I plan to apply to MIT, University of Chicago, Northwestern, UMich, MSU (safety), and maybe Yale and Brown. I got a 33 composite on the ACT (36 reading, 35 English, 31 math, 30 science), but I’m retaking this month to aim for better math and science. I got a 2250 on SAT I (790 CR, 750 W, 710 M) but I’m retaking because I know I can do a lot better because I got a 236 on the PSAT. (I hope I just had a bad day when I took the SAT and not that it was random luck for the PSAT!) I’m taking SAT bio e/m, Spanish, and math 2 in October.
I took an accelerated English course for high schoolers through MSU where I got all my English credits for HS in 8th/9th so I guess that’s like honors English/English lit. I dual enrolled at a few different places and I have credit for intro to linguistics, Spanish grammar, and English 101. I also took honors Spanish online through Northwestern through Spanish 3. This year I’m taking AP calc and physics and I’ve already taken bio, chem, micro-bio, anatomy/phys., genetics, through our school, but those are really the only good classes I have in terms of college admissions.
My goal is to self-study for AP Spanish, lit, chem (I’ve already had chem), env. sci., bio, stats, psych, Spanish lit (maybe), and possibly another or two if I find one that works well. I just want to know if it will hurt me that I have slightly lower scores than some others applying to top-tier schools (in case I don’t go up with retakes), and that my schedule for 4 years has been only as rigorous as was possible for me, which wasn’t much. Or, will universities be glad to see that I tried to aim high despite having less opportunities offered through the school?
Your HS courses and test scores are very good. For ACT Math score, I also took the SAT Math II Subject Test the week before the ACT and I saw my score increase from a 23 to a 34 (so you’re in good hands for the math sction). For Science, just look back at the questions you got wrong and retry them again. Also, buy a Barron’s or Princeton Review book, they both have really good science sections.
In addition to your academics, you also need to have stand-out EC’s (maybe hospital volunteering, NHS, other honor societies, pre-college program, student gov’t, clubs, etc.) to really show that you’re an excellent candidate for admission.
Your math score will need to be higher for MIT. But overall your scores and classes are great. But since your list is so competitive you need to add some more likely type schools
If it makes any difference, at MIT I plan on studying linguistics if I were accepted. I got a 76 on the math on the PSAT and I’ve done better on practice test lately for math and science so I really hope that those go up.
@JMS357 thanks for that advice! I hope my score also goes up similarly. When I took the ACT as a freshman I got a 25 in math but it went up to a 31 the next year after I studied a lot, but then it stayed at a 31. I really hope that isn’t the new norm for me, but I’m continuing to practice with Princeton Review/Barron’s ACT 36/Barron’s math and science ACT workshop/a few other things. In terms of EC’s, I have NHS, student government 2 years (VP senior year), working the school blood drive for 2 years, working the county fair taking photos of animals for the paper, working in the train station museum this summer, volunteering at a food pantry, Destination Imagination 7 years, wind ensemble, flute/piano lessons and recitals, marching band 4 years/section leader 3 yrs., a few other things, Spanish club 5 years/president 3 years. I feel like everything I’m in I’m in because I want to be there so I need to tell myself that and not hate myself when I see all the things other people are in too lol. @wisteria100 Thanks for the advice. If I don’t go up significantly on the math/science on the ACT in a week would you recommend registering again for the ACT if I’m serious about MIT, or should I just wait to really bring it for the SAT math when I retake in December? Also, my likely-type school is MSU where the average score is 24-28 and I know I could be in the honors college, but I could apply to some other places like that too. Thanks for the help, everyone!
Do not self-study all those APs. While self-studying one AP closely related to your intended major is fine, taking many and scoring 4s / 5s on all of them will not only place massive demands on your time but also hardly help you in college admissions.
Your course rigor and grades are viewed in context of your school. If your school does not offer many challenging classes but your counselor calls your schedule “most rigorous,” then you are OK.
@1golfer1 thanks for that advice! I may still study for a few but I think that’s a really good point. Whatever I end up with will be hopefully related to biology or languages because those fields are what I’m interested in, so I’m not gonna like try for AP physics by myself or something.
My dream school is Chicago, by the way! I want to get in there so bad! I feel confident about the essays and I feel like I could fit in there, but I hope the math/science scores (though I plan on them going up) aren’t a deterrent.