<p>hi there,
would be nice if anyone could help me:
i want to apply to some colleges in the us. so i had to take the sat and act (and i'm very unfamiliar with this kind of tests). my question: do colleges consider that english is my third(!) language when looking at my test scores?
i took both the sat and the act only one time until now:
sat: 1050
act: just taken, should be 26-29
thanks for your answers!!
jaegermeister</p>
<p>Have you taken the TOEFL? Most US colleges are going to want to see that score. If you do well on that, it can go a ways towards over coming the lower SAT score.</p>
<p>Which schools are you looking at in the US? For the most selective schools in the US - i.e., Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, etc. - those tests scores are going to rule you out of the game. There are, however, other US schools that would be happy to have you.</p>
<p>Best bet: take the TOEFL and re-take the SAT too. You might try using the College Board's online study program to prepare. (<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com%5B/url%5D">www.collegeboard.com</a>) Good luck.</p>
<p>hi,
thank you for your answer!
unfortunately, yes, i want to apply to selective schools. harvard for example doesn't require the toefl. i will retake the sat for sure.
but i hope my school performance and extracurriculars can help:
school: private,very good reputation, known for sending students to top schools
grades: unfortunately i cant give you something like a gpa.my average grade is b+ (german scale: a(best),b,c,d,e,f(worst))</p>
<p>extracurriculars:
sports:
rowing (club):3 years as a national competitor. participating in any championships, for example the national championships where i finished 8th last year, or the state championships where i finished 1st and two times 2nd.
rowing (school):varsity team for 4 years, finished 5th and 7th at the german national highschool championships.
also played hockey and tennis for 3 years in national leagues.
work:
i founded my own company for webdesign and hardware support.i have one employee by now.
6 weeks internship at SAP as intranet administrator.</p>
<p>what do you think??
does beeing recruited as a student athlete give me better chances?</p>
<p>please, anyone!</p>
<p>that depends on diff schools... if you're planning to apply for the ivies or the top ones, it's gonna be real tough since there're loads of intls with 1500+ and your stats are extremely hard to compete w/ them. but if you make a big fuss outa your atheletic records that could be your strong hook.(you DO need some kinda hook) make sure your recommendation is gd and ur essay is super. try to shift the attention from the testscores to these special things you have. but my advice is to retake the test, usually ppl get much better scores the 2nd time they take the test (i did). n gd luck : )</p>
<p>I don't think it's a matter of "playing" up your sport, it's a matter of getting recruited by your schools. Start contacting the coaches and see where you stand. You will need at least a 1200, however, at most top schools, for the coach to be able to get you in.</p>
<p>i already got recruited. and i will retake the test for sure. 1200 should be possible. thank you!</p>
<p>for what school? Besides if you've been recruited, why the **** are you asking about your chances?</p>
<p>does being recruited guarantee you getting admitted at ivies?
sorry, i dont know very much about the american system.
thanks for your answer!</p>
<p>yea it does in most cases at least</p>
<p>I disagree. Being recruited does not necessarily guarantee you'll actually be admitted. Coaches can put in names of students they would like to see admitted with admissions, but the coaches themselves do NOT make the final decision. Therefore, if you're being "recruited" it only means that a coach has expressed interest in you. He can plead your case to the admissions committee, which gives you a definite boost, but it is not a guarantee that the admissions committee won't throw you over for someone else who satisfies another need of the school. Does being a recuited athlete help? Yes, definitely. But it is NOT a guarantee of admission.</p>
<p>I've copied this from an old, archived College Confidential post. It does a good job of explaining what being a recruited athlete an Ivy can and can not do for you. Pay particular attention to the last two paragraphs. Excerpt for May 13 article of the Dartmouth.. regarding Admissions </p>
<p>40 percent of applicants are given some sort of extra attention -- minorities, legacies or athletes. This year, 24 percent of applicants were students of color, 3 percent legacies, and roughly 13 to 17 percent were athletes, based on estimates. This 40 percent of the applicants has a combined admit rate nearly double the overall level. </p>
<p>Athletic admissions statistics are not released by the admissions office. Some speculate that athletes -- particularly those for big sports -- are given the highest preference of all. This does not appear to be the case at Dartmouth, although athletes do benefit from having a lobbyist in their coach. Coaches submit ranked lists of their recruited athletes to the admissions office. The admissions office then reviews the applications, taking into account the applicant's athletic talent and coach's recommendation. </p>
<p>"Athletic talent works in the same way other kinds of talent do. The only difference is it's a much more organized and structured recruiting process and that's a function of the NCAA and the Ivy League rules," Furstenberg said. "They tell us who they want, but there are no guaranteed number of slots." </p>
<p>But even with the ability to submit a list, some coaches expressed frustration with how little say they really have. </p>
<p>"How much clout do I have? Minimal," men's swimming coach Jim Wilson said. "If you look at my SAT scores and compare to the average SAT scores, my kids may be getting in with a 1450 instead of a 1460." </p>
<p>Wilson did, however, speculate that some of the "higher-profile sports like football may be getting a little more help." </p>
<p>Coaches are given little feedback from the admissions office before submitting their lists, according to Wilson. "I'm shooting blind," he said, adding that other schools, even in the Ivy League, are actually more lenient with athletic admissions. </p>
<p>"Some schools will say 'if he has this GPA and this SAT score were going to let him in.' Our admissions doesn't do that," Wilson said. </p>
<p>While athletic talent can bolster an application, it does not replace other criteria for admission, according to Furstenberg. If coaches do not find well qualified applicants to put on their list, they risk not getting enough players that year. </p>
<p>"If the coaches say we need nine soccer players this year, but we only think six of them are qualified, that's what they get," he said. "All of the decisions are made here; the only person at the institution who can admit someone is me."</p>
<p>And, for those who think Harvard is taking lots of recruited athletes with scores of 1000, here is some hard data. Only 3.0% of Harvard's freshman class had verbal scores in the 500-590 range. Only 1.2% had math scores in the same range. Even if all of those people were "recruited athletes" (which I doubt), Harvard clearly needs more people than that to fill their teams. Translation: Harvard gets applications from many recruited athletes with scores well within their stats range, so only athletes with exceptional talent in certain sports are getting in with scores significantly below say 600.</p>
<p>Doesn't mean the OP shouldn't give it a shot, but he SHOULD be realistic. If someone with the same level of athletic talent applies with higher stats, Harvard will probably take that person first.</p>