<p>I did horrible on the SAT...but through a program I was accepted to, I have free Kaplan courses now.</p>
<p>The scores I had are:
Critical Reading - 550
Math - 500
Writing - 480</p>
<p>I know compared to other people on here, my scores sound crazy but I am trying hard to get at least a 600 in everything. Along with the prep classes, I also bought a book to prepare as well. I was sick when I took the SAT too and that didn't help.</p>
<p>Anyway...I don't know what colleges to pick at all.</p>
<p>My interests change a lot so I don't want to go to a technical school if I will end up not wanting to do Engineering.</p>
<p>I have a lot of extracurricular activities and it will be too much to just list every single one and describe them.</p>
<p>My GPA is 96.88 out of 100 and I am taking the hardest classes at my school.</p>
<p>My options are pretty open so please recommend. I want to apply to good schools.</p>
<p>Don’t panic just yet! Kaplan should help you raise those scores. Make sure you put in the effort and show up each and every time for the practice tests. You have a lot riding on this… Good luck!</p>
<p>“Unless you’re a non-Asian minority, you will require ~1800 SAT to get into a top 50 university. Keep that goal in mind. Good luck”</p>
<p>This doesn’t make sense and doesn’t help the OP in anyway. She knows that she didn’t do well on her SAT’s and there is no standardized test score requirement for college.</p>
<p>“That’s not how you calculate GPA. It’s on a 0.0 - 5.0 weighted scale. :facepalm:”</p>
<p>GPA’s are calculated differently at different schools. I know a school that scales their GPA out of 6.0. There are many schools that calculate GPA on a 1-100 basis. That’s why colleges use rank in class as a method to differentiate top from mediocre students.</p>
<p>OP: Utilize the Kaplan course. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t take it seriously and I got a low score. I think that you should put 100% of your effort into that course. Your score should go up by at least a few hundred points. Its easier to bring up a low score rather than a high one. Also I’m guessing your GPA translates to an A, which is in essence a 4.0? What is your class rank race/ethnicity? gender? and what part of NY are you from?</p>
<p>I would also check out the numerous colleges that have made SAT/ACT scores optional for admissions. With high scores, good ECs and great essays, all is not lost. Though I would recommend taking the SAT again, and looking into the ACT as an alternative.</p>
Wow, besides being rude, you are also incorrect. My cousin, who recently graduated from a public NY high school, was given his GPA not on a 4.0 scale but out of 100.</p>
<p>If that is the correct GPA, you will have plenty of very good options. The SAT/ACT scores are considered differently by colleges with some placing less emphasis on test scores than others. Many colleges will tell you that academic rigor (did you take as many of the hardest classes your high school offers as possible) and GPA are their most important criteria. </p>
<p>As another poster mentioned, you can check out the list of test optional colleges at [The</a> National Center for Fair & Open Testing | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org%5DThe”>http://www.fairtest.org). Most of these are LAC’s. As far as your SAT’s, be realistic with how much you can improve. There are some students that have gains of 100 plus points after a courses but I would not expect that type of improvement with everyone. Also, if you have not tried the ACT, take it in the fall. Many students do better on that test. Good luck!</p>
<p>Not only does sentimentGX4 seem to not realize that different HS use different grading scales, his answer also seems to imply that “SUNY” and “community college” are synomous. They are not.</p>
<p>The OP’s stats make her quite competitive for a large number of the SUNY Univeristy-Colleges and maybe the University Center at Albany. It’s true that her test scores are low for Geneseo and Binghampton, but there are plenty of other SUNYs that might be a very good fit and will seriously consider her given the high GPA. [And GPAs on a 0-100 are STANDARD for NYS public high schools—so the SUNYs will know exactly what to do with hers.]</p>
<p>If she can improve the test scores to straight 600s on the SATs, she’ll be a quality candidate at most of the SUNYs.</p>
<p>Finally, to the OP: You might also want to look at taking the ACT. Some students do better on the ACT than the SAT; others do better on the SAT.</p>
<p>There are good schools with rolling admissions that will accept you IF you apply EARLY. Some rolling admissions schools are more lenient with applications that come in during the beginning of the application season.</p>
<p>However…what is your financial situation? How much will your parents pay?</p>
<p>“However…what is your financial situation? How much will your parents pay?”</p>
<p>My financial situation is pretty good, in terms of my parents income, but my parents aren’t contributing to pay for my college education. I plan on applying for many scholarships.</p>
<p>“Finally, to the OP: You might also want to look at taking the ACT. Some students do better on the ACT than the SAT; others do better on the SAT.”</p>
<p>I definitely want to do that because I never took the ACT, and the test seems so much different from the SAT.</p>
<p>If the worst case scenario happens and I don’t do much better on the SAT or do well at all on the ACT, I will definitely look at some SAT-optional schools.</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone for the input. I am looking at this situation differently now.</p>
<p>Your financial situation is not good if your parents make a good income but will not contribute. In fact, that’s probably the toughest situation you could be in. Colleges expect parents to pay a large part of their income and contribute from their assets too. They will not give you more aid if your parents don’t choose to pay.</p>
<p>You need to calculate your EFC, if it’s high, given that your stats will make merit aid difficult, in state schools will make the most sense, and although I know you won’t be happy with this suggestion, so will community colleges for the first 2 years so that you don’t drown in debt.</p>
<p>Big scholarships are rare and most are only for one year.</p>
<p>Have you considered any of the CUNY or SUNY schools? You should throw them into the mix since many of them offer a great education at a great price.</p>
<p>You are so right, I had it backwards!
I know it definitely would be difficult without financial assistance from my parents. x.x
It would be essential for me to have in-state schools on my list.</p>