I am currently a senior at an online public school in Ohio. I started dual enrollment with the University of Toledo in 2017. I have a 3.8 GPA and will have my associates degree before I graduate high school in June 2019. At my high school my current GPA is 4.3 and I am in the top 15 of my class out of over 1500 students. I took all of my college courses online, but plan to live on campus when I graduate.
I took my ACT test last semester and received a score of 25 on it. This is not as much as I hoped considering my GPA. Retaking it is not much of an option considering my family’s financial situation. Is this score going to greatly hinder my chances of getting into an Ivy League school and getting a good scholarship? I have searched everywhere for an answer on this topic, but nobody discusses the condition of applying to a college with a lot of college under the belt already. I applied to a lot of local colleges already and was accepted; I was just wondering if applying for Ivy League schools would be worth the time and money.
To be blunt, yes, it will sink your chances at most of the top colleges. If your ACT score is the only weak point in your application, check out the test-optional colleges.
The next available SAT date this year is December 7, with a November 8 deadline for signing up. Khan Academy offers free online prep as well as practice tests.
Policies regarding dual enrollment courses vary by college. You need to check each college out individually. Many private colleges won’t count those credits towards your degree. I also suggest checking to see if you qualify for application fee waivers.
Thanks for the detailed response. I will definitely consider taking the SAT test. It is sad that just one test score can be the deciding factor to getting into a good college.
It’s a pity that 1/10th of a second can keep you from getting a spot on the Olympic team.
When there are more people applying than there are places you get competition. The bigger the disparity, the more the competition.
For college, there are lots of “good” schools that will welcome your 25 and your GPA- and probably give you lots of credit for your CC coursework- as you know, b/c you have already been accepted to some.
But you don’t want “good”, you want to be on the Olympic team. And for that, the competition is fierce.
re: ACT v SAT- many people do much better on one than the other. Spend some time on Khan Academy or similar and see if that is true for you. Barring issues with testing itself (which given that you have been doing tests online for all of high school seems unlikely to be the case for you) your grades suggest that you sufficient mastery of the material to be able to lift your score.
Also, we are all assuming that you have taken all the usual things that the super selectives ask for - typically 4 years of english, social studies, foreign language and math (ideally up to pre-calc or calc), and the three lab sciences (bio, physics, chem).
ps, fwiw, having a lot of “college under the belt” through DE in itself is not a big factor to the super selectives. They will see that you challenged yourself, and were successful at it, and then turn the page to see what else you have.
Why Ivy League? There are so many wonderful colleges where you can get a great education and most likely merit scholarship money as well.
There is a wonderful section in the book “David & Goliath” by Malcolm Gladwell about not going to the very best school you can get into. It’s very interesting food for thought. Check it out. I’m sure your local library has the book.
I thank everyone for being truthful. To be honest, I would never look down on going to a good college as opposed to an Ivy League. My biggest concern is whether or not I will be able to get a really good scholarship. I appreciate the answers and will use your suggestions. In the end, if I don’t get into an Ivy League college it will be no skin off my bones. My brother went to a community college and now is doing something he loves and is getting paid well for it.
“It is sad that just one test score can be the deciding factor to getting into a good college.”
There are many excellent schools that do not require SAT or ACT tests. Chicago is one obvious example. Many top LACs do not require SAT scores. Since I live in the northeast of the US the ones that I know about are either in the northeast (Bowdoin, Colby, …) or in eastern Canada. Others can probably suggest some in your area.
Some schools have noticed that tutoring and test preparation really does make a big difference. This means that SAT and ACT scores to some extent measure a student’s preparedness for university, but to some extent they measure the parent’s ability to pay for tutors. This is a big part of why there are excellent universities and colleges that do not require SAT or ACT scores.
For undergraduate education (ie, a bachelor’s degree), you will get just as strong an education at Chicago or at one of many very good LACs as you would at an Ivy League school (or at MIT or Stanford). Graduate school admissions knows this. Hiring managers know this.
Your chances of getting a good scholarship will be at colleges other than ivy league. I know someone at Harvard who had perfect SAT scores and amazing ECs. He could have gone to other amazing schools at a great (or free) price but is full pay at Harvard. I seriously question if it’s worth it.
This is a low income student. Were not talking merit, we’re talking financial aid. Colleges like Harvard, Amherst, UChicago, Bowdoin, Colby…offers FullRide+ for low income kids. Everything including room, board, and transportation.
First, you get fee waivers for tests (and, obviously, common app). Then, schedule the SAT - see if you can take it as a standby in November and again in December.
Study for it through Khan academy like it’s your $200,000 ticket to another life.
(Top colleges have an impact on specific kids: URM, first generation in college, immigrants).
Second, send me your commonapp essays.
Third: what do you do when you’re not in class?
Fourth: what’s your EFC? What “net price” results do you get when you run it for UChicago, Wake Forest, Bowdoin, Colby, Denison, Dickinson? If you’re a girl, run it for Mount Holyoke, too.
