Low ACT score...am I screwed?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

<p>I just got in my ACT score, I didn't expect a high result because I thought the test was hard. I was hoping for atleast a 28 but I got a 25 :-/ . I figured I'd just take it and give it a shot because I heard it was easier than the SAT. Personally I thought the SAT was easier but I'm still waiting on those scores but honestly they probably aren't any better. I'm going to take the SAT two more times and the ACT once more (depending on the SAT results). UVA is my first choice and on my ACT score report it says that the middle 50% accepted at scores of 25-32. how much of an impact will my low ACT score have on my application with the following stats???:</p>

<p>Race/Gender: Caucasion/F
HS Class Year: 2008
High School: Public
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools
First Generation College Student
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA 9th and 10th: 3.7
Weighted GPA 9th and 10th: 4.094
Class Rank 9th and 10th: Weighted-26/483 and UW-33/483 top 10%.</p>

<p>Current 11th grade GPA:
1st semester weighted: 4.375
unweighted: 3.875</p>

<p>Transcript: Never had a C. Never had more than 2 B's. </p>

<p>Honors Classes 9th and 10th...have taken hardest course load
English 9 and 10
World History 1 and 2
Algebra 2
in 8th grade: algebra and geometry</p>

<p>11th grade classes(not hardest, could've taken STATS AP or US History AP):
English AP B first semester , A second
US History Dual Enrollment A both semesters
Pre Calculus Honors A 1st semester, B second
Spanish 4 Honors-A both semesters</p>

<p>12th grade schedule(Hardest!! excluding calculus):
US Govt AP
Chemistry II AP
Statistics AP
English 12 AP
Journalism III
Spanish V AP</p>

<p>Scores:
ACT: 25 (blah!!)
SAT: still coming </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars:
Academy of Finance (9,10,11, will continue 12th)-Officer and Newsletter Committee Head
FBLA (9,10,11,will continue 12)
Spanish Club (9,11, vice president senior year)
National Honor Society (11,12-Secretary)
Beta Club (11, will continue 12th)
School Newspaper (Writer - 9, 10, Reporter - 11 Editor position - 12th)
Happy Club (11th, will be officer 12th)</p>

<p>Athletic Status:
Tennis- summer league 2 years and Varsity 11th, will be Varsity 12th - district champs</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
Riverside Hospital Volunteer in Emergency Room
Elementary School Mentor
200+ hours</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
A-B honor roll 9, 10, 11, same 12th </p>

<p>Jobs:
Family Business-control bookkeeping/manage office work summers
Babysitting Same Family 4 years (lol does this even count??)
Food Lion employee summer</p>

<hr>

<p>I'm probably not the most 'intelligent' applicant (ahem standardized test scores), but does my application show that I'm dedicated and hardworking enough? How much of a weight does UVA put on these scores???</p>

2

<p>UVA, as well as other schools, supposedly reviews each application holistically. However, the competition is stiff to get into UVA. It's in your best interests to review for the ACT and take it again, IMO. (Many students do much better on the ACT than the SAT since you're not penalized for incorrect answers.)</p>

3

<p>yeah, guess I'm gonna have to take it again :-/. For some reason I thought the ACT was much harder than the SAT, maybe I was just having a bad day ha I hate that excuse.</p>

4

<p>Yes. You're screwed. Good luck at community college... (I kid you)</p>

5

<p>lol okay now I know my score isn't THAT bad. nothing wrong with community colleges though</p>

6

<p>IS or OOS?</p>

7

<p>In-State...lol if I were OOS I'd seriously just throw my application in the trash</p>

8

<p>I think you'll get in. The fact that you are first generation will also help you but even without it you'd probably get in. A lot of people get in with low SAT/ACT scores but you should try to do better anyway. Also, your GPA is pretty much irrelevant. Every school has a different way of calculating it. Your actual grades are more important...and rank (which is good as well).</p>

9

<p>I thought my daughter would get in because she was at the top of the median ACT scores with a good gpa, some AP classes, great letters of rec. and many ec's. She wants to major in engineering, which I thought would be a plus. Other schools are thrilled to have as many qualified females as possible in engineering. She wasn't even waitlisted. She was oos, though, so maybe she had to be above the median score to be admitted. My daughter would have loved, loved, loved to have the opportunity to attend UVA. It was her dream school. That rejection letter was a killer. Good luck to you. I hope things work out.</p>

10

<p>I'm sorry to hear that, SportsMama. Wherever your daughter ends up, I hope she has a great time.</p>

11

<p>Sportsmama, remember that many kids admitted to UVA choose to go elsewhere, too. I'm sure your D will do very well in any engineering program. Best of luck! The rejection letter should not be taken personally. (IMO, admissions is a crapshoot....)</p>

12

<p>SigmaCentauri:
Thanks for the advice! I'm going to spend some time studying this summer and then by fall I'll hopefully be prepared and score high! I just got my SAT scores in BTW, not good either. <em>sigh</em>!</p>

13

<p>nat, I totally missed this thread, wow. Ignore my asking about your stats in the OM, but what are you interested in studying?</p>

14

<p>Also what'd you get on the SAT? You should switch into calculus if you can. It's easier than precalc.</p>

15

<p>Kind of embarassing but I got a 1720. I'm already signed up to retake it again in October. I also stupidly put the schools I was applying to on the SAT register form so UVA already has the score report lol. </p>

<p>I got an A in precalc but at my school calc is incredibly hard. I know all A students who are getting D's in it. My courseload is pretty full already, I'm not really sure if I can handle it :-/. How bad would it look to take the Stats route?</p>

16

<p>it depends on what you want to study. If its AP stats, it wont be a HUGE deal that you dont take calc, but it will still be a factor. If you want to major in engineering, it would look worse than if you wanted to major in history.</p>

<p>study up for the sats and act's, and be sue to take subject tests.</p>

17

<p>Yeah thats a pretty bad SAT (no offense). You should really take Calc. At least AB. You may want to drop journalism and take both stat and calc.</p>

18

<p>haha yeah really I wasn't kidding. I'll talk to my GC about calculus, maybe I just wont take AP stats or something. There's no way I'm dropping Journalism though...I'd lose a significant EC lol and my only sane class.</p>

19

<p>Okay, an update!</p>

<p>I took my SAT again and it went up from 1720 to 1850...</p>

<p>so how do my in-state chances look now?</p>

20

<p>slightly better. actually, probably a bit better.</p>