DD is working on her college list and, so far, is looking at several selective private research Universities. She is targeting schools in the USNEWS ranking around top 15 to 30 range that also provide competitive merit scholarships covering 1/2 to full tuition. Since we will not qualify for financial aid, merit money will be important to the final college choice.
Her ACT score is 34 (second take.) She didn’t do that well in PSAT so most likely, she will not qualify to be a NMF. Her other stats: perfect GPA with most rigorous classes. International science fair category award. Good but not unique leadership and volunteering. Assuming good LOR and essays.
My question is: what test score is needed for competitive merit scholarship award from top colleges? From reading posts of past award winners, they seem to mostly have ACT of 35 and 36 to be award scholarships from colleges such as WashU, Vanderbilt, Rice, Notre Dame, Emory, USC, CaseW, Tulane, etc.
The others? Not likely…an ACT 34 is rather average at those other schools. What would distinquish herself from the pack?
Tippy top schools are loaded with high stats students so they don’t just award for “high stats”…otherwise all their students would deserve. They tend to award to very high stats and/or students who fill some sort of “need” for the school.
Is she a URM? Does she come from a state where few apply?
@mom2collegekids, you have an incredible memory. Yes, you recalled correctly about DS and he had ACT 36.
I am hoping DD17 can be as lucky as DS. Since her ACT is lower, I thought we will need to cast a wider net by going down on the college ranking a bit. But I am wondering if ACT 34 is just below the threshold? One possibility is to retake ACT but she is not a great test take so I don’t think a third take will be an improvement. Her summer will also be filled with research internship.
She is going to take premed course in college. (you’re right again!) I don’t know if she will change her mind once she looks at MCAT since she is not a naturally good test taker. But for now, she is going for premed with ecology/biology/math (bioinformatics) area.
I am trying to help her sort out a good strategy for a college list. We really hope the net cost is low for college (since we learned from posters like you on cc that we should save for med school) But if she gets into a tip top school, we would not rule out the possibility of paying for it.
I was shocked to recently learn that VandyMed accepts so few of their own Vandy undergrads who apply to their med school (about 200 applied, only 13 accepted…about 6-7%…not really better than the apps at large)… I don’t see any benefit of paying for Vandy undergrad if premed.
At top schools, I would say that an ACT 34 is below the threshold if no hook (if a male URM, then definitely would likely be a contender.) Just look at the quartiles. An ACT 34 is typically found in the middle quartiles, which means 25+% of their frosh have stronger scores.
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I am hoping DD17 can be as lucky as DS. Since her ACT is lower, I thought we will need to cast a wider net by going down on the college ranking a bit.
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If you’re wanting half to full tuition, you really need to look below top 30. You need to look well below. I think at Tulane, your DD is in line to get around $30k per year and maybe considered for their full tuition (Is that right @fallenchemist ?). But remaining costs of the $30k merit would be $35k+ per year. Not horrible, but not necessary if premed.
USC is very unpredictable with merit when not NMF. My friend’s DD had an ACT 35 and was Val of her class and got NOTHING from USC…she ended up at MIT.
I’m questioning your strategy. If you’re concerned about her MCAT score being less than stellar, then she needs a super-strong GPA to compensate for a better-resulting LizzyM score.
Agreeing with your post #6, @mom2collegekids, which is why the college list is difficult to put together. Our current thinking is to cast a wide net. Once the results come in, we will then compare and decide which school and at what cost. We are the donut hole family but we have been saving the day she was born so paying for college is possible (although not preferable due to being premed and will lighten up our savings.)
She is thinking four possible paths. (not in particular order)
Tip top schools - In the unlikely chance of getting in, we would consider paying full freight.
Top 30 or 60 or (lower? per above advice) with partial or full merit - Very enticing to us hence my starting the thread.
BS/MD - Will consider paying if getting in. Understand very low chance.
Admission and financial safety schools. i.e., UA, UTD, etc…
I understand your point. This concern would make option #1 (maybe even #2) less attractive. However, if she gets in option #1 and later decide not going into med. school (or couldn’t get in), then she would have a better B.S./B.A. degree for jobs/graduate school (theoretically speaking). That is why we are keeping #1 option on the list for now.
What my daughter discovered with the ACT was that the difficulty of the tests (to HER) varied greatly. As a result, her subscores swung wildly over several attempts, even though she got the same composite score. Then at one magical sitting (her last), the planets aligned, she found the tests in all of the subjects to be easy for her, and she got her highest subscores all in one sitting. None of her subscores on that test was higher than what she had previously achieved, but she got them all together, and her composite jumped 2 points. If your daughter had varying subscores in her first two attempts, it might be worth testing again to see if she could improve on that 34.
Thanks, @thumper1.Yes. Agree that DD is not a poor test taker @thumper1 wrote:
That is indeed the feedback I was looking for. It’s not that “top ranking” is the most important criteria. It’s more that the knowledge will help DD assemble the list. For example, if posters are all saying 34 is too low for merit $ at top schools, then we will take that knowledge and decide whether to not apply or apply knowing that we will have to pay if getting in.
Unfortunately, our instate flagship is not generous with instate merit.
Your instate may not be generous with merit…but if a private that costs $70,000 and you get $30,000 in merit aid, it will still leave you laying $40,000 a year. Does your instate flagship cost that much?
I will be attending WashU in the fall and was fortunate enough to receive a full merit scholarship. I was very surprised bc my ACT is only a 33 and val of class. Don’t let your score define what you are capable of achieving. I believe my essay was truly what let me stand out. They look for individuals that will fit in with their programs and really make a difference on campus. My advice is to apply to anything you can bc you never know what they may be searching for.
@radison405 Congratulations on your merit scholarship at WashU! I did see in a previous post of yours that you are URM. I think that (plus your essays, as you mentioned) may have compensated for your ‘lower’ test score in the competition for merit. The OP’s situation is different - the competition between “average excellent students” is fierce -especially for white upper middle class girls.
@4beardolls Is your daughter dead set on large research universities? You would have better luck, I think, at LACs. Especially women’s LACs.
@radison405 Congrats on your scholarship. While your essays helped, the fact that you’re a URM was also a big help. That needs to be mentioned because the OP’s DD doesn’t have a hook like that. WashU is known for awarding merit to qualifed URMs to help their diversity numbers.