Looking for a research school

College Search & Lists
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<p>Science - I don’t think anyone on here is concerned about admissions… (though lottery schools are just that). It’s high dollar scholarships that do tend to put more emphasis on scores. Many of the other competitors will have similar accomplishments that you have, but higher scores. </p>

<p>I also agree the ACT could have been a better test for you. Two of my three guys did better on the ACT (as did I back in the dark ages).</p>

<p>You didn’t answer the need based aid vs merit aid question. If need based aid will work for you, you could have a shot at some schools that are good with that.</p>

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<p>My family is Upper middle class. I am not sure but I think our income is in the mid 100s. The only schools that would give enough need-based aid to bring COA to around $20k would be Harvard or Yale. Maybe Vanderbilt</p>

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<p>Money is a factor and COA should be less than $20,000</p>

<p>So, you should retest. </p>

<p>You’re confusing acceptances with merit. There are schools that will accept you, but that does NOT mean that they’ll give you merit.</p>

<p>That NEU student you described got money for something other than her score. Maybe she’s a needed URM. Maybe she has an artistic talent. </p>

<p>You are not likely going to get the merit aid that you want unless you raise that score. Take the ACT.</p>

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<p>^ Take a look at the left margin. Sometime today, she will hit 46,000 posts, easily the most prolific and experienced poster on CC. Trust her advice. We all do.</p>

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<p>Taking the SAT is the obvious choice here, but I just won’t have the time. I am doing a research project over the summer full time, and plan on writing a paper to enter the Intel/Siemens competitions. That, coupled with 4 AP classes, 24 hours in a day will not be enough. Not to mention, actually filling out >10 college applications. Also, I will likely miss the first few weeks of school because of personal issues. Where does SAT studying fit in there?</p>

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<p>If you are truly looking for (and hoping for) high merit aid, go to the library, check out some sort of ACT practice book (bonus points for being recent and having old “real” tests) and take one at home. See what your composite score would be - then compare it to your SAT score. You are so close that simply changing the test (perhaps without much study) could put you where you want to be.</p>

<p>I think what you are not understanding is the level of competition out there for those top $$ awards. These are kids who are also doing everything you are doing AND have super high scores. They aren’t coming to the table with “just” high scores. Well, some of them might be, but they won’t likely win either except for auto awards or lower $$ amounts - the latter being the same category you’re likely to find yourself in.</p>

<p>Look at this Table:</p>

<p><a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/SAT-Percentile-Ranks-Composite-CR-M-2012.pdf[/url]”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/SAT-Percentile-Ranks-Composite-CR-M-2012.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It shows the CR/M scores of all of 2012’s class. There are just shy of 23,000 in the Top 1% alone (that’s 1490+). Among those are your competition - then add in everyone down to your scores (roughly 4 times that amount). Then add in the top ACT scoring students (my middle son never took the SAT - just went off his high ACT score).</p>

<p>Many students want those top school top merit awards. You aren’t alone and you aren’t the only one doing great things with your summer(s) to try to get them. Your scores DO appear to be your weak point. If you’re ok with that, go ahead and try for top schools/scholarships. You might, indeed, get super lucky. But… have a back up plan. You also could find your scholarship app gets tossed due to those low scores (compared to the competition).</p>

<p>You may be the top dog at your school, but once you join the national competition, there are many top dogs out there going for a relatively low number of trophies.</p>

<p>Acceptances come easy compared to high $$ scholarships at top schools.</p>

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<p>

Well, you’ve made a decision on the priority of your time and upping your test scores to get a scholarship is not very high on the list. Good luck with that.</p>