<p>You should try to get into Texas A and M or University of Alabama. You’d have a good shot of admission and have a great time.</p>
<p>I love using this website, but hate it at the same time because of the ignorant responses some give. You have an excellent shot at college. My friend has gotten 4 D’s in high school and she still has a lot of hope for a decent school. It’s people like those that say you can’t go to college that make this website INSANE. Not everyone is the next Einstein.</p>
<p>@ OP:
The following post may be discouraging. That is not my intention. I ask that you refrain from reading it. I’m making a general point. It’s very possible that you are far smarter than other individuals with a similarly low SAT score. Your grades seem to indicate this may be true. Maybe you got incredibly nervous or have a learning disability or are simply someone who needs time to think. These are all valid and may explain that while you’re somewhat intelligent your SAT score does not reflect it. </p>
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<p>Look I’m not saying the SAT is the only means with which to quantify general intelligence or that it’s even very reliable. I think it correlates well with general mental acuity. </p>
<p>Do you understand how low a 400 in math or verbal is? The dumbest recruited athletes, the ones that spent their entire high school career sitting in the back of class, never going to class, and lifting weights all manage (around this because I heard the stat awhile back) at least 870 (or something like that) on math and verbal combined. So the NCAA is saying that’s the BARE minimum for someone to attend a university. And of course, everyone knows these individuals don’t have to have any qualifications academically, so the standard is far far higher for regular applicants. The standard at regular ol non-Ivy universities and colleges is not to make the school exclusive. Rather, it’s to ensure that all the students have the mental tools with which to adequately participate in an academic setting.</p>
<p>You’ll want to work on bringing all areas up of course, but from where you are now I’d look at mid-range or local colleges. I doubt you’ll get any offers worth leaving the state over.</p>
<p>I’m with you, poisondart90!</p>
<p>OK so I can see I’m in a minority of one. But everyone disagreeing with me refuses to acknowledge anything I’ve stated.</p>
<p>So here’s a simple question: Do you believe that almost everyone is qualified to attend a four year university or college? That does not include junior colleges or community colleges.</p>
<p>For NCAA DIV 1, a student would only need the score of 870 that you mention if their GPA was 2.375. If they had a GPA of 2.95 (as Mandy does) they would need a SAT score (CR + Math) of 640. NOWHERE in the NCAA materials are these athletes referred to as “dumb,” and nowhere does it say that they would not be qualified or eligible to attend a university with lower scores. The scores and grades are required in recognition that the athletes will have to maintain their studies while having the full-time job of college athletic competition and travel. <a href=“http://www1.ncaa.org/eprise/main/membership/membership_svcs/eligibility-recruiting/faqs/ie_quick_ref.pdf[/url]”>http://www1.ncaa.org/eprise/main/membership/membership_svcs/eligibility-recruiting/faqs/ie_quick_ref.pdf</a></p>
<p>Of the over 2,300 FOUR year universities in the US (page 11 <a href=“http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/02statab/educ.pdf[/url]”>http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/02statab/educ.pdf</a> latests stats for 2000) only about 100 - 200 require the scores you feel are essential to pursue higher education. So you are opinioning that over 2,000 four year colleges should be shut down? (Thank you ever so much for exempting the CSU system, as I myself am a Summa Cum Laude graduate of a CSU campus - whew!!!)</p>
<p>If you move on to page 35 of that same report, you will see that (latest figures) only about 25% of the US are college graduates (only by the efforts of those 2000+ institutions accepting students you don’t have any respect for) so currently “almost everyone” is NOT going to college. In fact, 75% are not.</p>
<p>Your arguments are flawed and your statistics are invented. I would much rather have Mandy working for me.</p>
<p>"Maybe college isn’t really your thing. There’s no shame in not going to college. It’s society that tries to make non-college graduates feel they’re worthless. Going to college is considered a given and it shouldn’t be. </p>
<p>If you can’t get that score up to about 1600 (about 1050 out of 1600), you’re probably not cut out for college."</p>
<p>Pure stupidity.</p>
<p>I’m going to chime in here. I fully agree with dontno. I mean, there’s a reason why we have things like the SAT that highly correlate with “g” – it’s to make sure that when the students attend a particular university that they will be able to follow the coursework, to reason properly and make good inferences and connections.</p>
<p>Think about this. The SAT is a test of basic reading comprehension, grammar, and mathematics. Does anyone honestly believe that someone who couldn’t get at least 60% of the whole test correct could do well in a collegiate setting where the material in all three SAT disciplines is substantially more difficult? </p>
<p>I don’t mean to come off as a jerk, but the sad reality is that not everyone is mentally fit for college. If you can’t master arithmetic through algebra 2 and you don’t have a good working vocabulary, how will you succeed?</p>
<p>^ And I would ask Ashraf Eassa to think about this. Very selective universities take a dismal view of high-scoring students who get a (comparatively) low GPA and a ranking below the top 10%. So someone with over 2300 on the SAT who only manages a 3.4uw and is out of the top ten % in their class would be seen as lazy and unmotivated and not given a second look. I’m just saying…</p>
