Chances of Admission, and Estimated Merit Aid If Any

What Are My Chances?
#1

28 ACT (27 English 28 Math 34 Reading 24 Science)
93.80 GPA
Classes taken Freshman Year (English 1, Biology, Algebra Honors, Global History, Italian 1, Microsoft Office, Religion 1, Comp and Grammar)
Attend a Private Catholic School.

Sophomore year: (English 2, Chemistry, Geometry Honors, European History Honors, Italian 2, Health, Latin and Greek, Religion 2)

Junior Year: (English 3 Honors, Physics Honors, Algebra 2/Trigonometry Honors, A.P. U.S. History, Italian 3, Music, Art, Religion 3)

Senior Year (Calculus Honors, A.P. Government, A.P. Human Geography, English 4 Honors, Astronomy, Italian 4, Religion 4.)

Extra curricular activities:
National Honors Society, Rho Kappa Social Studies Honors Society, Italian Honors Society, Italian Club, Edmund Rice Society, Student Faculty Council, Campus Ministry, Peer Counselor.
For sports Freshman Year: Football
Sophomore Year: Cross Country, Winter Track, JVB Lacrosse
Junior Year: Cross Country, Varsity Lacrosse

What are my chances of getting in, and or, getting a scholarship to:
University of South Carolina Columbia
Penn State University Park
UMD College Park
Northeastern University
Providence College
College of the Holy Cross
Clemson University
Elon University
James Madison University

#2

PSU gives little merit to anyone…typically only SHC students who have ivy like stats.

You really need to retest if you have hopes for merit. Your stats are too avg for most of those schools.

#3

The smallest merit grant at my son’s school, an all boys Catholic school, from Providence was 24k per year for the latest class.

#4

I plan on taking the act two more times, but isn’t a 28 still way above average? I know Penn St is very stingy with merit aid, but what about the other schools?

#5

Thank you I just visited Providence and liked it, what do you mean the minimum was 24k and around how much do you think I could get

#6

A 28 ACT is equivalent to a 1260 SAT score. The dilemma is that competitive colleges attract a self-selective applicant pool, not a nationally representative applicant pool. So, while your 28 ACT is top decile nationally and very respectable, compared to other self-selective applicants to a competitive school, a 28 may not stand out. You should look at a school’s 20-75 percentile score range to see if you fall well above that, to determine if you even have a shot at merit money.

Different colleges distribute their merit money very differently. Some schools (e.g., Duke) give a few full-ride merit awards. Some schools give many students token amounts. And there’s everything in between. Therefore, it’s unlikely that anyone here can predict with any accuracy what you can get. However, it’s reasonable to assume that the SIZABLE merit awards go to the top 1%, i.e. a 33 ACT and higher.

#7

Understood, with that information I now think of the schools mentioned above, the ones I may have a chance of getting merit aid to are University of South Carolina, Providence College, Elon University, and James Madison University. Any of these schools non realistic, or any left out that could be realistic for scholarships?

#8

It’s only july. Consider retaking the ACT this fall. Or try taking the SAT.

Get yourself a study guide book from a bookstore (15 bucks) and prep for it.