HOW ON EARTH CAN I FIND OUT IF MY TEST SCORES ON THE ACT OR SAT ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE COLLEGES I WANT TO ATTEND?
THIS IS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION ISN'T IT! OK. I KNOW ONE GOOD WAY. IF YOU LOOK UP YOUR PARTICULAR COLLEGE YOU WANT TO GO TO ALMOST ALL COLLEGES WILL LIST WHAT IS CALLED THEIR MID 50TH PERCENTILE SCORING RANGE. WHAT THAT DIDDLY MEANS IS BASICALLY THE RANGE YOU WANT TO HIT IF YOU HAVE DECENT GRADES AND EXTRACURRICULARS. BY DECENT GRADES I MEAN A'S AND B'S. EXTRACURRICULARS I MEAN YOU SHOULD HAVE MAYBE ONE SPORT OR MORE, SOME ACADEMIC CLUBS, SOME VOLUNTEERING, ETC. ON YOUR HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT. THERE IS ALSO AN EXCELLENT BOOK THAT LISTS EVERY SINGLE COLLEGE IN THE USA THAT HAS THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION. IT IS CALLED THE "2011 COLLEGE HANDBOOK" PUBLISHED BY THE COLLEGE BOARD. I WILL BE ADDING THAT TO MY BOOKS PAGE.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE COLLEGE LISTS AND ACT SCORE OF 24 TO 28 FOR THEIR MID 50TH PERCENTILE SCORE WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT A 24 IS THE 25TH PERCENTILE AND THE 28 IS THE 75TH PERCENTILE OF WHO GOT IN WITH THOSE SAME SCORES LAST YEAR (LAST YEAR'S FRESHMAN CLASS). SO, IF YOUR ACT SCORE IS ANYWHERE FROM A 24 TO 28 YOU ARE PROBABLY IN GOOD SHAPE TO GET INTO THAT PARTICULAR COLLEGE (OR 24 ON THE ACT AND HIGHER) AS LONG AS YOU HAVE DECENT GRADES, DECENT TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS, DECENT EXTRACURRICULARS, ETC.
YOU CAN ALSO CONTACT THE SCHOOL YOU ARE INTERESTED IN AND TALK WITH A REAL LIVE PERSON IN THE ADMISSIONS DEPARTMENT AND JUST POINT BLANK TELL THEM ABOUT YOURSELF AND ASK THEM IF YOU HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF GETTING IN TO THAT PARTICULAR SCHOOL! NOTHING WRONG WITH ASKING!
SO IN SUMMARY, TO FIND OUT THE ACT OR SAT SCORES YOU NEED TO GET INTO YOUR PARTICULAR COLLEGE THERE ARE TWO GOOD WAYS:
1) CALL AND ASK AN ADMISSIONS EMPLOYEE AT THE PARTICULAR COLLEGE YOU ARE INTERESTED
2) LOOK UP THE PARTICULAR COLLEGES MID 50TH PERCENTILE SCORE OR SCORING RANGE. SOME COLLEGES JUST GIVE AVERAGES AND OR GIVE MEDIAN SCORES. ALL ARE SIMILAR. IF THEY JUST LIST ONE SCORE FOR THEIR MID 50TH PERCENTILE SCORE THEN IF YOU ARE IN SAY PLUS OR MINUS 10-15% OF THAT SCORE I WOULD SAY YOU ARE OK AS LONG AS YOU HAVE DECENT GRADES IN HIGH SCHOOL (A'S AND B'S ON YOUR FINAL TRANSCRIPT), DECENT EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES (MAYBE ONE SPORT, SOME ACADEMIC CLUBS, SOME VOLUNTEER WORK, A JOB, ETC.), DECENT TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS, ETC. YOU MUST GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL OF COURSE!
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