your act percentile ranking tells you how you did compared to everyone else on the act test. act percentiles are, in some ways, even more important than your actual act score. why? because they provide an easy way to compare your performance on the act to other test-takers overall, providing you with important information for your act prep.

read on for everything you need to know about act score percentiles.

how are act score percentiles calculated?

act percentiles are calculated by comparing one act score to the distribution of scores of all the students who took the act at a given time. on your act score report, the lowest percentile possible is the 1st percentile and the top percentile is the 99th percentile (it’s impossible to score at the 100th percentile because that would mean that your act score is higher than your score, which makes no sense!).

as a standardized test, the act is intentionally designed to get most students scoring at the 50th percentile mark. the following infographic might help you visualize the act score distribution:

act scores and their corresponding percentiles tend to stay the same year to year. so, for example, scoring a 32+ typically means you did better than 97% of test-takers and scoring a 26 typically means that you did better than 82% of test-takers. (note that these scores don’t mean that you scored a 97% or a 82%, respectively, on the test.)
 

how to find your act score percentile

on your act score report, you’ll see your act score breakdown represented by several percentile scores—you’ll not only be able to see your composite percentile, percentiles for each subject area subscore, and percentiles for stem and ela subscores, but you’ll also see these percentiles in terms of your u.s. rank and your state rank.

here’s a snippet from a model act score report:
 

if you haven’t taken the act yet and you’re wondering where your practice test scores fall in the act distribution, you would first need to make sure that your raw score is converted to your scaled score for each subject area (except for the act writing test) as well as the composite score.

then, you can use the below act percentile chart to match all five scores to their corresponding percentiles, based on the most recently-released data. (to score your essay and determine your act writing score percentile, check out this post about what makes a good act writing score.)

act percentiles for composite score and subscores

this act percentiles information is provided by act.org.

*this chart represents the cumulative percentages rather than percentile scores. if any of your scores correspond with 100, you would be at the 99th percentile.

what is a good act percentile?

while it may be useful to know your act percentile as determined by the national or statewide distribution of scores, it’s not necessarily the best tool to determine what a good act percentile might be for you.

you may think that scoring at the 90th percentile nationally at least means that you have a competitive score for any school in the country (and to be fair, that would be the case for the vast majority of colleges and universities).

but for elite schools (where the average act score is around 33), scoring even at the 95th percentile might not be enough, especially if the rest of your application has some flaws. on the flip side, scoring below the 90th percentile mark could still allow you to be a great candidate at top state universities around the country.

this is because for pretty much any school in the u.s., a good act score percentile is anywhere in the middle 50% (25th percentile-75th percentile) of the score distribution of accepted students specifically at the schools you’re interested in —and that differs notably from school to school.

for example, at the prestigious university of chicago, their 25th percentile score of accepted students is 21 while their 75th percentile is 36. meanwhile, at the university of texas-austin, a phenomenal school in its own right, their middle 50% scores range from 27 to 33 (act test scores were not a required component for application to the class of 2025).

while schools don’t release their own act score percentile charts, they do release the score range of their middle 50% of students. you can check out more score ranges of the top 100 u.s. universities in our post about act scores. use this data to help you figure out the middle 50% ranges of your target schools—or better yet, the scores you need to go beyond the 75th percentile in order to maximize your chances of getting in.

how do colleges use act percentiles?

for college admissions offices, your act percentile is probably not as important as your act score. this is because the school’s act score range (as determined by the middle 50% at their school) is the information that admissions officers have handy; so, they don’t actually need to calculate your act percentile to see how your score falls into the middle 50% score range.

that being said, your national act percentile can provide an easy way of determining how you stack up to other students applying. because applicants send in scores from the act and sat, college admissions teams need some way to compare these scores. so for admissions officers who don’t have the act to sat score conversion memorized (a.k.a. most of them!), they are likely to take notice of your percentile rank as well.

how to use act score percentiles to improve your score

if you have plans to retake the act, the act percentiles provide valuable perspective to help you be strategic with your test prep: how much you might need to study and which subject areas take higher priority.

let’s take a look at our model score report once more:
 

with just a cursory look at the scores, you can see that this student is stronger at the stem subjects than the ela subjects. but the percentiles better show the magnitude of difference between these two areas and provide more of a sense of urgency to focus on ela.

although it is certainly fine to be stronger in one subject than another, you don’t want any one subject to drag down your score or percentile too much. colleges would use this information to note that you are weak in certain areas.

looking at this student’s scores alone can also make it seem like they might have to spend roughly the same amount of time studying for reading and english. or that the student might need to spend more time bringing up their math score to be more on par with their science score. when looking at the percentiles, however, you can see how the difference between the student’s performance on english and reading is significant and that they should prioritize studying for reading before other tests.

the state rank also provides some important perspective when it comes to prioritizing what to study for the act retake. if you’re only applying to public schools in your state, for example, your state percentile rank might give you a better sense of your competition than the national rank.

if your state rank is better than your national rank, you may be able to somewhat reduce the pressure to do well on a retake; conversely, if your state rank is worse than your national rank, you’d have to prepare yourself to hit the books.

in either case, you’d still want to dedicate as much time as possible to studying because the higher the act score, the more competitive of an applicant you’ll be.

