<p>I've taken the ACT a bunch of times and I ALWAYS GET THE SAME SCORE. Even after I had tutoring and classes. I keep getting a 30. My SAT chem is a 710 and I'm planning on taking more in october. Gah! It's so frustrating. My hook is really strong, but since I'm just sending ACT and subject tests, I'm afraid my scores are too low for an ivy league like Dartmouth, Brown, or UPenn. =( Do I still have a chance?</p>
<p>YES. 30 is a good score.</p>
<p>retaking it again is so painful :/</p>
<p>honestly my parents are saying i don't have a chance at an ivy league with that score. so this will be my 6th time taking it if i take it in september. I think i should take it again.</p>
<p>30 is a good score, but it is on the low side for the Ivy League. All you have to do is look on the website of the university to see what the average score is and you will see that 30 is a little low. That being said, there is no harm in applying. You've got nothing to lose. Remember admissions at these top schools are very unpredictable. You've got kids with perfect scores being denied for heaven's sake. Just give it your best shot. And don't take it again. It's unnecessary....</p>
<p>If absolutely are convinced that you MUST have a higher score on a standardized exam, sit yourself down and take two or three practice SAT exams. If you find that you do significantly better on the SAT than on the ACT, you might consider taking a real SAT. However, you probably have better things to do with your life than taking a bazillion more exams. So I'm with momfirst3 about this. Don't take any more exams.</p>
<p>You need to remember that the most important factor in your college admissions is your HS transcript - in other words, your grades and the classes that you earned them in. It is the single most powerful predictor of all measures of college success (first year GPA, final GPA, four year graduation rate, etc.), and every single college admissions officer on the planet knows this fact.</p>
<p>The median score for the schools im looking at is around a 33. I won't get in with a 30. I don't know anyone on CC that posted "decision:accepted" with a score of 30.</p>
<p>my transcript is pretty great IMO. And I'm worse on the SAT than the ACT because I generally excel at english and reading and the SAT is half math/half english. ugh.</p>
<p>Trust me, there is life outside of the Ivy League. Even if you raised your score, there is no guarantee. My son had a 34 ACT, 3 subject tests (700, 770, 780) a weighted GPA of 4.8 (4.0 uw) 13 AP classes, National AP Scholar, Nationally Ranked Athlete, CSF, NHS and Mu Alpha Theta. He only applied to two Ivy League schools (Columbia and MIT) and the best he did was being waitlisted for both. See what I mean?! Don't even worry about it. Just do your best. My son is going to Berkeley and is happy as can be. Don't say "Ugh". Change your attitude and realize all the wonderful universities that await you. :-)</p>
<p>sorry but I'm freaking out. My hook is super strong so I feel like I would have a better chance with a great score and a great hook rather than just an ok score and a great hook. And berkely is amazing. I'm glad your son got accepted there! But I'm pushing for Ivy Leagues because that is the only thing my parents can afford (they give a lot of financial aid) outside of the state school, UofM.</p>
<p>There are scads of people out there who will be going to the colleges/universities you are interested in who don't publicize their results here. Don't take the results here as being the minimum that you must have in order to succeed.</p>
<p>Make your list from the ground up:
One rock-solid safety that would be OK if all else failed.
Several likely/match institutions where you expect you should be able to be admitted and where you are confident you can be happy.
As many reach/super-reach/gamble institutions that your family is willing to pay application fees for.</p>
<p>Don't forget to sit your parents down and run the financial aid calculators at FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans and at the collegeboard website and talk with them about just exactly how much money is available for your education. With an ACT of 30 and a "pretty great" transcript there are plenty of schools out there that will be happy to have you and some that might through a bit of money your way.</p>
<p>Hahahaha..... Stop freaking out! You will be fine.... Relax, breathe.....</p>
<p>hahaha. It's just that my parents are really disappointed since they pushed a tutor at me and stuff and I still didn't get a better score. And I am just done with the ACT and don't want to take it anymore.</p>
<p>You're parents will recover. Did you do your best??? I am sure you did and that is all anyone (including your parents) can expect from you. Trust me. You will go to college and it will be a college you are super excited to attend. It may or may not be an Ivy League institution, but I know you will end up at the perfect place. I've got three kids. All will be in college next year. All of them were so different (one even went to community college for a year). They all are totally happy and successful where they are. It's going to be okay. If you need more moral support, just let me know.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your support! For me, it's more psychological than anything else. I always feel like I can do better and study more and more. Like after the test, I felt I tried my best, but right now, I feel like I could have prepared better, etc..</p>