5th: do you have a guidance counselor or College adviser? Have either of our parents graduated from a 4-yezr college? Do you spell English at home?
I would think with that many college credits under your belt one of the easiest ways for you to save on tuition is to find a school that will accept a good number of the college credits you have. That will probably NOT be an Ivy. I know a lot of kids who have entered some great state flagship programs (such as Wisconsin Madison) with almost 2 years of credit and graduate in a little over 2 years. Some of your state schools might do the same and then you’d be paying instate tuition and not for 4 years.
Can you afford to attend the colleges that have already accepted you? Will they accept your dual enrollment credits?
Test optional colleges that meet 100% of demonstrated financial need:
Bates
Bowdoin
Colby
College of the Holy Cross
Colorado College
Connecticut College
Franklin and Marshall
Pitzer
Trinity College (CT)
Union College
University of Chicago
+Women’s Colleges:
Bryn Mawr
Mount Holyoke
Smith
Test optional colleges that meet 93-99% of demonstrated need:
Dickinson 99%
Lawrence University 97%
Austin College 95%
Beloit
Brandeis University
Kalamazoo 94%
Clark University 93%
St. John’s (NM)
It’s unlikely that any of these colleges would accept your dual enrollment credits as they’re all privates. DE credits are often only accepted within the public State Colleges/Universities.
I definitely would not want to attend a university who overlooks many of the college courses I took in high school. That being said, I am glad some of you brought up this point. I did not know that most private schools do not accept dual enrollment credit. I also question if it is completely worth all the financial hardship and additional courses involved to go to an elite college. I mostly was just curious what other people thought of my situation. These answers have been very helpful to me.
If your family makes less than 75k an elite college - if you qualify for one - will be cheaper than a public university.
In addition, your goal should not be to graduate as fast as you can, but to use your time in college to get the experience, connections and skills needed to position yourself for the best possible job after graduation. Rushing through college doesn’t allow that. It means building leadership skills and positions, study abroad research, internships.
Certain children are naturally talented by scoring extremely well on the SAT and ACT in one sitting each w/o having any fancy test prep and are offended when someone implies that. They, in fact, may be paid as tutors themselves, by those parents you mention, because of their excellent grades and academic achievements.
I do not have many extracurricular activities under my belt, which is probably something else running against me. I worked at Walmart for a little while when I was a junior but had to quit because it would have docked a lot of financial aid if I earned a certain amount.
My EFC is 1627. I did not run it through any colleges yet. When I filled out my fafsa I included colleges in Ohio. Furthermore, my parents said they would not be willing to pay for my college. I would have to pay for it myself.
I have both a high school guidance counselor and a college counselor who have been more than willing to help me. I would be a first-generation college student as none of my parents or grandparents went to college. My main language is English.
My highest math I completed was College Algebra. I am taking Microeconomics now and will be taking Statistics next semester. I am not sure if that helps.
My highest foreign language was Spanish II in high school.
Here are the classes I have taken through CCP. My intended major right now is Finance, but it is not set in stone.
Principles of Financial Accounting
Professional and Business Writing
Mng Diversity in the Workplace
World History from 1500
Survey of Astronomy
Survey of BIology
Survey of Biology Lab
Introduction to Film
College Algebra
World Religions
College Composition I
American National Government
Intro to Sociology
Computer Concepts and Apps
Personal Financial Mgt
Cultural Anthropology
Business Principles
Managing In A Global Economy
Principles Of Microeconomics
Writing About Literature
I also plan on taking these classes next semester.
Principles of Macroeconomics
Principles of Management Acct
Intro to Statistics
Info Technology Management
Personal Investing
Definitely retake the SAT to increase your scores.
If your state of residence is Ohio, apply to Ohio public universities ASAP. Your choice of classes isn’t the most rigorous. It will be okay for tOSU, Ohio U, Miami, U Cincinnati - no problem.
Also try to apply to Denison. It’s test-optional and it’s Commerce major is EXCELLENT. They also “meet need”, meaning that if you’re admitted they will not ask you to pay more than your EFC - most public universites consider your EFC the minimum you should pay AFTER loans and work study!
Definitely try to take calculus, not statistics, next semester - list that on your list of courses for the year. Otherwise, apply “undecided”, NOT finance.
Try to take College Spanish 2(= HS Spanish 3) next semester instead of Info Tech Management and an English class (comparative literature, philosophy, college composition II…) intead of Principles of Management Accounting (a class you’re likely to have to repeat at a 4-year college, unless you’re dual enrolled at a 4-year college).
Our son got perfect everything, All-State musician (in a very competitive state from the most competitive part of the state), ran a major successful international charity and got 8 5’s on all 8 AP’s; and got rejected from the 4 Ivy Leagues that he applied to. On a related note - He LOVES!!! where he ended up.