key takeaway

hopefully, after reading this post, you’ll have a better understanding of act percentiles and the scores you should aim for (if you haven’t taken the act yet). if you have, then hopefully you have a better sense of whether you’re on track with your current act percentile or if you need to aim higher.

if it’s the latter, we have plenty of resources to help you to improve your act score! our blog is full of free resources, such as how to improve your act score by 10 points or how to structure your act study schedule.

for even more structured support and practice, you can check out our magoosh act app, which is guaranteed to increase your score by 4 points.

wherever you may be on your act journey, we at magoosh wish you all the best!

the post act percentiles – how to find act score percentiles appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

even if you’re lucky enough to be receiving financial support from your family, they probably aren’t going to foot the whole bill for college. so you’re probably wondering, what’s a good sat score for scholarships, and how can i find them?

the short answer is that you should aim for an sat score between 1200 and 1600 if you want to secure some scholarships based on merit–and the higher within that range you score the more money you’re looking at.

however, different schools have different scholarship requirements (some even have guaranteed scholarship awards for students scoring above certain cutoffs) so you’ll want to research the specific schools on your list.

now for the long answer…

what’s a good sat score for scholarships?

in this post we’ll examine the different types of scholarships you can apply for, where to find them, and what some of the standard scholarship amounts offered by different schools based on sats look like. we’ll also coach you through how to set your own specific goal score, and how to structure your sat prep around that goal!

there are many ways to earn scholarship $$$ (sports, extracurriculars, overcoming adversity, the list goes on), but this post is going to focus on how to secure scholarships through your standardized test scores – especially the sats.

now let’s take a look at how to turn your good sat scores into some scholarship dollars.

types of scholarships

first of all, many colleges around the country have what are called guaranteed scholarships. these scholarships are automatically awarded to accepted students who have earned a certain sat score. the cool thing about them is that you don’t even have to fill out a separate application. when you’re researching colleges, keep your eyes open for what guaranteed scholarships are out there.

a larger number of colleges also have general merit scholarships. these scholarships have the same sat requirements, but you are in competition with other accepted students for a limited number of awards. these scholarships may require a separate application, along with a personal or themed essay. in short, read those directions closely!

available scholarships by school

many colleges and universities have specific scholarships available for their current and incoming students, so if you have a list of schools you’re interested in, a simple google search for your top college choices along with the search term “merit scholarships” is all you need. because every scholarship’s requirements are different, you have some work to do: get out there and find some scholarships!

scholarships based on academic merit often have minimum sat scores provided in their descriptions. take note of any sat score requirements you find during your research, then average all those scores. the result is your minimum sat score goal.

not sure which colleges you want to apply to yet? here’s a list to get you started:

the amount of scholarship money available varies widely between schools, but if you’re looking at regular public and private colleges and universities, you’re likely to see these kinds of numbers.

[related: average college tuition in america infographic]

private scholarships

there are also scholarships out there that aren’t affiliated any specific academic institute (the burger king james w. mclamore whopper scholarship for example), so once you’ve exhausted your college list, try casting a wider net. here are just some of the scholarships with super simple applications that i discovered after a few minutes of online research:

1. dosomething.org easy scholarships

on dosomething.org you can enter to win college scholarships by participating in community service campaigns–some are even as simple as sending a tweet!

2. $2,000 no essay scholarship
niche gives away a $2,000 scholarship every month. all you have to do is register for a free account and you are entered to win this scholarship.

3. $10,000 unigo scholarship
answer unigo’s prompt in 250 words or less. one of their recent topics was “surprise! you just got elected president. what’s your first tweet?”

4. no essay smart owl scholarship
scholarshipowl is an online platform designed to match you with the award opportunities that fit your background, grades, lifestyle, and more–and you will be entered to win the “$7,000 no essay smart owl scholarship” just by making a free account on their website.

searching for scholarships can be exhausting, so consider going to see your high school or college counselor to give you a leg up on the hunt.

how to set your sat goal score

having a specific score in mind will help you focus your sat prep, but don’t forget that this score is a minimum – ideally you want to be scoring a bit higher than this number on your practice tests (and the real thing, of course!).

once you’ve got a strong sat score under your belt, you can shift your focus to the scholarship applications themselves, and any essays and/or personal statements that may be lurking within.

final thoughts about a good sat score for scholarships

there are a lot of scholarships out there, and surprisingly enough, many of them have nothing to do with sat scores. like i mentioned at this beginning of this post, plenty of scholarships are based around other attributes such as overcoming adversity, your background, your summer job, or simply how well you write an essay. you probably have a lot more than just your sat scores going for you, so you shouldn’t sell yourself short by only looking into merit scholarships – they’re just a good place to start!

well, magooshers, that’s all for now. before you go any further, make sure to check out our article on the 3 best places to look for college scholarships. happy scholarship hunting!

need more help?

with magoosh sat, you can choose between a live cohorted class with an instructor (which includes all our lessons and practice questions) or access to the self-study option by itself.

all magoosh sat prep plans are digital sat ready! start studying today.

the post what’s a good sat score for scholarships? appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

the ranges of “good scores” vary a lot depending on both your goals and your age. the more competitive your dream schools are, the higher your target score should be. on the other hand, you can expect your scores to increase as you go through high school. for that reason, if you’re a sophomore, 1300 is a good score, while a freshman should be very pleased with scores of 1200 or higher.

want to find out exactly what a good score would be for you and your goals? read on for more information about sat scores—from average sat scores to sat score charts, we have all the data you need.

