Seious advice
Hello,
I am a senior international student, and I need full-aid
I registered for the ACT in 22, and I prepared and increased around 10 points.
My score is now around 25 in English and Math, which is slightly higher.
I don't know If this is enough time to get a 33 or something near that. I don't do anything now but rather prepare for the ACT and try to write an excellent personal statement.
My problem is that I am valedictorian and have a good application, but I didn't start writing any essays yet, and I want to apply to a top college like Harvard.
Should I take the risk of taking the ACT as it will help or not?
If yes (and this is probably what I am thinking), what should I do to get a 33?
--- I am willing to do all the work ---
Please tell me what to do specifically because I studied all year to get good grades, participate, and get first place in international competitions, so I don't want to waste all of that.
I asked last time and my score started to increase then it dropped and so on (I think some of the exams were hard as I saw some people on Reddit talking about the specific exam I took was hard)
generally, I am not confident and losing hope in myself and don't know what to do, and am stressed.
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1 answer
Hi @Michael_Naeim00,
You are not going to improve your composite ACT score to the level you need to submit it to an Ivy League school in the remaining 7 weeks of time you have left before the December 10th test date. Sometimes it has nothing to do with your intelligence but rather how much time you have afforded yourself to understand how the test is constructed and how to take it. It's not uncommon for high achieving students who already have a 30-32 ACT to spend another 100-200 hours to get it up to the 34-35 range which is the sweet spot for Harvard. I don't think you should waste your time doing this. 33 is a good ACT score but not a great one, it's only the 25% percentile which means that 75% of admits have submitted higher scores.
More importantly, I would not fixate on 1 school like Harvard, it's unhealthy because 1/3 of the class is an ALDC which stands for Legacies, Recruited Athletes, Faculty Children, and Super Rich Donors (Development Candidates). And another 1/3 are going to be hooked applicants which means they are Black, LatinA, Indigenous, LGBTQIA, Disabled or marginalized and can also be low-income/first generation in some instances. If you are neither an ALDC nor a hooked applicant, meaning you are a White/Asian (SWANA)/Int'l Student, you will have super hard competition and need the best test scores like a 34-35 if you are to be considered by submitting them.
If you are going to get into an Ivy or Elite or Top Liberal Arts college you are going to have to rely on your Academics (Grades (GPA, course rigor (APs, IBs, College courses), and evidence Intellectual Vitality/Curiosity), ECs and Co-curricular like sports, clubs, leadership positions, community service, and awards and honors, top recommendations, amazing essays, and stellar interview.
I would focus my efforts on sorting out which of the colleges are most likely to award you a full-ride scholarship given your academic/EC narrative. If you haven't done already, plug all your stats and pertinent information into a CV profile and run it against your list of colleges to understand realistically where you stand right now. It's fairly accurate (within 2-2.5% for Ivys/Elites), (within 2% for target schools).
It is very very difficult to get a full-ride scholarship as an international student to a college like Harvard because you are competing against 10,000+ Int'l applicants for 300 seats.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
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