Will this hurt me too much?

Applying to College
1

<p>Ok, so I’m going to be applying to the University of Illinois at Urbana next year, for the College of Engineering. Its really competitive to get in, as the median ACT score is 30-33.</p>

<p>I took the ACT and got a 30, which gave me some confidence. But I had also registered for the May SAT (my mom wanted me to take it for some reason) and I stupidly sent my scores to U of I during registration. I didn’t really know much about the SAT test. I got my scores today and got a lousy 1780 (R 580 M 580 W 620). The U of I has already gotten this score, so there is no chance of taking it back.</p>

<p>I’m nervous if the low SAT score will hurt my chances a lot. I live in state and I’m a black male, so this will be some help, but what matters most to the colleges is scores scores scores. If they see this low SAT score, they’ll question my good ACT score.</p>

<p>U of I is a very ACT-based school, since the state requires students to take the exam…but I don’t think they’ll base one test over another.</p>

<p>Maybe I’m overthinking…</p>

2

<p>You’re a black male with an ACT score of 30. I honestly think they will be jumping out of their seats to accept you. Don’t worry too much about it. You can also retake your SAT your senior year.</p>

3

<p>Most state schools can not consider race in admissions.</p>

<p>Since it’s a large state school they probably just have a clerk enter your highest score on the folder. I wouldn’t worry. I would be concerned, and they will be, with making certain you have the necessary math skills for engineering. Hopefully the ACT math score was good.</p>

4

<p>My ACT Math score was average (29). I really enjoy Math and I do well at it in school, but timed tests are always trouble for me with math. I always do better with reading and writing (32 and 31 on reading and english), but I hate them both. Math has always been more interesting.</p>