 

table of contents

• what is a good sat score range for colleges?
• sat score scale: the basics
• what are sat percentiles?
• what is a good score for scholarships?
• how does the adversity index impact my score?
• how can i improve my scores?

what is a good sat score range for colleges?

let’s face it: at the end of the day, there is no “sat passing score.” what is considered a good score depends almost entirely on the colleges that you’re applied to.

keeping in mind the general sat score range to aim for, let’s take a closer look at good scores for your dream school. just to make things a little easier on you, we’ve put together this table of score ranges for the top universities in the united states. the numbers are from the middle 50% score range (meaning 25% of admitted students had lower scores and 25% had higher scores).

type the name of your chosen school in the search box to find its middle 50% sat score range!

sat score scale: the basics

before you send your score report to admissions officers, make sure you understand the sat scoring scale. what is the sat out of? what’s the top sat score? knowing these things can help you figure out what a good score is for you and what your goals should be.

basically, sat test scores are given both by section and overall. here’s a quick breakdown of the sectional sat score scale and how it contributes to the composite score. note that this “new” sat scoring applies to tests from 2016 onwards—scores were different on previous versions of the sat, with a top sat score of 2400!

• you’ll receive two sectional scores, one math and one verbal (combined from the reading and writing sections).
  • math score range: 200-800 points
  • evidence-based reading & writing score range: 200-800 points
  • the average sat score on each section is 500 points, give or take 30 points (in 2020, the average ebrw score was 528 and the average math score was 529).
     
• your math and reading/writing sectional scores add up to a composite (combined) score. the highest composite score you can earn on the sat is 1600 points.
  • composite score range: 400-1600 points
  • the average composite score is about 1000 points (the average overall composite score in 2020 was 1051).
     

what are sat percentiles?

another way of evaluating your scores is to look at percentiles. your sat percentile measures the percentage of test-takers who got a lower score than you did. this means that percentile numbers, much like score numbers, indicate better test performance when they’re higher.

here’s how to find your score percentiles on your online score report.
 

basically, sat percentiles compare your scores to average scores. because the sat is a standardized test, it means that these scores are easily comparable. this information falls along a bell curve:

if you’re in the 91st percentile, for example, it means that only 9% of all other scores are higher than yours. in contrast, in the 30th percentile, 30% of all other test takers would have lower scores than you… and roughly 70% of the scores were higher than yours. this would place you in the bottom half of the year’s test-takers, in terms of performance.

sat percentiles are calculated annually. click the arrows below to see the college board’s most recently released sat user percentiles (meaning only juniors and seniors).

what is a good score for scholarships?

many colleges around the country have what are called guaranteed scholarships. these scholarships are automatically awarded to accepted students who have earned a certain sat score.

a larger number of colleges also have general merit scholarships. these scholarships have the same sat requirements, but you are in competition with other accepted students for a limited number of awards. these scholarships may require a separate application, along with a personal or themed essay.

scholarships based on academic merit often have minimum scores provided in their descriptions. take note of any score requirements you find during your research, then average all those scores. the result is your minimum score goal for scholarships. to see the types of scholarships out there, check out our article what’s a good sat score for scholarships?


 

how does the adversity index impact my score?

if you’ve been paying attention to sat news lately, you may have heard about college board’s new adversity index. this is a measurement that they will give to colleges to contextualize your scores in terms of relative advantage/disadvantage.

by creating this new measure, the college board hopes to show how students from low-income and minority populations perform compared to other students from similar backgrounds. while this has been controversial, the adversity index will not affect scores themselves.

instead, what it will give schools is an understanding of your percentiles based on both your “environmental context” and your “high school context.” again, this won’t change your score at all, but instead give universities one more measure with which to interpret your scores.


 

how can i improve my scores?

check out this video for tips to boost your score, and read on for resources to help you before and during test day! you can also use these tips if you’re planning on retaking the sat.

• make use of a sat study schedule—knowing how to study for the sat is a huge factor in improving your score!
• take a free, full-length sat practice test to establish a baseline score.
• review our tips for pacing yourself during an exam.
• find ways to remain calm when a question flusters you.
• learn how to avoid careless mistakes in the future. (magoosh’s sat study guide has great tips to help with this!)

a final note

“how do my sat scores stack up?” it’s a question that almost every test taker has asked at some point! by taking a look at the score ranges for the colleges you’re applying to, comparing your scores to the national average scores with percentile rankings, and working your test prep to keep improving your score when necessary, you’ll have everything you need to understand how your score will impact your college admissions!

still unsure whether you want to take the sat or act? wondering how your scores stack up to potential act scores? check out magoosh’s sat to act conversion!

all magoosh sat prep plans are digital sat ready! start studying today.

the post sat scores: everything you need to know appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

click the links below to go straight to that section, or keep reading to get everything you need to know act scores!

