Need Urgent College/Application Advice!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I'm an international school student studying in Hong Kong and applying for fall 2010. I recently took the SAT I's in October with high hopes only to be horribly disappointed when I received a 1860 (CR:700 M:600 W:560). </p>

<p>I'm kind of stuck in an awkward situation, here are my choices:</p>

<p>1) Take SAT II's in December, apply with 1860
2) Standby SAT I's in December (centers full), apply to schools which only require SAT I's
3) Take SAT II's in December, Re-sit Sat I's Jan (Too late for some schools)</p>

<p>If i re-sit SAT I's, I'm 100% sure I can get a score between 2050-2150.
SAT II's I'm hoping for 600-700 each subject.</p>

<p>Heres my profile:</p>

<p>IB Score: 37/42 (Approx. weighted GPA: 4.2+)</p>

<p>Major: Film (UC and USC), Business, Communications, </p>

<p>I can write solid essays and have pretty impressive recommendations.</p>

<p>ECs: President of the Student Council, Student representative on the School Council, Environmental Management Committee - 2 years, School Rugby Team - 4 years, Taught English to Students in China, Worked in a Laboratory as an assistant, MUN, Various charity concerts, 24 Hour Charity Sailing and Pedal-Kart races, many more.</p>

<p>College List (In order of preference):
USC
UCLA (SAT II'S Required)
U Chicago
Northwestern
U Michigan
NYU(SAT II'S Required)
UCSD(SAT II'S Required)
Penn State</p>

<p>What should I do? Are SAT II's that important? Is my college list too ambitious? Any other suggestions? Other university choices?</p>

<p>Please help! This is literally driving me insane, the deadline to apply for the december test date is tonight!</p>

2

<p>What about November test date (stand by)? Or have you thought about ACT?
I would concentrate on bringing up your SATI scores–UMich does not require SATII (not sure about others–check their websites).<br>
Look under SAT Test Prep thread here at CC. Great SAT prep advice given by “Xiggi”
Good Luck.</p>

3

<p>^^^</p>

<p>I had the same thought…what about stand by for SAT I or SAT II in Nov? And/or do the ACT in nov and dec?</p>

<p>BTW…will you be needing financial aid or can you pay full freight?</p>

<p>You may need to apply to some Sat I only schools, too. Do you have any in mind? ( I thought more of your listed schools require SAT IIs )</p>

<p>BTW…it goes without saying…for standby…get there early…first come, first served.</p>

4

<p>The ones which I haven’t put (SAT II’s Required) don’t require SAT II’s. I’ve thought about Standing by November, but it’s in a week and I have a lot of school deadlines right now and I don’t really want to mess up a second time. Thanks for the quick reply, do you think with an improved SAT score I could be a competitive candidate for the schools above without SAT II’s?</p>

5

<p>I won’t be needing financial aid at all. What do you mean by that will change my list?</p>

<p>Oh, and I heard the ACT’s maths is a lot harder. My maths is really weak…</p>

6

<p>ACT math is not harder. Not only that, but ACT doesn’t try to trick you like the SAT does.</p>

<p>Your list may be fine…for some reason I thought more of those schools required SAT IIs. But, if you’re sure that they don’t, then good!</p>

<p>BTW…do you have any safeties in mind? The state schools might be harder to get into as an int’l.</p>

7

<p>Yes, with higher SAT, you should be pretty much on target. (Take a look at UMaryland & American U)
Make sure you indicate on your apps the future date you are re-taking SATs.</p>