Hello!
It’s been a while since I posted. But I’m basically stuck in a big loop-hole right now and I don’t know where to head right now. Long story short, I graduated High School 1 and a half years ago with a solid 3.7 GPA. However, the highest I got on the ACT was only a 22 during that time. When it comes to standardized tests, I can’t for the life of me do it fast enough. And I’ve been doing so many practice tests and getting help. But that just seems futile for me. I missed one semester of college since I had to take care of some of my relatives over-seas. When I came back, I only did one semester of CC with a 3.0 GPA. I could have done better obviously. But now, I’m continuously moving to different states because of my parents choices. So I have at least one gap year after CC. We’ll be moving to Texas and likely staying there permanently. I want to get into colleges like UTA. But judging from my ACT scores, I’m not sure if that’s possible. Even if I were to get in, our family is suffering from financial problems right now. So trying to pay my way through college is pretty much a no go. Do any of you guys have any advice on what to do? I am 21 years old. So I think that’s embarrassingly pretty old for myself to still not even be done with one year of college.
Also, is it worth it to take the ACT again? Specially for UTA or even UTSA? Also, the most important question for me is…
is it still possible to earn scholarships for taking the ACT even during college? I never got a clear answer on that from anyone. I don’t want to take it again only to waste my time. I need to know since that’s one way I can help myself afford college. Thanks! Any help is greatly appreciated!
(I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this. But this is Mosley about the ACT/SAT. However, please point me to a better place to post this if this doesn’t seem like the right place to post this)
Most of the time, ACT scores only help incoming freshmen for scholarships. But some schools definitely want to still see your SAT/ACT scores because they want to see a long-standing record of aptitude.
Certain universities [like Texas Tech University](https://www.depts.ttu.edu/scholarships/transferStudentsScholarships.php) offer numerous scholarships to Transfer students in a number of brackets. For example, the Proven Achiever’s scholarship is an automatic merit scholarship (assuming you apply before the deadline) given to people with at least 60 transferrable hours and a 3.5 GPA from a community college. It’s a pretty hefty amount–$6,500 per year.
I don’t know of any college that will consider an ACT/SAT (a test designed for HS students) taken by a college student. You’ll need to check residency requirements to see if you need to pay OOS rates. You say you’re moving because of your parents but you’re 21. You don’t have to go with them.
You have to establish Texas residency to get instate tuition rates. In the meantime you may be able to take a limited number of credit hours at a community college at instate rates (usually 3-6 hours) per semester. The good news its that you can go to school while you establish residency.
The bad news is that you need a much higher gpa than a 3.0 to have a shot at transferring to UTA.
UTSA is much easier to transfer into. Just pay close attention to the transfer requirements for your intended major and keep up your gpa.
Erin’s Dad, I don’t have a job yet. I will get one soon to help pay for the college. I still want to move to Texas since, to me at least, it seems like a nice place to live in. cameraphone mentioned that they mostly take the ACT scores of incoming freshmen. I will still call the college that I want to go into just to see if they work out the ACT scores differently (hopefully)