Should I submit a 31 ACT score to the Ivys?
(English: 35, Reading:34, Math: 26, Science: 29)
I’m not sure it matters but I’m a Hispanic, first-gen, low-income.
Thank you!!
I’m a prospective History or International Affairs major!
if you have a 3.7-4.0 unweighted gpa and its test optional id say probably dont submit a 31, especially with a 25 in math.
that being said you have fantastic english and reading scores so id say just retake it solely working on math/science and superscore your final results! best of luck
Thank you! I won’t be able to take the test again to reach deadlines. My GPA is a 4.0 and I’m ranked 2/249. Would you suggest going test-optional?
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Do you have good EC’s? If you do, definitely don’t send your ACT score, it’ll only hurt your application.
I think so. I’m an 8x Texas State Champion in Social Studies and 2x State Finalist in History Fair. I’m Drum Major of my Band, Migrant tutor/translator, founded Mental Awareness Club after town experienced 3 suicide.
Your math is weak, but your English and Reading are clearly your strengths. If you’re not applying to a math/science field it may not hurt you, but if you have the grades and as someone else said, the other pieces, it may not matter. Also, URM and first generation will definitely be a plus. A 31 would get you a full ride or close to it at many non Ivies so keep that in mind.
I am interested in knowing the many non-Ivies where this student can get a full ride, or close to it, with a 31. I imagine OP might be interested as well.
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Both Arizona and ASU, Michigan State, Tulane, Alabama, Univ of Denver, UC-Boulder, Miami (Oh), Ohio State, Minnesota, Indiana, Missouri (can’t remember if it’s a substantial amount or partial), University of Kansas, USC, UT-Dallas, University of NM sent my son something about guaranteed scholarship but I can’t remember the amount as it went right in the trash. If you look you can find the amounts right on the school’s websites. There are more you just need to really look and do your due diligence. There are also ones that you can apply for various merit scholarships but that is a lot of extra work and with the number of essays kids do they get burn out.
These are obviously not the Ivies, but not everyone needs to go to an Ivy and no one should take out a loan to go to an Ivy. You can be a top student at a mid level school, graduate without debt and at the end of the day, it’s what you do while you’re there.
Most of those scholarships are going to be tuition, not full ride. For a kid with a family income under $100,000 FA from an Ivy will probably yield a lower out of pocket cost than a full tuition scholarship to any school.
Most of those schools won’t even come close to a full tuition merit scholarship, let alone a full ride for an ACT of 31. ASU, Arizona, UNM would likely offer the most, but again, not full tuition. Boulder OOS–nothing, very little for IU, OSU, USC. Tulane’s average ACT is 32…a 31 isn’t going to move the needle much on merit.
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I forgot to answer the original question. I would NOT submit. From the early reports at places like BU and Tulane, a large number of students, including many admits, did not submit. I know they are in a slightly different league, but it sounds like TO is being treated like a genuinely optional thing this year. You have a good resume and a couple slight hooks without it. My guess is you have good results without the test, but the test may give them pause because I think that puts you well below 25% mark in all the Ivies.
My oldest kid was offered close to a full ride at two of those schools 6 years ago with a similar ACT. So yeah some of them do offer a lot of $.
My current son with much higher ACT scores than the first, has been receiving mailings left and right with the amounts of merit scholarships he would receive based on his scores but also any scores in general. This year many schools are ditching the scores and awarding the merit based on the GPA. Many schools will also offer in state tuition rates, which while not a full ride, that is a substantial discount and makes decent schools very affordable for those who might otherwise not be able to afford them. If people are willing to look at mid-level schools, there is a substantial amount of money out there for great students who are really trying to grab these kids this year.
An avg is just that. An avg. There’s always someone above and someone below. I’ve seen plenty of kids get a lot of money from UC-Boulder as well as IU. IU especially with 30 ACTs. And a lot of schools will negotiate. However, a lot won’t as well. My friend’s daughter was just offered 40k more than her son with same stats three years ago to go to U-Minnesota. Money is definitely there at many places, whereas others it is clearly not.
