Assisting my Goddaughter with her college search. Not going to go too much into her ECs, but she will graduate mostly likely #2 out of 150, private school in the SW. UW GPA will be about 3.91 or so. She is an URM, (AA and enrolled Tribal member).
Here is what is a tad kooky, she has a pretty solid ACT, one sitting, but the distribution is one that I need comment:
S-36, C 35 R 33 and M 27. Obviously, the 27 is an eye sore, but is very curious with the perfect score on the Science. Thoughts–anyone see a score distribution like this before?
She wants to do STEM, maybe even CS, and despite my suggestions, is not taking ACT a second time. She has said that she wants to go to a school that will challenge her, and is academically competitive. Current considerations: UCSD, CAL, UCLA, Rice, Harvey Mudd, UMichigan, UChicago and Yale. She would be a presidents scholar (full tuition plus stipend) at her state schools. I know I don’t have all her pertinent info, but costs not withstanding, any other thoughts/suggestions on both her schools and ACT score?
Offhand, I would say part of the reason the subscores seem unusually inconsistent is because we are accustomed to seeing scores reported as averages for schools as a whole. For an individual, the distribution may not be as unusual as it seems. Could you post the percentile equivalents for these scores?
Science on the ACT is not science knowledge but being able to reason and read graphs. I don’t see this as contradictory to the math score (though the score does jump out compared to the others). I hope she just misbubbled if she wants to go into engineering or math.
I spoke with her, and she said just didn’t finish the M section. Was pretty much perfect on what she did complete, but lost track of time…Other thoughts, no doubt it’s a ding, but how much will it be considering the consistency of other scores? And is it an overshoot for the schools listed? Again, no safeties listed, as those will be her state schools.
She has a composite 33, which is in range as a URM. The 27 only matters if the college considers the math score, which generally only matters for engineering schools (Rice, Mudd) or if she applies to the engineering schools of the others. She should retake in that case.
@TooOld4School Yup, I just think, despite my heavy suggestion to do so, it’s not happening. Can someone clarify if she can redo that portion? I think her HS counselor is telling her that she is sufficiently scored…so, while some of these school are reaches for most all, she is still within range of being a legitimate candidate?
A 99, 99, 99, 85 is not extremely inconsistent and demonstrates a great performance overall. One or two of her current choices may have de facto cut-offs for the math portion. Research within their websites will help you determine if this is case. Beyond that, I don’t see that one score as being a limiting factor for most of the schools on her list.
@merc81 that is very helpful. She has a cousin at UCLA and one at Y (my Ds) so those are the schools that are high on her list. WashU has been circling the discussion (we have both relatives in the area and some grads in our family), so that might enter the list. Although, I think she wants a max list of 8.
A 33 composite may be in the range but that 27M kills her chances for engineering and/or math. I agree about the Science section. It’s basically a reading test but for charts, tables and graphs. Very little actual science knowledge is necessary. Right now, her ACT looks like someone who is not into STEM. Many schools mainly look at Math and English (the other two sections are very short - only 30 minutes in length). I’d strongly recommend retaking the ACT and practicing the Math section until she feels comfortable with the pace.
@SlackerMomMD Thanks, I’m in agreement, but I’m afraid she is not going to do a retake, which could quite possibly result in an exceptional score. I do know that she is not interested in a math or engineering degrees (he pops is a CE), so I agree, it does send a mix message on her intent on pursuing a STEM related focus.
Harvey Mudd will have a cutoff for the math. At their info session, they said 700 on the SAT. A 27 math is equivalent to a 610. HMC will superscore the ACT if she decides to take it again.
D16 has similar scores - with a 33 composite and a 30 math. Similar colleges and career aspirations too. D16 took the June ACT and couldn’t finish the math portion either. In looking at previous years’ accepted student stats, a 31 on the math portion is the lowest I’ve seen accepted to HMC, and that was a URM. Highly selective schools seem to be fairly flexible with low scores for STEM applicants, as long as the low scores are not in math.
D16 was adamant that she wouldn’t take the ACT again either - that was in June. Today, she signed up to take the ACT again in 3 weeks, because if she doesn’t, she won’t stand a chance at the tech oriented schools. As it comes down to the crunch, she’d rather take the exam and have a better chance of getting in, than not taking and not getting in.
D16 was also considering UCLA, but dropped it from the list because of the very low percentage of females in CS.
The UCs say being an URM doesn’t make much of a difference. Computer Science is really a very math oriented major and if she is declaring that as a major on her apps she needs to re-take the ACT unless she has other proof that she is strong in math and this score isn’t legit. Like a high SAT subject test score in math 2 or a 5 on BC Calc AP test type proof. I think she would get into 1 or 2 of those schools but probably not for math related major like CS. If she won’t retake she should put a different major in her apps.
Yup, I don’t think she is ready to declare a major, so that might be a bit negated. My personal thought (godfather and uncle status discounted) is that if she is not applying directly to a CS program, she has a potential to be admitted at least half these schools. Her profile is quite similar to my middle D, who ended up at New Haven, and probably a tad better than the youngest who just started UCLA.
UChicago’s full ACT (composite) range for recently admitted students is 21-36. Apparently they are pretty holistic at least in some cases.
A variety of colleges were extensively analyzed in terms of their CS offerings in this parallel thread: “Seeking the Best Computer Science School . . .” Maybe one or two of those schools would seem appealing to your Goddaughter.
URM won’t matter for UCs and Michigan because of state laws prohibiting it but she is median-75th percent for those schools. ACT Math will preclude her from Mudd. URM will help at Chicago and Yale.
Did she take the ACT with writing? Some schools (like Michigan) require that.
Appreciate everyone’s thought, but as to some who say the UCs are a reach, her 33 and 3.9+, these numbers are actually above average for admitted students, so my own take is that she gets into at least 2 out of 4, of these schools. Especially considering her region of the country has very few applicants to these schools.