted, but similar gpa’s and a 31 were rejected.</p>
<p>IMO, test scores will never get you in, but will keep you out.</p>
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<p>Strongly disagree: both are big reaches.</p>
<p>PS: Cal’s Frosh mean UW gpa is a 3.9 meaning, obviously, that half the Frosh are had a 3.9-4.0 uw in HS.</p>
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<p>Also incorrect: 91% had a 3.75 or better; again, that’s UW. Don’t forget the recruited athletes…</p>
<p><a href=“http://cds.berkeley.edu/pdfs/PDF%20wBOOKMARKS%2008-09.pdf[/url]”>http://cds.berkeley.edu/pdfs/PDF%20wBOOKMARKS%2008-09.pdf</a></p>
<p>FYI, it’s relatively easy to get a 2400 on the SAT but near impossible to get a 34. A girl at a local high school got a 36 on the ACT and it made the news on the radio haha
I got a 34 on the ACT and according to the testers, that’s in the 98th percentile of all testers</p>
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<p>… not likely. Anybody scoring at 32 or above is in the 99th percentile.</p>
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<p>um… a few hundred kids, out of millions, score a 2400…</p>
<p>bluebayou would you do me a favor and never post in one of my threads ever again… you are a sad sad person.</p>
<p>Berkeley weights GPA heavily. I think your chance is very slim.
For NU, you’d need to raise your score. They don’t really look at the writing score. Actually, the 1360 is only the 25th percentile of the enrolled class. The accepted students have a higher range. I don’t know the range but the average for this year is just above 1470.</p>
<p>dpc1192, please don’t take offense, but I also think that you really need to raise your SAT scores if you really want to go to either of these schools. They really are extremely selective schools, and you’re being an OOS for Berkeley makes your chances bleak. As for NU, your current stats are below the 25th percentile of the current admitted students.</p>
<p>Getting a 29 on the ACT is equal to a 1920 on the SAT. Also, there aren’t enough slots available at Berkeley for California residents. You will need to be much more competitive as an out of state applicant to have any chance.</p>
<p>I’m not saying those are the only 2 schools I want to go to…</p>
<p>Those are just like the “dream” schools you know, I wouldn’t expect to get in.</p>
<p>It’s just people on this board can be so negative that it really annoys me.</p>
<p>I don’t understand your annoyance when people give their honest assessment regarding your question. Perhaps you would feel better if people sugarcoated their responses, but it wouldn’t be of any benefit to you. If you’re going to ask for opinions, then be willing to accept them when given whether you like them or not. There wasn’t a single response that was inappropriate.</p>