Ivy Leagues don’t give merit scholarships and they don’t all meet need and for the ones that do, often people fall into the trap that one year they may get great need but the next get hit with something considerably different, even if nothing changed on their end from a financial standpoint. I unfortunately have seen this happen first hand.
Ivies DO all meet full need, although for example Brown has a different version of that than Harvard (to probably use the highest and lowest).
It depends on the income and savings that the family has. I just did a couple quick and dirty calculations on myintuition.
$80,000 annual income, minimal savings. No siblings.
Harvard out of pocket cost (I am counting work study as coming out of the student’s pocket): $5600
Brown out of pocket cost: $13,750
theOSU out of pocket cost with full tuition scholarship: approx $18,000
I stand by what I said. Most families making less than $100,000 will pay less at a no scholarship Ivy than at a typical state school on a full tuition scholarship.
No, I would not submit a score to a school that is well below the median, probably the 25th percentile, given the option.
I don’t see how whether you have “good ECs” has anything to do with it. Weak ECs and low test scores isn’t better than weak ECs and test optional… Nor is strong ECs and low test scores better than strong ECs and test optional.
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No they do not. I have a kid at an Ivy and know plenty of people especially this year that have a lot of financial issues due to Covid and suddenly had to take out huge loans because they do not meet all need. I know of one family that got hit with $30k additional unmet need this year over last year and had no change of circumstances at all. Princeton is the one known to cover full need, but not all Ivies do. The NPCs are not all accurate either. They will tell you one thing, but people cannot rely on them either. This is why some kids apply ED every year and then ultimately for financial reasons have to pull out.
I think you are giving bad advice here. Which Ivies do not meet full need?
I guess no school meets full need depending on your definition. But even Brown which is probably the least generous (and probably the only one D21 will apply to, sigh) meets their definition of full need. The least generous Ivy is still probably middle of the pack or better for “full need met” schools.
You do need to check out what that means. But if you have relatively vanilla circumstances, the NPC’s are pretty accurate. It looks like from another of your posts you are getting hampered by a ex-spouse with a high earning spouse. The NPC’s generally will say that they are not accurate for divorced parents or business owners. If you have either of those circumstances, or a high home equity, you need to dig a bit deeper.
For low income a kid who doesn’t have to worry about self employment or divorced parents with extra incomes, these schools are cheaper than a state school with free tuition.
If we are talking a kid with parental income north of $100,000, which I realize depending on where you live isn’t eactly wealthy, it gets a bit more complicated. But the OP said he was low income. I don’t think even in a wealthy part of the country someone with a 6 figure income would classify themselves as low income.
If you read my post, I was not referring to myself. I said I know of specific people who have unmet need. These are people who had some financial need met freshman year and then the next year the student contribution went up in one case over $8k where the student had no change in their assets, nor did the parents have any change in assets or income. This actually just forced the mom (not me) to get a job to help pay the student’s unmet need. The school also did not notify many families of their financial aid packages until late summer so there wasn’t much they could do. In another case, a family with an out of work parent had their unmet need go from 0 the first year to $30k the next year. Apparently this is what the school does. Gives you a good aid package in year 1, and then not so great in subsequent years. But again, not 100% unmet need and they don’t declare that they do provide that anywhere anyway.
Since you felt the need to see what other posts I commented on, you would know this had nothing to do with me as my kids fortunately do not have any financial aid or loans. I am there however to listen to my friends and help them come up with solutions to help their kids finish school with the least amount of debt as possible and hopefully no debt which should be the goal of every college student.
If your daughter gets into Brown, I sure hope they meet her full need. I have too often heard of kids reaching for the stars, getting into those schools and then finding out that they cannot attend because their need is not met and their parents have no money to pay. It isn’t pretty. As for the NPC, be overly generous in what you put in there, because that’s another issue I have heard parents say, especially freshmen. It comes back with a number, so does financial aid and they aren’t close and again a child’s dream is burst. My kids know they can apply to schools where we can afford to send them. Many do not get that message. Like you, I have 4 kids and this is my last one. I will have 3 in at the same time and while it’s exciting for them, it’s going to be a fun tripple whammy. But nothing like seeing your kids happy and thriving.
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