<p>Ever since I bumped my ACT up from 31, I got this influx of mail from Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, even Caltech! Does this say I have a chance at these schools, or is it all just a bunch of bunk?</p>
<p>Any mail you get from schools is bunk, it usually is summer camps and stuff like that. Unless you are an athelte schools wont contact you, you must contact the schools.</p>
<p>I have a 32 atm, and the only one of those i’m applying for is Cornell. Harvard is pretty much impossible, same with Princeton. You could have a 36 and get declined, like someone at my school. Someone else that I know with a 34\2330 got declined from Harvord too. Post above mine is what they really are.</p>
<p>Extra-curricular activities and the essay for your college application are apparently as important as test scores. Go make a refugee camp in Botswanna and you’ll have a chance. Or save a lost village in the mountains of Peru.</p>
<p>Colleges, especially wealthy ones, are generally quite a bit more promiscuous with their junk mail lists than they are with their admissions. The timing probably has more to do with their publicity cycle than with your 1-point composite bump.</p>
<p>This is not to say that you have no chance at the colleges that are mailing you – just that you shouldn’t count on them because they send you glossyware. The colleges you list are “reaches” for everyone regardless of stats, simply because far too many perfectly qualified students apply for too few seats.</p>
<p>The best application strategy is still the tried & true one – bag one or two rolling academic/financial safeties you’d really love to attend, then add your matches and reaches if you like. Good luck!</p>
<p>I got a 28 on the ACT and an 1840 on the SAT, and I got mail from Harvard… o_O</p>
<p>Alright, sounds good. Thanks everybody for the info!</p>
<p>tmazer10.</p>
<p>Since you live in Michigan, just go to U of M like me =)
A 29+ in-state will pretty much get you in if you have a 3.8+ UW GPA and at least some EC’s.</p>
<p>But yea…32 seems like the magic number for me because I got that twice. XD
Hopefully getting a higher one in September. You can always take it again.</p>
<p>And also with prestigious universities such as Cal/Ivies/Stanford etc…their 50th percentiles are usually 30-34/31-35…a 32 fits in the middle. Pretty good I must say…</p>
<p>A 32 is already 99% percentile…can’t complain =)</p>
<p>Practice tests, and it helps to be a little lucky like everyone else said. I was never really strong at math but I usually got 730-770’s on practice tests, and on the real test day I only got 710, so it really depends on test days. On the other hand, I usually got around 660-700 for CR but I somehow managed to get 800 in November. Luck of the draw helps, but prepare well and you will do great :)</p>
<p>I think the top colleges do look at some lists. My son got mail after he did well on the PSAT and more mail after his ACT went from a 31 to a 34. However the one I find most interesting is that Cornell has been sending him mail recently and I can tell it must be because he got a 5 on his APUSH exam. Because it’s all about History/Govt/Politics and he is interested in Biology or Engineering!</p>
<p>Depends on what school you go to, which state you’re in, what ethnicity you are, and your other stats :P</p>
<p>32 or 33 is a common average ACT score among accepted students at top schools.</p>