I’m currently a junior and I really want to go to Howard University. I wonder if I can get in because I don’t have any leadership roles and I know they’re big on that. These are my stats
GPA - 4.1 W
SAT - 1200 (haven’t taken the ACT yet)
Extracurricular - National Honor Society, Yearbook, Leo Club
I did dual enrollment for 2 years and I’m graduating with my AA
Also work a part time job at Public idk if that matters
I think you should get in! Your GPA is above average and your SAT score is just around average. Just make sure you apply early!
I would study for the SAT and take it again. I improved my SAT score by 90 points just studying occasionally when I took it the second time. For my advice on the SAT, read the post below.
For a decent scholarship, you will typically need a 3.25/3.5 gpa and a 1270/28 at least! Good luck!
Just for reference, I applied on December 30th 2016 for Fall 2017 (I took the SAT again in January of 2017 and the scores were sent in February 23rd, 2017). I got my decision by March 10th, 2017, and I got my financial aid around that last week of March.
I had a 3.65/3.7 (sorry my school uses a 100 point scale so it varies by college) unweighted GPA
1310 SAT
Part of various music groups/organizations
A couple of leadership positions, but not any that would blow Howard out of the water (a county student board rep/youth court judge/lead snare drum in marching band/lead mock trial attorney)
I also did sort a summer biological research program at a college where I stayed for a few weeks and gained some college credits; I did apply for biology. I’m not sure if that helped any, but regardless, if you have the time and opportunity, it would be nice to see if you can find a summer educational program where you can study a subject related to your major! It’s good for your personal knowledge and your resume as well!
It’s also not to late to get involved in other organizations as well or start volunteering/shadowing in what you’d like to study.
Overall, I definitely think Howard is doable for you! Great luck!
SAT ADVICE:
My advice has nothing to do with studying for the SAT. Studying did not help me expand my math and English knowledge, at all. But what did help me is below:
Studying for the SAT helped me handle questions, sure. But I studied mainly the math section of the SAT. What surprised me when I took the SAT the second time is my English section score. For some reason, I ran out of time on the English section of the SAT the second time I took it. It left me guessing on about 5-10 questions. However, when I received my results, I scored 60 points higher on my second English section score than my first English section score. I only scored 30 points higher on my math section than before. It surprised me; math had been all of what I was studying for. When I analyzed why I got such a better score on the English section, even despite running out of time, I realized that it must have had a lot to do with my choice of courses in my senior year.
I’d only completed the English classes that were available when I’d taken my SAT. Those were only honors English classes; my school doesn’t allow dual enrollment English classes until senior year. (Even though there are no higher level questions on the math section of the SAT, I did completely abandon a math course in my schedule in my senior year.) When I took dual enrollment English for a whole semester before taking my SAT again ( I took my SAT again in January 2017), I scored much better than before without even studying for that section of the SAT. I knew that I most likely got those 5-10 questions I guessed on wrong, maybe with the exception of one or two. Given that, I probably would have had a very near perfect English SAT score if I hadn’t run out of time, just from the knowledge gained by taking a dual enrollment English class.
I’m not an English person, I’ve never liked English or writing or literature in the slightest. I was merely taking the dual enrollment class to get English over with in high school, and that was just my experience. It may not work for everyone, but this is just what I’ve concluded based on my personal experience; taking higher level courses in high school definitely helped me improve my SAT score! I know you said you’ve taken dual enrollment classes, and I’m not sure to what extent, but my advice to you is to take the courses that a) you want to take and b) may help improve your SAT score! Remember, this is just my experience and my approach, everyone is different!
Low Match/Match