• how are act scores calculated?
• what is the highest act score?
• what is a good act score?
• act scores for the top 100 u.s. universities
• how act scores can help you win scholarships
• should i cancel my act score if i get a bad score?

how are act scores calculated?

the act test score range is between 1 and 36. there are two types of scores that fall in this range: your section scores and your composite score.

section scores

the act exam comprises four sections:

• english (with an optional essay)
• math
• reading
• science

the score on each section is calculated by converting the raw score—the number of questions you answered correctly in a given section—to a scaled score in that 1-36 range. (there are no penalties for questions with an incorrect answer).

if you’re thinking “aw man, do i need to know a formula to figure out my practice act results??” — never fear! we actually have this handy dandy score calculator where you can plug in your raw scores to figure out your section scores. you can also check out our act raw score conversation chart for a sense of how many questions you need to answer correctly to get a certain scaled score.

composite scores

to make your composite, or overall, score, the test maker then averages your four scores on all sections. this is also scored using the 1-36 act scale.

so what is a good act composite score? many factors will help you determine what a good act composite score is for you. but before we get into that, know that the composite score is not the only score that matters! the act score report will provide you even more information about your test-taking experience in the form of subscores.

subscores

the reading, writing, and math sections also have categories with their own score ranges, as noted in the table below:

percentiles

finally, last but definitely not least, you’ll see your percentile. or, rather, percentiles.

your act percentiles compare your scores to the scores of other test-takers. in your score report, you’ll be able to see where you stand both in terms of your composite score and your section scores.

if you scored in the 90th percentile, for example, you scored better than 90% (or 90 out of every 100) test-takers. if you scored in the 50th percentile, you scored better than half of your peers.

what is the highest act score?

seeing as the act score range is between 1 and 36, naturally, the highest score that one can receive on the act is a 36. here are some facts to know about the max act score:

• in 2020, only 5,579 students (out of 1.67 million test takers) scored a perfect 36 on the act (source: act.org).
• you can miss up to five questions on the act and still earn a 36 (depending on what sections you miss them in!)
• the 99^th percentile of test takers includes those who earn a 35 or 34 on the act.

getting the highest act score, while an amazing feat, is nothing worth breaking your back over. sure, a perfect score does make your application all the more appealing—colleges love to brag about the percentage of perfect-scoring applicants they’ve admitted each year. and a 36 will definitely get your application moved to the top of the pile at less competitive institutions.

still, a 36 was worth a lot more ten or fifteen years ago. not only have many colleges and scholarships adopted more well-rounded admissions approaches to giving out letters of acceptance and/or monetary awards, but the number of students getting a perfect score on the act is also growing every year—truly an indication of just how competitive the college admissions process is becoming.

my advice? if you end up scoring in the 34 or above range on the act, it might be best if you’re trying to wow admissions committees through other aspects of your application. this advice is particularly relevant to admissions at ivy leagues and other competitive schools; some of these schools have a whopping quarter of their entering class scoring perfectly on the act or sat.

but if you feel like getting the highest act score can help you shine at less competitive colleges, make sure to check out our post on perfect act score stories to know how it’s done!

what is a good act score?

the act, like its cousin the sat, is a standardized test meant to measure both knowledge gained in high school and potential to succeed in a college setting. the higher the score, the more likely you will get into the colleges of your choice.

that being said, there’s no straight answer on what is a good or bad score; it depends entirely on you, your goals, your grades, your extracurriculars, the schools you want to apply to, and a variety of other factors. a passing score on the act for someone else might not be a passing score for you and vice versa.

furthermore, while most schools care about the composite score, some will look specifically for your subject area scores. so even a number isn’t just a single number.

objectively speaking, a score of 32 or higher would put you in a competitive position for any school that you choose apply to. if that’s your goal, check out this video by magoosh expert kristin on how to get the highest act score:

but unless you want to go to super-elite schools, you might find it more useful to focus on your gpa and extracurriculars than aiming for the max score. that’s where it becomes useful to look at school rank when deciding what’s a good score on the act.

good scores by grade level and school rank

we’ve crunched some numbers and come up with what could be considered good scores, based on your ultimate school goals as well as your grade level. after all, a good score for a sophomore (who’s maybe taking the preact instead) won’t be the same as a good score for a senior.

please note that the numbers on the act scoring chart are loose projections— a lot of factors affect how high of a score you need to achieve. act students with lower scores may still get into their dream schools and students with top scores may not (you can skip to the section on act scores for the top 100 u.s. universities to see the competitive score ranges for a given school). still, this is a good place to start as you plan your act test prep. you can choose between a live cohorted class with an instructor (which includes all our lessons and practice questions) or access to the self-study option by itself.

good scores by section

so those are good composite scores. but what does a good sectional score look like on the act? as we describe in our post on good act english scores, most people would consider any score above the average (around 20 per section, though this varies slightly by year) to be “good.”

however, if you’re applying to very competitive schools, aim for the 90th percentile or higher. this translates to the following scores:

• english: 20.1
• math: 20.4
• reading: 21.2
• science: 20.6

meanwhile, act writing is scored slightly differently. so what makes a good act writing score? here, a 9+ puts you in the range for the most competitive colleges.

the general guidelines for a “good score” by section also apply to preact scoring (though you won’t find an essay on that exam!). however, this is not the case for act aspire, which uses entirely different scoring scales.

average scores

so by now, you know the basic facts and may already have an idea on how you’d score on the act, either because you have taken real or practice act tests or you can convert your sat to act score.

but where do you stand compared to the average test-taker?

