<p>My GPA is 4.3. I've taken honors and ap courses. Active in a couple of clubs. I'm a musician involved with the school band. Have competed at a few local individual competitions and received a couple of first place awards. Very involved in my church and play with the church band on a regular basis. My downfall is my 1950 SAT and my 30 ACT - not good. SAT 2's are mediocre with 650 - 690 scores. I'm a great student but not a great test taker. I was too busy with sports (not Varsity) to enroll in any prep classes. My summers are busy with the activities I'm involved in. I've taken 4 AP exams and am an AP Scholar- don't think that will help me. I really want to go to Stanford but unless I raise my ACT (to what score) I don't think I have a chance. I've taken the SAT thtree times and still can't get it to move. I will be taking the ACT one more time. My other choices are UC Berkeley and UCLA but after reading the various threads I'm beginning to worry about my chances there. Can anyone give me advice?</p>
<p>I am pretty much in the same boat as you, ap classes and great GPA, and intstruments etc. My sat2's and sat are pretty much the same as yours too, and i know what you mean...its extremely annoying. As for the ACT, my ED requires only sat or act w/ writing so i pretty much do not have to take the act at the moment. Anyways, my friend took the act after using some "crash course" princeton review book and got a 34 w/ a couple weeks of studying. Besides that though, I think that you best bet is the following: 1) Visit the campus 2) Information Session 3) talk w/ assistant dean of admissions + any professors you can 4) Consider selecting a different college (if its at a university) even if it does not exactly match up 5) Consider putting down a more interesting (less mainstream) major when applying 4) use a hobby/interest in your essay that sets you apart from the rest 5) make ALL THIS show up in extra recommendations/teacher recommendations you receive.</p>
<p>I know this sounds really simple, and I'm just throwing things out there b/c this is the formula i'm trying to use. However, i just browsed some statistics for a good school like Michigan or something and average sat scores fluctuated BY THE 100's between colleges and even majors. </p>
<p>Either way, I'm not too familiar with the ACT, but I would probably recommend that one study guide.</p>