<p>Af. Am female, inner-city school, valedictorian, 4 AP classes this year, 2 last year....only 34% of students from high school go to 4yr, overcome enormous obstacles in life, top-notch couns/teacher recs ("one of the best," etc), strong in activities, exc. personal essay</p>
<p>does swarthmore superscore...would a 23.5 be a 24?</p>
<p>Completely unscientific, amateur analysis: unlikely. I am more familiar with the SAT, so I looked up some concordance tables. Even with hooks, I think SAT scores of 600+ in M and CR would be necessary. That translates to about a 27 ACT.</p>
<p>I think you should apply. When an applicant’s circumstances are significantly different from those of most others, it’s particularly hard to predict what effect low scores will have. A school like Swarthmore will pay plenty of attention to qualities you have beyond those scores.</p>
<p>While I wouldn’t want to rule out anything, Swarthmore’s Common Data Set shows that fewer than 5% of entering first year students have a SAT (M+CR) of less than 1200. I would expect most of those 5% to be very close to 1200. An ACT score of 24 is approximately a SAT of 1100.</p>
<p>I agree with all of the above - but with a SAT score like that, it would be hard to get in unless you have some qualities that you haven’t mentioned here, or some ECs or interests/passions/achievements that you haven’t mentioned that would make you stand out.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is known for it’s incredible academic rigor. I would be concerned whether you would be overwhelmed by the work. It sounds like you have quite a story to tell, but I do think that you are facing very long odds.</p>
<p>It looks like you are also applying to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Stanford. Are you receiving good college counseling advice and are you applying to some safer schools?</p>
<p>^If OP is telling the truth in prior posts, he/she is a college counselor.</p>
<p>Keil, I saw the post I think you are referring to and initially thought the same thing. Upon further review, I think the confusion may arise because the OP is quoting a college counselor without using quotation marks in the correct place.</p>
<p>Go ahead and apply, but it seems very unlikely- even with those personal qualities. Make sure you have some viable safeties…</p>
<p>if you got a 24 on the act you cannot handle the work at swat. getting into schools with a score well beyond the average range of scores is one thing, keeping up with the work at those schools is another thing. it also doesn’t sound like you’re coming from a very strong high school either which would be a further disadvantage. that’s not to say that people from less-than-stellar high schools with less-than-stellar scores don’t succeed, but the odds are against you.</p>
<p>thanks for all the info…actually, I’m a counselor new to the field, am not the young lady myself and just wanted to see what ppl thought out there; she’s an incredible person and has submitted to some of the top-tier schools as well as target and safety schools, so she will end up somewhere good.
thanks again.</p>
<p>i don’t see why people have this obsession with ending up somewhere “good” as opposed to somewhere that’s a “good fit” for the applicant. hopefully you’re fine-tuning your philosophy as you enter this field and emphasize that point; i also hope that you won’t depend on strangers on the internet for information.</p>
<p>ACT 24 - ouch. That is low. You don’t provide other stats. For example, your chances might be increased with AP test scores reported (even though the application doesn’t ask for them) of 4 or 5. Something to show academic standing on a ‘national stage.’ Also, does your total of 24 include any high subscores? Weak science and/or math scores, for example, can be offset b high scores in reading and english. Especially true if you plan to study in the areas of your higher scores.</p>
<p>Keilexandra-good job on the sleuthing. 
I was reading too much into this.</p>