the average exam score was 19.9 (composite) in the 2023-2024 school year (source: act.org). basically, if you scored above 21 overall, you’re ahead of the curve.

to see how far ahead of the curve you are, or the points you’d need to score to reach 21, looking at act percentiles is a good place to start.

if you’re feeling super competitive, you can also check out how your score compares locally in average act scores by state.

act scores for the top 100 u.s. universities

though not the only piece in the college applications puzzle, your act score is the first thing most admissions counselors see. if you don’t score in the same range as most of the current students, it is going to be very hard to convince them that you would be the perfect fit. that’s why we provided for you, in the table below, the 25th-75th percentile scores (also known as the “middle 50%” scores) for the top 100 u.s. universities.

what do all those numbers mean? in short, the middle-scoring 50% of incoming students scored within this range. 25% of incoming students scored below the lower number, while 25% of incoming students scored above the higher number. everybody else (the middle 50%) scored between the two.

here’s an approximation of what the distribution of score percentiles could look like:

with all that said, take a look at the score ranges in 2019 below. you can search by school–if your schools of interest rank in the top 100, you’ll find it on this table. if the school’s middle 50% aren’t reported, take a look at the scores at similarly-ranked schools.

act score range for the top 100 u.s. universities

data from the u.s. news & world report: national universities ranking.

what are the score ranges for the ivy league?

ah, the $200,000 (and rising) question! no faffing about. although the ivy league score ranges were featured in the above chart, here they are again for your convenience:

if you’re wondering about the relative “value” of the sat vs. act in ivy league admissions, our act expert, kristin, does a great job of explaining that in this video:

final word? remember that when applying to the ivies, it’s important for your whole application to, well, sparkle.

if you’re scoring slightly below the middle 50% for your dream ivy (or any of your dream schools, really), it’s worth putting in the time to pull it up. maximize those chances!

how act scores can help you win scholarships

yup, a strong score can put you in the running for merit-based scholarships. but just what is that strong score for scholarships? as in the case of college admissions, there’s no one magic number.

if you’re scoring in the 30s (top tenth percentile), that’s a great place to start. on the other hand, you can still get a scholarship even if you’re scoring in the mid-20s. learn more in our post on good act score for scholarships.

should i cancel my act score if i get a bad score?

if you get your scores and find that you’ve scored significantly below your target score, you might be tempted to cancel your scores, worrying that colleges would penalize you for having low scores on your record. but there are a few reasons why you should definitely not cancel your scores.

• first and foremost, if you take the act more than once, most colleges only care about the highest act score you earn. and that’s true even if you do a little worse on the second try, so it’s just best to keep all the options on the table by not canceling scores.
• other colleges superscore act results, meaning that if your highest subscores for each section are spread out across different test dates, colleges will only focus on those highest scores. it’s like making a standardized test version of frankenstein, but using only the best parts!
  • for example, maybe you score really well on math and science but not so great on reading and writing. if you cancel your scores, you’d risk those great math and science scores that could potentially be superscored with better future results in reading and writing.
• another reason not to cancel your scores is that you’d be giving up a clear-cut set of results that explains your strengths and weaknesses when your scores come out. even “bad” results are an invaluable tool for getting great scores next time.

a final word

whew! that’s everything you need to know about act test scores (and probably more)! if you’re curious about how to boost your score to hit your ideal range, check out how to improve your act score by 10 points.

as a reward for sticking this post out and filling your head with all kinds of useful act information, check out how your scores compare to those of famous people. now you’ll know!

the post act scores: everything you need to know appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

if you’re a florida high school student wondering how to pay for college, the bright futures scholarship opens up a ton of opportunities. but is 25 a good act score for this scholarship, or do you need to score higher? in this post, we’ll go over the bright futures scholarship requirements and how you can get your act score for college to pay off—big!

what is the bright futures scholarship?

first of all, let’s clarify: the bright futures scholarship is actually two different scholarships: the florida academic scholarship and the florida medallion scholarship. in both cases, students receive significant tuition coverage for the in-state public universities of their choice (florida state universities). both scholarships are based on academic achievement, as measured by gpa and act or sat scores (you’ll submit score reports to the scholarship competition separately from your act score for college, fyi). they also take into account service hours, as well as other eligibility requirements.

however, according to their requirements list (pdf), they don’t take letters of recommendation or extracurricular activities into account.

if you qualify for a scholarship, the payout is potentially huge. florida academic scholars get 100% of their tuition and fees covered, as well as $300 a semester for expenses. florida medallion scholars get 75% of tuition and fees covered in fall and spring only, with no expense stipend.

so what does it take to get one of these awards? take a look!

what is the minimum act requirement for a bright futures scholarship?

the act score you’ll need for college isn’t necessarily the same act score you’ll need for one of these competitive scholarships. for example, is 25 a good act score for a bright futures scholarship? it depends on which scholarship you’re hoping to get. 25 is the minimum score for a florida medallion scholarship. but keep in mind that this only covers 75% of tuition and fees.

if you’re hoping for the full ride, you’ll likely be looking at the florida academic scholarship. for the fas, you’ll need a minimum act score of 29.

tips for getting a 25+ act score to qualify for the bright futures scholarship

so what can you do to get in the qualifying range of act scores for college scholarships? here are magoosh’s top tips.

