<p>We have a pretty similar high school. My school’s average ACT is a 15 (horrid, I KNOW!!)
However, 1500s will not cut it for UCLA and Berkeley. Sure, you might get accepted, but your chances are not so high. Those are not safeties… they are reaches.
As for Stanford, it is a definite reach… pretty much for anyone applying.
Just bring your SAT up, and your chances will improve. Aim for a 28 (min.) on your ACT (just to stay on the safe side for the ivies and the UCs).</p>
<p>xiZephyr, all students applying to colleges should have one or two "safety schools "on their list that they would be happy to attend. A safety school is one that you can for sure get into. Look at your GPA and your test scores and compare them to the mid ranges of colleges. If your stats are above those ranges, you could consider that a safety. A safety school for one person isn’t necessarily a safety school for another person. You don’t want to apply to all "reach schools "and end up with nothing, right?</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try for some reach schools, but that you should have a back - up plan. Cast your net wide and smartly. Good luck :-)</p>
<p>I should add that safety schools are often those that have an acceptance rate over 50% and Stanford and the Ivies are not safeties for anyone.</p>
<p>What happened with your friend’s admissions is no guarentee of your own. Seriously, if you don’t have more safeties, you might be in a tight situation come next year March. UCLA, not to mention Stanford/Ivies have average SAT scores in the 2000s. If you go on their websites, I think less than 1% have SAT breakdowns in the 500s… And that 1% is probably atheletes.</p>
<p>OP: You don’t seem to be very familiar with the average scores of people accepted to schools like Stanford and Berkeley. Surely other aspects of the app are important but I would go as far as to say that probably less than 5% of stanford admitted applicants have SAT scores below 1800. You should still apply if you really want to, but be sure to apply to more reasonable schools as well. Better yet, meet with your counselor and find out what your chances are in the context of your school.</p>
<p>I would also recommend searching up a “Stanford official results thread” to gain some perspective on just how tough it is to be admitted.</p>
<p>The average for a accepted student is like 2300, at least on the forums.</p>
<p>^well this forum is ridiculous, OP the scores are not quite that high, but a LOT higher than yours.</p>
<p>By safety schools, I was thinking of the other UC schools, not CSU. Again, we’re not trying to discourage you, just trying to get you to have a backup plan.</p>