<p>Gpa: 3.85 on the rise, should be 3.9 by deadline
Rank: N/A
Elite top 100 public school known for scholars
State: MN
Gender: Male
Race: white
Act: 35C, 34E, 36M, 36R, 34S
AP: Euro 4, stats 4, us history not taken, am lit not taken
Senior load:
AP: Econ, Bio, calc bc, comp gov, us gov
World Literature, concert band (highest level in national recognized program)
Recs: none yet, but I’m in tight with my counselor and several teachers so fingers crossed
Ecs: 4 years football (2 letters, 2 year starter)
3 years basketball
Community service letter (2 letters by grad)
4 years of being a church leader for middle schoolers
Several mission trips
300 hours of comm service by graduation
3 years of student leadership team
3 summers of umping little leaguers
3 years marching band
3 years pep band
4 years concert band </p>
<p>good work tightend…with my response I’m assunimg you’re asking opinion on college entrance in general…4 months ago I was not very fluent on this subject matter but I’ve had a crash course of Titantic proportion. First you’re in really good shape with your scores and bio…here is what I’d add…apply to between 6-12 schools and at least 1 early decision (if you’re comfortable with that) but with your ACT scores I think you’re already romping around in the tall cotton. If BC is at the top of your list then by all means Early Action and know where you stand with them from an admissions/financial position. With the balance of your applications explore school types, their location and your interests although BC’s Honors program as described by scottj in another thread sounds like a great way to start your forst 2 years after high school. But there are a lot of great options out there and with your stats I’m going to guess you’ll be able to go to school somewhere for free if you want to…my guess you’ll be hearing from the University of Alabama for 1. But for admission to the most difficult schools you’re most likely going to need take & submit SAT scores.</p>
<p>Really? I was under the impression that BC and other schools no longer prefer one or the other, and I think a 35 on the ACT is enough to not take both.</p>
<p>as I stated I’m only a 4 month expert which qualifies me for absolutely nadda cept BB posting…but you can read for yourself what candidates are submitting and by what criteria they’re being accepted…the high schools in the Northeast are definitely SAT driven and those are the feeder schools for a lot of the east coast “most difficult admits”. The “most difficult” schools I was handicapping over the last few months have been Northwestern, WUSTL, Vandy,Gtown, & BC. The admit threads there are full of high SAT scores and 5’s on all AP…the Vandy RD thread said (I doubt it was true) but at 1 point stated you needed to have aced the SAT to get in this year. My D had friend with 33 ACT - 4.0 - outstanding EC’s, waitlisted at both WUSTL & Vandy.</p>
<p>Absolutely, as long as you completed the essay too. Look at it this way, accepting the highest test scores is in the college’s own best interest, not necessarily yours. THEY want to report high numbers, and a 35 is plenty high.</p>
<p>I would suggest taking the history subject test since you are completing the AP course. You won’t need it for BC, but a 700+ only adds a little extra to your app. Also consider Math 2.</p>
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<p>It’s a historical thing. ACT grew up in Iowa. And Collegeboard’s HQ used to be right down the street of a certain college in NJ. </p>
<p>Colleges don’t prefer the SAT. The ACT is perfectly fine and you got a great score. I honesty stopped reading the rest of that poster’s advice but take it with a grain of salt because I’m not sure how accurate it is.</p>
<p>@Tightend: Your test scores and resume indicate to me that you are an excellent EA candidate for BC. I second the opinion of Bluebayou; schools no longer prefer one test over the other. Your ACT score is just fine. For what it’s worth; DS was admitted to BC Honors, Vandy and ND with an ACT of 32. He had an excellent resume, lots of leadership and all 5’s on his AP’s, excellent essays. Test scores are not the be all and end all at these schools. You have to have the whole package. Good luck! You are on the right path.</p>
<p>Search for posts authored by scottj, who has excellent suggestions for crafting a ‘Why BC?’ essay. Actually, his suggestions are just plain great for any college app.</p>
<p>One more suggestion; get to know your regional admission rep for the schools that interest you. Do not pester them, but ask them questions, send them your current resume, show an interest in their school. Many of the questions you are asking us, could best be answered by an admissions rep. It is much easier for a rep to present an applicant to the admissions committee if he/she has actually had some form of contact with the applicant. You ad rep is the one who will ultimately be the best judge of whether or not you should apply EA or RD.</p>
<p>I actually flew out to BC and visited Saturday and had contacted him before about meeting up, and we had an excellent talk. I was under the impression the reps make the decisions, or is there a board they talk to that ultimately decides?</p>
<p>My understanding is that at most schools, the regional ad rep does the initial read of the application. He/she then presents the application to the admissions committee and a decision is made by the committee; not solely by your ad rep.</p>
<p>I have never worked in a college admissions office, so I cannot answer that with any amount of certainty. My son had contact with all of his admission reps for the schools he was interested in attending. He did this because they encouraged him to stay in touch; they all told him that the more they knew about him, the easier it would be for them to “make a case” for him during their committee meetings. Their advice worked for my son!
I hope this helps you. Good luck!</p>
<p>blubayou, my conclusion isn’t schools prefer 1 of the std test over the other rather my observation is students gaining admission to the most difficult schools are by and large submitting celestial SAT scores, 5’s on their AP’s and of course it’s a given great EC’s. How do I reconcile my observation and your obviously educated opinion? My conclusion is the schools with the best teachers and most rigorous curriculum are predominantly inclined to prefer or be as you note be tied geographically with SAT. My findings are simply my observations but the same students doing well on the SAT are scoring 5’s on their AP’s. Coincindence? I think not. So being business centric (leave as little as possible to chance) if I’m competing for slots with kids in large part gaining admittance via SAT then I post an SAT score.</p>