I am so worried because I have to apply for colleges in Jan and I got a 400 on the math SAT. I am going to be retaking the SAT and be taking the ACT, should I wait? WHAT DO I DO?
What you do is find colleges that work for the stats you have, not the stats you wish you had. If that’s a community college for two years before transferring, that’s a fine and perfectly viable route. Or you could check out schools that are test-optional, meaning you don’t have to send the scores in. In the meantime, you take the test(s) again, as you are planning on doing, and if you improve you can reevaluate your list.
If you post what state you live in, people can probably suggest some schools for you.
CT so I’d like to be near the Eastern cities especially DC
I wasn’t going to respond since I don’t know the answer, but CT isn’t that close to DC driving, about 7-8 hours.m if that’s not a problem then great!
I know it’s somewhat far but it has some of the best law schools.
A 400 puts you in roughly the 15% of students. The average LSAT, the standardized test for law school, for Georgetown Law is around 165 which is in the 95% of students. Now I know I’m not comparing apples to apples, but I’m just speaking in terms of general performance on standardized test. You’ve really got your work cut out for you, but people have done it before (Ben Carson comes to mind).
First off as others said look for a college that will fit you with your current score and you will be able to do well at. This is FAR more important to being near law schools for you.
Then start studying for the SAT and ACT. For the SAT, use Khan Academy. It’s well designed to help you work on your weak skills as well as testing aspects such as time management. Make sure you use the materials for the test you are taking (new SAT vs old SAT). There are also prep books, but if you’re taking the new one it’s not really worth getting one. I don’t know much about the ACT, but generally the same thing applies. Maybe someone will chime in with specific resources.
I am applying for College, not Law School. Do you have any suggestions for colleges that will work for me yet also help me get into a good well law school?
Colleges do not get you into law schools; you get you into law school. Any undergraduate school + high GPA + high LSAT score is what is needed to get into law school.
Any suggestion for colleges in general?
If you want specific college suggestions, you might have better luck going on the ‘College Search and Selection’ fourm and posting your full stats and ECs. I personally don’t know any colleges that fit the criteria you are looking for.
Law school admissions doesn’t work by osmosis - being near one won’t help you get into one.
You need to find a college that’s a good fit for you; based on what you’ve said here, it means it’d offer “elective” math (like “Math of Money” at Penn State, “Geometry of Art” at another college, “Math for citizenship”) rather than “typical” math; has test scores in the 1400-1600 range; one that offers a strong Philosophy and/or Political Science program, with small classes; and, most importantly, that will be affordable.
First, ask your parents: how much do they plan to invest into your college education, per year, out of pocket and savings? (Keep in mind that you’re limited to a loan of $5,500, total, for freshman year.) Run Net Price Calculators for a couple public and private schools near you.
Once you know how much your parents can/are willing to pay, come back to your thread here, and indicate that amount, alongside your CR+M and total CR+M+W score, GPA, and number of Ap classes (if any). THen we’ll suggest several possible colleges. 
Not exactly sure about the whole cost thing that you are asking but I can give you the other information.
GPA: 3.78 w which makes me 29th out of a 100
AP: 2 completed, 3 in the process
DE: 1 completed, 2 in the process
CR+M: 1020
CR+M+W: 1580
- Will be retaking SAT and taking ACT as previously mentioned
One quick question— why are you applying in January??
In my school, ALL applications will be due no later than December. My son’s are almost ready to go-- he’s waiting for his GPA/rank in class from his guidance counselor, and working on his last essay. You still have lots of time, but don’t squander it; it will go by in the blink of an eye.
Good luck!
I meant applications for most are due by then. We start the common app essay, next class in English.
OK, good. In your own mind, replace “January” with “Thanksgiving.”
aight
Should have asked this before so their wasn’t a double post but do test optional colleges care if you send your scores or not?
No. If you send them admission officer s evaluate them alongside the rest. If they don’t have them they only look at your secondary school record, essays, and recs.
I’m certainly no expert, but here’s how I see the test optional thing:
If your SAT/ACT scores show a significantly different picture than your grades, then Test Optional was made for you. You’re a straight A student, involved in ECs, a model candidate-- but you do poorly on those big tests, then go TO.
But I think that a lot of people are reaching for TO as an answer to all prayers. If you’re a so-so student who got so-so SAT scores, then I don’t think TO will make any difference.
At the end of the day, you want not only to get into a college, but you want to graduate from that same college, in 4 years if possible. So if your SAT scores paint an accurate picture of the student you are today-- not the new and improved one you plan to be in college-- then simply find schools where your SAT scores fit in with the student population. There ARE such schools-- lots of them. You simply have to do your homework and find them.