<p>I made the lower end of a school's mid-50% range for the ACT. Do I have a good chance test-score wise? I'm a strong applicant otherwise. We're talking about Vassar, if it helps. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>It's my personal opinion that to truly be a strong applicant for a school you should be above the 75th percentile, since admission can be such a toss-up sometimes. That being said, there's no reason you shouldn't get in if the rest of your app is strong.</p>
<p>I also agree that an applicant should be above the 75th percentile, and I speak from personal experience.</p>
<p>Ugh....well, I might retake, so we'll see. I have a 29 ACT and 2040 SAT, and while I've seen others on CC with lower scores who got in, I'm guessing I should really step it up to become more competitive? I know that's obvious, but I just want to know whether or not I should retake the ACT.</p>
<p>If you think you can do better than definitely retake it. Don't retake it just so you can say you retook it, but if you don't think that 29 adequately reflects your skills then taking it again can only help you!</p>
<p>I think I could realistically get a 30, a 31 in my dreams - would this significantly boost my chances? I'm guessing no.....</p>
<p>Maybe I'll get some strong "IMHO" smackdowns to this, but I think what people really underestimate is how much smaller schools like Vassar really look at applications. They have fewer people on staff at the admissions office, but they're building a smaller community, and really want to make sure they're letting in people that strike them as good candidates/personalities/not-just-a-test-score. I had a friend who thought she was in a similar position as you are at some smaller, very good schools. She got great recs and wrote some good essays, and she got in. I would focus more on conveying why you're a strong candidate through non-testing means. If you're in the median 50 and don't think taking the standardized testing again would do much, I wouldn't be concerned that the score is going to make or break your app.</p>
<p>senioritis is probably right in this particular instance. I don't know much about Vassar, never really considered it. I was speaking more in general. But like I said, as well as senioritis, there's no reason you shouldn't get in with a strong application outside of the test score.</p>
<p>senioritis--
you are right. it is all about community building and contribution by the applicant. if you stand out or catch an adcom's eye you will be offered admission. It isn't about a 4 hour test that has little bearing on what an applicant brings to the school.
It's also true for larger private schools --some in the top 20. School websites with class profiles tell some information about what might be considered important/interesting.</p>
<p>well, you also got to keep in mind that half of the student body scored below the schools average/50th percentile</p>