Hi, so I’ve just received back my SAT score for June and I’ve fallen into a dilemma. I received the same SAT scores for the two times I’ve taken in junior year with different scores on the english and writing and math sections, but still I’ve received a 1410 on both one sittings adding up to a superscore of 1430. The problem is I’ve studied really hard and my score actually dropped- I got a 1380 and even my essay grade that rose from the first time dropped again to the same score I got originally. My mom and I am really stumped and we’re not sure what to do at this point. Honestly, I’ve already gotten some disappointing grades from my aps (i took three and got 3s on apush and english language and a 5 on art history).
Now I don’t think I can apply to any reach schools that I originally wanted to apply to like NYU, Barnard, Wellesley, Boston College, and Northeastern. I have safety schools like Fordham, Villanova, Colgate but doesn’t this make me disqualified for all these schools I’ve listed now…
I am preparing to take SAT subject tests (us history and math level 2) to make up for my low ap scores and my standardized testing scores, but I want to know from people who know from experience so I know what to expect… am I disqualified or have an extremely low chance of applying?
I am interested in majoring in accounting or education and this is what I have been doing so far:
-part of the Math Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and National Honor Society ( i will also make it to the History Honor Society next year)
-been receiving school scholarships since freshmen year
-always make it to the honor roll
-bronze award in 10th grade for the National Spanish Exam
-volunteered for 200 hours and received a president’s volunteer service award
-handbells choir
-peer tutor for math
-debate team as both a judge and debater for three years straight
-school ambassador taking part in open house tour guides since sophomore year
-have a paid job since 9th grade
-student reporter for a newspaper
-recently i am interning at an accounting office and i plan to continue working here
Please give me your honest opinions and i would prefer they were from true knowledge. Thank you so much
1410 is a good SAT score. I don’t know whether you can get into NYU with this score, but you might and you certainly will get into very good universities. I think that you can do very well with a bachelor’s degree from Fordham or one of the SUNY’s or UMass (which students do get into with 1400 SAT) or from many other universities. There are a lot of very good universities to choose from.
I know someone who got into Northeastern with 1420 on the SAT. She didn’t get any financial aid (did not qualify for need based aid) and went elsewhere.
My honest opinion is that you are being too hard on yourself. Pick a good range of schools to apply to, keep costs in mind and avoid taking on debt as much as you can, and you will do well.
To be honest, it sounds as if you are interested in somewhat more practical fields than most of the super-reach schools you were interested in offer. You’ll have many great options with your current stats. You will, however, need to recalibrate what you are thinking of as “safety schools.”
You might want to have a look at Wake Forest. It has the environment of a small elite private U, but also has the majors you’re interested in, and the median SAT is just under 1400. University of Richmond is another great school with similar major offerings and a similar stat range. Tulane’s median is in the low 1400’s but still in range, with great programs in your areas of interest. Bucknell is a match and has both education and accounting majors; and Lehigh is in range too, and has an accounting major and an education minor through the grad school of education. All of these schools superscore the SAT.
If the majors aren’t that important, then a good alternative to Wellesley might be Mt. Holyoke. (If the majors are than important, then Simmons could be worth a look, as it’s more pre-professional.)
Brandeis could be a good alternative to BC.
Fordham, as you say, is a great alternative to NYU.
You have great options, and that’s before even considering public U’s, both in-state and out-of-state. (TCNJ could be a great safety, for example, with less than 7500 undergrads, stats that put you solidly in the top quartile, and strength in your majors of interest.)