1. know your starting point

an act composite score (overall score) of 25 can sound challenging—after all, this score puts you in the 78th percentile, meaning that it’s a higher score than 78% of students get on the act exam. and the average act score is 21, in the overall score range from 1-36. but unless you know where you’re starting from, how can you know how close you are to achieving this goal?

the answer? take a diagnostic act test! not only will this help you understand the work you’ll need to do to qualify for one of these scholarships, but it will also help you understand both your strengths and your weaknesses as you create your study plan.

2. focus on your strengths

the scholarship committee considers test takers’ overall, composite act score—the average of all four act sections. so if you can boost your score in one section really high, it’ll make up for weaknesses in other areas.

does this mean that you shouldn’t study for all sections of the act? no! it’s crucial to have an understanding of each section before the exam. but should you ignore your best areas in favor of your weakest areas? also no!

if you are worried about lower act test scores in a particular section, though, a new tool may help you out. one change that will be coming soon to the act is sectional retesting: retaking just a single section. though this isn’t yet available, it will eventually be a great way to get the sectional scores you want (and an overall higher score on the test as a whole!) with less stress. a lot of schools will also consider these sectional retests when they come out, so it can also boost your act score for college!

finally, keep in mind that you don’t need to take the optional act essay for the bright futures scholarship. while they will look at your score on the mandatory, multiple-choice english test (writing section), you only need to take the essay if the schools you’re applying to require it.

3. learn new content

is 25 a good act score for college? for all but the most competitive schools, yes! getting a score of 25 on the act is a big achievement. but it’s also the minimum requirement for the bright futures scholarship.

one thing that students who score a 25 on the act have in common? they have a strong grasp of all the content areas the test examines. as you study, brush up on your knowledge of the content areas tested on each part of the test by checking out magoosh’s posts on the english, math, reading, and science tests.

4. mix it up!

at some point or another, most test takers will hit a plateau in their act prep. this doesn’t mean that it isn’t working or that you can’t score any higher than you currently are on practice tests! it just means you may need to try some new strategies.

if you’re struggling to raise your score, check out our top 10 ways to prepare for the act and the best ways to improve your act score by 10 points for new strategies you can use to get your scores where you want them to be!

takeaways: act score for college scholarships in florida

so is 25 a good act score for the bright futures scholarship? it’s the minimum for the florida medallion scholarship, while the florida academic scholarship requires at least a 29. but by starting early, ensuring you’ve covered the crucial content, focusing on your strengths and following the other tips above, you’ll give yourself the best shot at this great opportunity—and an even stronger act score for college apps. don’t forget to check out more act requirements for other scholarships while you’re at it. good luck!

the post scoring 25 on the act: how to qualify for the bright futures scholarship appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

as of april 2021, act has started automatically calculating test superscores for tests from september 2016 to now. (this is in addition to the composite score you’ll get for each act test you take individually.) you may have seen the headlines and thought: so what? how does this affect my life? but actually, the act superscore change—combined with act score choice—can help you put your best possible application forward to colleges.

however, don’t worry if you’re not sure what these are. first of all, you’re not alone! and second of all, you’ve come to the right place, because understanding these facets of the act is the first step to using them to your advantage on college apps.

so let’s take a look…

 

table of contents

• what is an act superscore?
  • act superscore example
  • why did the act start automatic superscoring?

  
  

  • which colleges accept act superscore?
  • does this mean i should take the act an infinite number of times?
  • can i retake act sections individually to maximize my superscore?
• what is act score choice?
  • does score choice mean i can choose which individual act section scores i want sent?
  • colleges that don’t allow score choice
  • fewer colleges allowing scoring choices means you should never take the act or sat unprepared
  • how to use act score choice thoughtfully
  • act score choice and free act score reports
  • which act scores should you send to colleges after an act retake?

what is an act superscore?

act superscores are when your act score report gets bitten by a radioactive spider and your numbers get a superhuman boost.

kidding. obviously. although that would be pretty cool, it’s not precisely the case.

an act superscore is the average of your highest section scores from individual act sections across different test dates. this average creates a new super composite score (or superscore) that will, in most cases, be higher than the composite score of any individual test you took.

check out magoosh’s act superscoring livestream for more details!
 

 


 

act superscore example

here’s an example:

let’s say you took the act three times with the following results:

february: english: 31; math: 28; reading: 34; science: 24; composite: 29

april: english: 32; math: 29; reading: 32; science: 28; composite: 30

september: english: 34; math: 27; reading: 35; science: 27; composite: 31

in order to figure out your act superscore, you take the highest individual section score and put them all together for a new composite. so here are the highest hypothetical act scores in our example:

february: english: 31; math: 28; reading: 34; science: 24; composite: 29

april: english: 32; math: 29; reading: 32; science: 28; composite: 30

september: english: 34; math: 27; reading: 35; science: 27; composite: 31

and our new superscore would be:

superscore: english: 34; math: 29; reading: 35; science: 28; composite: 32

 
ta-da!
 


