How to look more competitive to Universities?

Applying to College
1

<p>So to begin I am a senior in high school. Deadlines for universities are coming up and I know I am in big trouble. My SAT scores suck completely and i’ve taken it twice and these are my highest scores. For Reading: 410 Math:490 & Writing: 490. I know they are absolutely low and I’m about to take my ACT. My GPA is 98.06 on a 100 scale and 3.98 on a 4.00 scale. I am number 1 in my class. I am Student Body President, Yearbook Editor, Band President, Class Vice-President & Drama/Theater Historian. Extracurriculars besides the already mentioned are Teen Talk, High-Q, Academic Decathlon, and National Honor Society. Outside of school I have been part of the city’s Junior Leadership and Youth Council. I have many volunteer hours mostly from school, but I do over 200 hours. My dream is to attend University of Notre Dame or New York University. How do I do it so I can seem a bit more competitive in my application and so that my scores might be over looked a bit (I know impossible). I have seen the scores of the other admitted students and in those Universities students like me don’t really make it the chances I saw were like of 1%. I am so scared. I need help all the help I can get with opinions, suggestions, ideas, and anything else that will get me prepared for college. Highly appreciated. Thank You.</p>

<p>P.S. I do have a back-up school just in case. &
Where is the best place to receive my recommendation letter or which people that a high school student may know will be the best to ask for a recommendation letter?</p>

2

<p>Take a look at the list of schools that are SAT optional. (Search on CC) Bowdoin and Bates come immediately to mind, although they are nothing like NYU or Notre Dame. These are top-ranked LACs and if you are Hispanic and male, you would have a hook as a URM.</p>

<p>Your letters of recommendation come from your teachers, ideally those who know and like you best. Most schools require that. Some people submit an additional letter from someone who knows them well outside of school - someone from their church or job, a coach, a supervisor at an internship - who can provide additional perspective. Getting letters from alums and famous people is totally pointless.</p>

<p>If you haven’t asked for letters of rec by now, you are cutting it very close. If the letters arrive after the application deadline, schools won’t penalize you, but your teachers may be feeling a lot less charitably towards you if they are asked to do a ‘rush job’ because you didn’t plan ahead.</p>

3

<p>Have you taken APs? or done better on SATIIs? because NYU has alternatives to the SAT.</p>

<p>Other than that, there are quite a few fine schools, as M’s Mom says, that are SAT optional.</p>

4

<p>Soooo many lovely schools are SAT/ACT optional. Even better, when they’re SAT optional, you know they’re going to be looking more closely at the other aspects of your application. I think you should look for those schools, there must be a list online somewhere…</p>

5

<p>[Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>

6

<p>If you are intent on getting into an ivy.
You need better test scores. :confused:
have you tried taking the ACT instead?
else, there are a lot of options as not all schools care that much about SATs.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1036627-chance-me-please.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1036627-chance-me-please.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;