I have a 1950 on the sat but my gpa probably won’t be much higher than 3 come graduation. If I want as much of a chance of getting into the more selective Pennsylvania colleges as possible, should I take another sat or maybe try the act? Or should I just keep dreaming? I kinda have some qualms about taking a new sat since the format has changed so much.
Take the ACT, you might do significantly better. And don’t stop dreaming.
Did you take the PSAT? Did u u do well? It’s the same format as the new SAT. Remember, schools will not superscore old and new SATs. You may want to go with the ACT for this reason.
Always take both - it can’t hurt and often a student does significantly better on one.
Work on making that GPA above a 3 also.
@Dunboyne I believe I just might. thank you. Maybe dreaming can be a good thing.
@2muchquan Wow, I was not aware of that, thanks for letting me know. Although, since I went from 640 590 600 to 650 650 650, my superscore is just my second test. If I got anything lower than 650 on a section of the new SAT would I be at some kind of risk?
@bopper If you’d care to read it, my last thread sort of explains my GPA situation. I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do about it at this point given both my current schooling situation and the fact that colleges don’t tend to look at anything beyond junior year. I’d appreciate your input on it
Please post link to that thread
If you are chasing merit money (as a PA resident, your in-state publics do not give good financial aid; check their net price calculators), you may want to see if any of the threshold scores listed in http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ are worth chasing with additional tries on the ACT and SAT.
When I saw your SAT score I was assuming a much higher GPA. So I wouldn’t worry about your SAT scores as much as your GPA! Raise that GPA!
@ucbalumnus The only listed Pennsylvania opportunity is for Temple. I may keep it in mind.
@EYeager Long story 
I hope I can. Senior year is really my last chance, and I’d be willing to go back to my previous school and really give it my all with a few AP’s, but to my knowledge colleges don’t care for your senior year. If only colleges would be willing to check back at the end of my 12th grade year to see how much improvement was made
They do look at your first semester senior year if are applying regular decision so you still have a chance. Or you can take a gap year and they will see the end of your senior year. Also if you decide to transfer, they will also look at the end of your senior year.
Note that those scholarships are available to out-of-state students as well. Or are you restricted to Pennsylvania for other reasons?
@ucbalumnus I live in Pennsylvania and plan to stay within my state.
@joewantstoknow You should definitely take the ACT a few times. With your SAT score you are likely to do quite well.
Although you state that you plan to remain in Pennsylvania, I just want to point out that Ole Miss offers an almost full-tuition scholarship to anyone with a 32 on the ACT and a 3.0 g.p.a. Most schools require a 3.5 for merit aid, so the lower g.p.a. requirement might save the day for you. I say “almost” because it is $144 shy of full tuition. A 33 or higher gets you the remaining $144. There are additional scholarships which can be stacked at Ole Miss which might chip away at your room and board expense.
You should take at least two subject tests.
@EYeager It’s just so frustrating to me how I can’t take one last old SAT. I totally would’ve practiced a ton and gotten an even higher score on my third attempt. How convenient of the college board to completely reformat the test just as I’m building up momentum…