 

why did the act start automatic superscoring?

the act’s goal is to provide a tool that colleges can use to help pick students who will succeed there. and act’s researchers (oh, there are many act researchers!) have found that, for students who take the test more than once, superscoring gives the best indication of how students will do in college classes. and these findings didn’t change when they adjusted for income, race and ethnicity, or gender—meaning that this is a truly equitable way both students and colleges can benefit. by doing this automatically, the act is making sure that it’s not just students who are “in the know” who benefit—it’s all test-takers!

with automatic superscoring, you have the option of sending your superscores to the colleges that accept them, meaning that they only see the sections you did the best on, regardless of how many times you retook the act. for colleges that don’t accept superscoring, make sure to check out our section below on score choice!

which colleges accept act superscore?

there are around 100 or so colleges and universities that superscore the act or that will consider individual section scores on the act. some prominent ones include amherst college, columbia university, cornell, colorado college, duke, georgia tech, new york university (nyu), johns hopkins, miami, mit, uc-boulder, maryland, denver, georgia, university of north carolina-chapel hill, pittsburgh, pomona college, stanford, trinity university, vermont, vassar, university of chicago, university of pennsylvania, university of virginia, washington university, and wheaton college, among others.

admissions offices change their policies on test scores all the time, and this has become even more of a trend as of late as more schools develop test flexible and test-optional policies, so always be sure to check the admissions websites of the schools you are applying to.

when in doubt, call the admissions office to ask about their current policies. this way you can make smart decisions about which act score reports you want to send to which school.

for example, in light of all of the test-optional policies that have taken place during covid-19, some schools that previously used superscores no longer require scores at all. cal tech, for example, put a two-year moratorium on all test scores. this makes it even more important to check with each individual admissions department!

finally, keep in mind that the announcement of the automatic act superscore is super new. as colleges and scholarship programs see students’ results automatically calculated for them now, they may revise their superscore policies to take this into account—likely to be more generous. again, it’s worth checking with different admissions departments!

amidst all of the confusion that comes along with application season, the last thing you want is to miss an opportunity to represent your best self. and for many colleges, looking at superscores is their way of allowing just that.
 


 

does this mean i should take the act an infinite number of times?

if a college superscores, there is certainly a huge advantage to taking the act or sat more than once. however, the same general rules apply whether or not there’s superscoring involved: you want to keep testing as long as you honestly think you can improve your end result. for most people, that cap is anywhere between the second and fourth test.

until the act allows for section-only retakes (still under development) remember that not all schools superscore. this means that, unless you are retaking only a single section, you want to strive for your best scores in each section every time—regardless of prior testing outcomes. it’s one thing to focus studying on the section you feel weakest in. it’s something entirely different to waste time “gaming” the system and only caring about one section per test.

application readers will still see the entirety of the testing history that you send in, even if they are directed to superscore; a little bit of positive consistency never hurt anyone.

 

can i retake act sections individually to maximize my superscore?

eventually, yes! act has announced that they’ll allow students to retake individual sections of the act. this means that instead of retaking the entire exam, you’ll be able to retake just the section(s) where you’re hoping to boost your score. however, the option isn’t available just yet.

why would you want to do this? in short, for the superscore of act sections! if you have one section with a significantly lower score than others, you won’t have to retake the entire test for another shot at raising it. instead, you can take that section alone, saving you time and money. you’ll also avoid the possibility of getting lower scores on other sections, which is important if you’re applying to some schools that superscore and some that don’t.

if you’re retaking an individual section of the act, follow the same steps you’d take for an overall act retake, but focus your efforts on that section. brush up on your weaknesses, capitalize on your strengths, and make sure you have a solid plan in place!

while you may wonder how to superscore act sections after taking an individual section over, it’s simple: take your highest score from each section, no matter what dates you took them on.

find out more about act section retakes here!
 
so that is your act superscore! now, let’s take a look at another act program: act score choice.
 


 

what is act score choice?

unlike the superscore, score choice is a more self-explanatory term. well, at first glance.

first, a little bit of context. the act has always offered what is commonly referred to as “score choice,” meaning you get to choose which test dates you want to be sent to schools.

in the past, this was something that differentiated the act from the sat. the creators of the sat, the college board, used to send all of your scores to colleges on one score report. you couldn’t choose which scores you wanted to be sent. this meant that if completely tanked the sat in january because you were battling the flu and then rebounded for a great score in may, both of those test dates were going to be sent to schools whether you liked it or not.

but with increasing competition from the act, the college board wizened up, and a few years ago, instituted score choice as well. now, you have the power on both the act and the sat to choose one, several, or all of your test dates to send.
 


 

does score choice mean i can choose which individual act section scores i want sent?

by sending your act superscore to colleges, they’ll already see the highest subscores/sectional scores you received across multiple act tests—which is great news. act sends them at least one full composite score, as well as the scores from the tests that are part of the superscore (the new composite score from your highest sectional scores). so this solves the problem of sending sectional scores, which act didn’t previously allow you to do; now, act is sending those superscores (highest sectional scores) automatically!
 


 

colleges that don’t allow score choice

score choice may seem just fine and dandy. power to the students, right?! however, there are multiple schools that have said, “thanks, but no thanks” to score choice from either the act or the sat. this list has grown in recent years.

these grinches of score choice include:

• georgetown
• rice
• yale

…and more, though this list has shrunk dramatically during the covid-19 pandemic as more schools have become test-optional at this time. remember, colleges can change requirements at any time and there are new rules every admissions season, so always check with your schools to find out their specific score requirements.

here are the questions i get asked most often on this point:

“okay, soooo….how would my schools know if i didn’t send in all my scores?”

the truth is, chances are, they wouldn’t. but this doesn’t mean you should be dishonest. you’ll be signing a statement on your application form that testifies to the fact that you are being truthful, and lying in anyway on your college applications is never a good idea.

