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With good scores like this, but not a particularly high ranking in my high school, does anyone know my prospects for scholarships; particularly if my income is quite low.

Thanks for anyone's input.

By California Mom (Calmom) on Friday, November 09, 2001 - 03:01 pm: Edit

Andrea,

Two question: Are your grades good despite the low ranking? It would help to know whether the ranking issue is because you go to a high school where lots of people have A averages, or whether your own grades have been mixed. So it would help to know your GPA in addition to approximate class rank.

The other question is simply what you are interested in studying.

As your family income is low, you will get good financial aid from just about any college that offers full need-based aid.

With your high SAT scores, you will also qualify for merit aid at many colleges.

Tell us a little more about your interests and what kind of college you are looking for, including geographical region of that's important to you, and I'm sure people here will have some good suggestions.

By Dadster on Tuesday, November 20, 2001 - 09:14 pm: Edit

Andrea, you should be in great shape at all except the most selective colleges. Be aware that a few admissions officers may mentally put you in the "slacker" category based on high test scores but lower than expected class rank/GPA. If you present yourself well, consider trying to schedule interviews with any reach schools - some first-hand contact may help dispel any preconceived notions about your willingness to put out effort. Good luck!

By David Hawsey on Friday, January 11, 2002 - 08:32 am: Edit

Andrea: Forget the scores and the high school rankings. Tell us what you want to study, what your career goals are, and why. That's what's important to the college search process. You'll get in several top tier colleges, but the fit is everything.

By the way, class ranking is practically meaningless to colleges, if the truth is told. You think it's hard telling the difference between 3,300 four-year colleges? Try differentiating between the 80,000 high schools in the country, and explaining why someone is ranked up or down from anyone else!!

Plus, you don't compete against other students in college, you strive to go beyond what you think you can do as an individual, and quite often as a member of a team of students. Go back and look at the attributes of a college that are most important to you, and match yourself with the colleges that offer the closest fit. Once you arrive on a college campus, the SAT scores and your class rank are forgotten by both you, and the college.

D.

By California Mom (Calmom) on Friday, January 11, 2002 - 03:39 pm: Edit

David,
I would agree with you that class ranking is meaningless in theory, but it is VERY important to some colleges in their admission decisions. I have seen this in action, and generally the colleges who consider this important say so in their admissions materials. I guess their theory is that even though the schools may be different, they still want the kids who are competitive enough to be the best of whatever group they are with.

There are MANY colleges that don't pay attention to class rank, though. I think the key for someone like Andrea is to find out before applying what factors the college looks at. It is waste of an application fee for a student to apply to a college that values specific factors where the student is weak, especially when financial assistance is important, particularly when there are so many good choices among colleges that use differing criteria for admission.

By Susannah Denomme on Monday, June 17, 2002 - 09:43 am: Edit

My daughter has taken the SAT twice. The first time, she scored 650 verbal and 680 math. The second time 590 verbal and 710 math. How will colleges view these up and down scores? How many take highest scores from each test. She can take the SAT again this fall (she will be a senior) Should she?

By Bewildered on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 - 06:31 pm: Edit

They will view it as a composite score of 1360. Congratulations! (they'll take the top score of each test) She should take it again if her target schools have somewhat higher SAT scores than 1360.

By Bucca (Bucca) on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 10:45 pm: Edit

Do not pay the $8 for early results. My son's scores were posted on the website 12 days after taking the test on 1/24/04.