<p>I have a 30 on the ACT, but I am a hispanic female interested in engineering. </p>
<p>Will my ethnicity make up for my low ACT for Ivy league/ prestigious private schools? ex- Rice, Cornell</p>
<p>If your math score is higher than that probably</p>
<p>Haha no. Math was only score in the 20’s</p>
<p>Hispanic female engineer is a big hook outside of Texas (Rice) and the Southwest (California schools)</p>
<p>30 ACT + great GPA + URM makes you competitive.</p>
<p>I would retake it. I’m a black female, and while having an edge in admissions is nice, I would never want to feel like that’s the reason I got into a college. I mean, I got a pretty good score on my SAT, but I’m going to take the ACT soon, just to be more competitive. Don’t try and use your race as a tool. Do the best you can, because at the end of the day, no-one knows how much of a role race plays, and it likely plays a inconsistent role that you wouldn’t want to depend on.</p>
<p>Think it through thoroughly. You not only need to be admitted, you need to survive in engineering school too. Having a math score of 20s would indicate you will have a hard time for engineering in college even if you are accepted.</p>
<p>Retake the ACT if you can improve your math score. I’d suggest you take advantage of free online tutorials. See [Khan</a> Academy](<a href=“http://khanacademy.org/]Khan”>http://khanacademy.org/)</p>
<p>Agree you should work on your math to get better scores but also to be better prepared for a math heavy major like engineering.</p>
<p>Yes, it will help you be a unique applicant, but a low ACT math score is not going to help. What exactly was the score? Even if you were admitted to one of those schools, a low math ACT score indicates that you may struggle with the mathematical aspects of engineering.</p>
<p>According to score ranges on College Board, for schools like Cornell and Rice you’re pretty close, as far as engineering i would suggest applying undeclared and working your way into an engineering major for now.</p>
<p>I am not saying don’t retake the test. Feel free to if you want to.</p>
<p>“Having a math score of 20s would indicate you will have a hard time for engineering in college even if you are accepted.”</p>
<p>I call BS. That was one math test on one day. You can still succeed in engineering even if you got something in the 20s. The ACT is just one test at one point. Maybe the math section was a little harder than usual that day. Maybe you made a few careless mistakes. Maybe you had a bad math day. Besides, the math that you see on the ACT is NOT the math you will see in Engineering. Maybe you are just better at Calculus than at Algebra.</p>
<p>I agree that the math in college is not the math on the ACT. Plus, you’ll be learning new material and be tested on chapters of certain topics. Not one test covering five or six topics.</p>
<p>Also, instead of trying to make up for it, just take it again. Focus on math and English as they might be easiest to improve.</p>
<p>My math score was a 26, and it’s not because I suck at math- im in the most advanced math courses offered at my school. I just rushed and made mistakes i guess, there were just too many problems for the amount of time I had and i think i panicked. But i’ve taken the ACT 3 times so I can’t very well retake it…</p>
<p>And Im not trying to use it as a tool, I’m just trying to determine whether I should apply to competitive schools. If i was below the score range I probably wouldnt waste my time but if this is my ‘hook’ then it would be worth it to apply to schools with a low admission rate. </p>
<p>My english was a 34. Maybe I should apply under a major then switch into engineering? Then they might not pay attention to my 26 in math as much?</p>
<p>@Rares14- that was my plan, to apply as undeclared engineering.</p>
<p>Look at page 14: <a href=“http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2012/pdf/profile/Hispanic.pdf[/url]”>http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2012/pdf/profile/Hispanic.pdf</a></p>
<p>ACT 30 = 2062 students
ACT 31 = 1402 students
ACT 32 = 945 students
ACT 33= 580 students
ACT 34= 355 students
ACT 35 = 127 students
ACT 36 = 17 students</p>
<p>in 2012, 3,426 students who self identified as Hispanic or Latino had a higher ACT score than you. </p>
<p>Rather than ask “Will my ethnicity make up for my low ACT for Ivy league/prestigious private schools?” . . .you should be asking:</p>
<p>* What do I have to offer that would make an Ivy league/prestigious private school take me over 3,426 other Hispanic/Latino students that scored higher on the ACT? *</p>
<p>It is fine to apply to a few of the reach schools like Cornell and Rice, but you need to focus on finding schools that are just a little less selective and where your URM status has the most significance.
What else have you considered so far? What criteria matter to you? What is your unweighted GPA? If you consistently get good grades including in demanding math courses, that will help.
Also, note that WPI is the only test-optional engineering school. They understand that even very bright people can be bad at standardized tests, so the do offer the option of applying without test scores, though most students do submit them. [Undergraduate</a> Admissions: Flex Path Information - WPI](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/policy-qa.html]Undergraduate”>http://www.wpi.edu/admissions/undergraduate/apply/policy-qa.html)
This is the type of school where you would be a valuable applicant if your GPA is high enough. Hispanics and females are both underrepresented in science and engineering, so the problem is more acute at STEM-focused schools like WPI, RPI, RIT etc.</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA-3.9 Weighted- 4.3</p>
<p>I’ll look for STEM schools to put more matches on my list. My ideal school is one like Ga Tech or Rice, but Im also applying to the state universities in Fl bc of bright futures. </p>
<p>And I wrote my essays on my diverse background, so that’s what I’m trying to offer colleges</p>