<p>Im trying to get into Northwestern, University of Chicago, Notre Dame, and other schools of similar caliber. I have a 31 ACT and 700 Math II and 740 US History. Yes these scores are not fantastic, but everyone is telling me to retake the ACT at least. It is in the top 3%. You'd think a 31 ACT is decent at least. Do i really not stand a good chance with a 31 ACT???</p>
<p>a lot of views, no replies!? ahaha. bummmmmmmmmmmp</p>
<p>Well I happen to think it is a fine score! haha. But everyone is telling me to retake it. It seems that a 31 is the average for Northwestern, and its a great school. So is it just not strong? Its not going to help me or hurt me right? its not bad…</p>
<p>31 ACT=good, CC standards=average
UChicago—course rigor, EC’s, essays, personality, grades, talents all matter more than test scores. If you get rejected from UChicago, it WILL NOT be because of your ACT score. It’s the other things that will ultimately decide your admission.
Notre Dame—Don’t know too much, all I can say is that your in the middle 50% of their score range and your SAT II’s will only help you.
Northwestern—highly selective school. Your in the lower end of their test score 50% range. How strong is the rest of your app? This will probably decide your application. Can the rest of your application overcome your decent, but nothing spectacular ACT score? Your SAT II’s will help you.
My advice would be to not retake the ACT and focus on essays, your current EC’s, senior year, ap’s, grades, and I think that northwestern and Uchicago(for sure) require mid year grades so those might be able to help you if your on the border. However, you should ask yourself can I really improve my ACT score? What were ACT subscores? English and Reading are the easiest to improve on. Science can be better but it is hard to master. Math is really built by years of good coursework. You could always try the SAT. Overall in the end, your ACT is in the range of all of these schools, so its going to come down to something else. Good Luck :)</p>
<p>great answer. I am not finishing a senior year, although I’d love to, because it would just be awkward for me. I’ve done 4.5 credits of language arts, 3 credits of math, 1 year of college calculus, 4 credits of foreign language, 4 credits of science, etc. Basically, there is no classes left for me to take in my high school. I’d love to take another year of high school, focus on my test scores and get them near perfect and go to Harvard (hahaha) but I just cannot take a senior year.</p>
<p>my sister got into northwestern with a 29, so its not a huge problem.</p>
<p>oh great. But what year was that? With so many more kids applying to more colleges, things get tougher every year. For example, last year, Univeristy of Chicago’s early applicants rose 40-something% and northwesterns rose about 15%</p>
<p>qwerty…if your sister got in with an ACT 29, then she’s an exception. She’s in the bottom quartile. Did she have some special hook? Athlete? URM? </p>
<p>What year did she graduate from high school?</p>
<p>Anyway…an ACT 31 is probably in the bottom third of the school. Not a great place to be. </p>
<p>Test Scores Middle 50% of First-Year Students </p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 670 - 750<br>
SAT Math: 690 - 780<br>
SAT Writing: 670 - 750<br>
ACT Composite: 30 - 33 </p>
<p>What are your safety schools?</p>
<p>A 31 is in ND’s and borders Northwestern’s bottom quartile, so you would need the rest of your app to be really outstanding to offset the lower score. So yeah, retake for those schools.</p>
<p>Chicago is not so test-focused.</p>
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</p>
<p>Uhh, no. The middle is 32-34.</p>
<p><a href=“http://admissions.nd.edu/admission-and-application/admissions-statistics/[/url]”>http://admissions.nd.edu/admission-and-application/admissions-statistics/</a></p>
<p>*Notre Dame—Don’t know too much, all I can say is that your in the middle 50% of their score range *</p>
<p>An ACT 31 is at the **BOTTOM **of the 2 middle quartiles…not a good place to be.</p>
<p>Notre Dame middle 50% of students…</p>
<p>ACT Composite: 31 - 34</p>
<p>She didnt have any hooks or anything, just made really good grades, although she did apply early decision. This was last year.</p>
<p>well to offset my 31 act, i have a 4.0 gpa, probably the best teacher recs anyone’s ever had (they showed them to me), I applied early decision to NU, i had an interview with NU and the lady told me she loved me and i was one of those few kids who reallly benefit from an interview, and i also have a list of about 75 classical books I’ve read for personal study, my teachers mention that i study about 10 hours a day on my own, annnnddd thats about it i think</p>
<p>oh and my SAT subject tests arent too bad: 740 on US history and 700 on Math II. How do these compare to most NU kids? Will this help me? Hurt me? Neither?</p>
<p>the colleges usually post the scores of the incoming class at their web sites under admissions.</p>
<p>It’s not that a 31 on the ACT is bad, it’s just on the lower end for a college like NU. Does that mean you’ll get rejected? No, but it does mean that you will have some serious competition in the admissions process.</p>
<p>I say look at the bright side. With a 31 ACT and 4.0 GPA, you’re probably qualified for some huge scholarships at a lot of less selective public schools. Take advantage of this when you’re applying to your safeties. Contrary to a school like NU, you will be an outstanding student with those scores at many public schools.</p>
<p>So, basically, a 31 could be considered both a “good” score or a “bad” score depending on how you look at it.</p>
<p>*oh and my SAT subject tests arent too bad: 740 on US history and 700 on Math II. How do these compare to most NU kids? Will this help me? Hurt me? Neither? *</p>
<p><a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;
<p>A 740 in US History is 86 percentile</p>
<p>A 700 in Math II is 65 percentile</p>
<p>I would imagine the NU kids might have higher percentiles for those tests.</p>
<p>What are your financial safety schools? These are schools that you know FOR SURE that you’ll get admitted and you know for sure that you’ll have all costs covered.</p>
<p>I actually think your act score is better than your 700 SAT subject test score.</p>
<p>I’d only retake it if you think you can do better but I got the same score twice.</p>
<p>31 on the ACT’s isn’t bad. My friend who got a 30 got into UChicago. His SAT II’s were really good also, like 790 on Math II, 740 on Physics, etc.</p>
<p>But like usual… the higher score, the better chance, even if by a little bit.</p>