<p>Oh, heh. Whoa.</p>
<p>When I was a high school student, I did very, very poorly on the PSAT. My guidance counselors shook their heads and shuffled me off to the trade school path, figuring some typing skills would be a good idea because no one could succeed in college with the brain dead scores I posted up. I had plenty of good grades, but I had a D in math. My parents knew better and were having none of it and flatly told me I was attending a 4-year university and did not have to have a career as a cashier or secretary. </p>
<p>Fast forward.</p>
<p>I went to a 4-year university. Graduated magna cum lauda. Attended best law school in the country. Did well there. Passed bar, rose to top of profession. So much for poor standardized test scores meaning you aren’t cut out for college!</p>
<p>To OP: Do not listen to people who say you are not cut out for college because of low test scores. Do. Not. Listen. You and only you determine how well you will do in college. If you buckle down and work your butt off, you can succeed in college.</p>
<p>Make it so.</p>
<p>Well said, cindysphinx!!! (And congratulations on your success!) Wouldn’t it be funny if dontno and Ashraf Eassa apply to you for a job someday and their resume has their SAT scores in bold numbers??? (And of course, they wouldn’t get the job, 'cause Mandy’s been out there working her tail off and you gave the job to HER!)</p>
<p>Agree completely with cindysphinx!</p>
<p>College is for those who want to attend. Granted, not everyone is cut out for college, but that is because they don’t want to go. If OP wants to go to college, there are many choices out there for her.
Yes, SATs and ACTs do have meaning, but they don’t reflect everything. Look up Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intellligences. As a teacher, I am mindful of it everyday.</p>
<p>I applaud you cindysphinx! To the OP: SATs are not everything. You’re grades are FINE! Well above average…who cares about one “D”? I can tell that you are cut out for college. Like pageturner mentioned, you have to want to go…and I can tell, just by you making this thread, that you want to go to college.</p>
<p>wow…you guys give some great opinions and views. and i totally understand that i have to make the choice of if iwant to go to college
and i totally do. so i will work my butt off to get there!!! =)</p>
<p>:) 
:)</p>
<p>Mandy, here’s a tip or two:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Read. Read and read and read. Then do some reading.</p></li>
<li><p>Write. Join the school newspaper, take courses in creative writing or whatever suits you. If you can take a grammar course, so much the better. You will be able to present yourself on paper better than your peers. sum ov dem dont rite so good.</p></li>
<li><p>Think about doing some public speaking. If you don’t have the grades or scores, you will have to impress with your presence. Being able to speak well is like getting a perfect SAT, believe me. You will blow right past the propeller-heads who are afraid of their own shadows. Some communities have Toastmasters, or maybe your school has a debate or speaking club. It is terrifying, but you will get used to it. </p></li>
<li><p>You will miss out on a lot of parties, and everyone will think you are a weirdo. I’m sorry.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck, kiddo!!</p>
<p>[edit: And do consider a re-take of the ACT instead of SAT. I did much better on the ACT. When my daughter studied for the SAT, I would peek over her shoulder and try to get the questions right in my own mind. After 7 years of higher education, those questions still don’t make much sense to me. It’s August. Get an ACT study book, register for it, and ace that sucker.]</p>
<p>@ NotmyRealName:</p>
<p>Your stats still don’t really mean much. I perused them quickly, but I still don’t see that they excluded four year schools with open admissions policies or those not in NCAA Division I or III (Division II schools don’t really count either). Many of these schools exist for the sole purpose of making money and make no intellectual demands of their admittees either before or during their instruction. I know plenty of (assuredly stupid) people from my hometown who attend a local college like this. I also know an instructor there who constantly complains about the lack of intelligence of her students. Many of these students barely make it through their first two years of community college before transferring. So thus I still conclude your stats are very skewed.</p>
<p>And I would continue but Ashraf Eassa has made plenty of my points for me. I’ll also ignore your musings about athletes. The NCAA knows how important having highly recruited athletes are to universities and make huge concessions to allow their enrollment. So I’d really just ignore that. Plus it’s so easy to get a 3.0 in high school especially if you take general courses. Even honors and AP grades are dependent much more on one’s ability to complete homework rather than ace exams which require proficiency.</p>
<p>I’d also like to say I don’t consider the SAT a be all end all. I understand not everyone does well even though they may be intelligent. I even said this much in one of my previous posts. But it does correlate very well with the g factor or general intelligence. I’ll stop because Ashraf already said this much.</p>
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<p>Yea so I guess my Summa Cum Laude Ivy League degree and 800 Math score would mean nothing! If you honestly believe that someone scoring an 800 with a minimal work ethic is less qualified than someone scoring in the 400’s, then you’re seriously deluded. Intelligence is a bell curve, no amount of rhetoric will change that.</p>
<p>I’ll take someone who is a great and hardworking person with a math score in the 400’s then the next lazy, over-confident or rude person with a score in the upper 700’s-800.</p>