“buuuuut, what if i did realllllly bad on one of my tests?”

if this is the case—maybe you were sick, maybe you got bad advice to take the test your sophomore year before you were prepared for it, maybe you were shaken up by a family tragedy—the best thing you can do is be honest and send in your scores, but also use the space for “additional information” on your application to explain the circumstances succinctly. don’t whine, but it is perfectly fine to give college admissions officers some context for considering the scores that you don’t think represent you well.
 


 

fewer colleges allowing scoring choices means you should never take the act or sat unprepared

it’s a really bad idea to just head out there on a whim, and “see how you do” on the act or sat. acting on such a fancy can come back to bite you when you go to apply to an uber-competitive school that does not honor score choice. it’s definitely true that most students see improvement on the test when they take it more than once, so don’t let this scare you into thinking it’s all or nothing or that you don’t have room to improve. colleges prefer to give you the benefit of the doubt: your higher scores means higher rankings for them! but there’s no need to set yourself up for failure. instead, set yourself up for some success by doing some solid test prep before you even think about taking the test.
 


 

how to use act score choice thoughtfully

when sending their score reports, most students tend to just check off the boxes for all of their schools without thinking about differentiating between their test score submissions for different schools. now, if you just took the test once, or have the same, or very similar, scores, it may not matter much. but…

 

act score choice and free act score reports

i highly suggest you wait to see your act scores before sending. yes, even if you are using fee waivers!

with act’s recent announcement about superscoring, they’ve also announced that students who receive fee waivers will get “four act test waivers to take the act for free and unlimited score reports to send to colleges and institutions.” in other words? if you have a fee waiver, you can send four score reports for free at any time after you take the sat, so you don’t need to elect to do it during test registration.

and that’s act score choice. however, most of us apply to more than one school. so what happens if you end up juggling act superscore schools with act score choice schools?

if you are applying to some schools that superscore the act and some schools that only take your highest composite score, you may want to pick and choose who gets what. in general this means sending all of the test dates that have your highest individual scores to colleges that superscore and only the test date with your highest overall composite score to schools that only look at one score.

and so, at the end of the day…
 


 

which act scores should you send to colleges after an act retake?

it really is a good idea to retake your act if you’re not satisfied with the score you got the first time, because there’s no real risk in doing so. colleges do want to see your highest act score, even if you’ve done multiple retakes.

if you score higher on a later try, great! if you score lower on a retry (sad, but it happens), you can still submit your earlier, higher score with superscoring and/or score choice.

tread carefully with a few highly selective schools, though, that do require all of your act scores. it doesn’t mean that a somewhat lower score from another test date will necessarily hurt you, but you don’t want to take the act unprepared and get a much lower score than what you are capable of.

the post the latest on act superscore and act score choice appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

miami university’s name is somewhat misleading—it’s actually in a city called oxford. nope, not the english one: oxford, ohio! once you can correctly locate miami u. on a map, though, it has a ton to offer. known as the “mother of fraternities,” the school is especially known for its greek life. beyond that, though, the school offers a great liberal arts education, with 120+ undergrad programs. wondering how to get into miami university? we’ll take a look in this post as we explore miami university act and sat scores and other key miami university admissions statistics.

here’s a quick glance at miami university admissions. we’ll get into each one of these facts in much more detail below!
 

table of contents

• miami university acceptance rate
• miami university act scores
• miami university sat scores
• miami university gpa average
• freshman profile
• other admissions requirements and info
• faqs
• how to get into miami university-oxford: takeaways

miami university acceptance rate

overall, miami university’s acceptance rate is 80%. however, this varies ever-so-slightly according to different demographics. for in-state students, the acceptance rate was 81% overall; for out-of-state students, it was 89%.

in the last admissions cycle, in-state men had an acceptance rate of 83%, while in-state women had an acceptance rate of 80%. however, out-of-state men have an acceptance rate of 89% and out-of-state women had an acceptance rate of 90%.

note that miami university admissions skew heavily to early action and early decision. their acceptance rates through these programs were 89% and 90.9%, respectively. however, excluding their “early” programs, the admissions committee only accepted 56% of students. a big difference!
 

 

 

miami university act scores

before we get into anything else, let’s emphasize this: miami university went test-optional for fall 2021 admission due to covid-19. however, this may change moving forward—we’ll keep you posted!

on average, composite miami university act scores were 28 in the last admissions cycle. however, this only tells you so much! here’s a breakdown of what the scores looked like in more detail.

so what do these average act scores tell you about miami university admissions? as you can see, the act scores overall (composite scores) were slightly higher than the math and english scores. this doesn’t mean that the admissions data are wrong—instead, it means that scores in the two unreported sections (reading and science) must have been higher to get the score averages this high.

in other words, you can anticipate the reading/science scores to start at around 27 for the 25th percentile of students.

if your scores aren’t in the miami university act range and it’s your dream school, what should you do? first of all, try to retake the act with a different prep strategy, if there’s time. a few points can make a big difference in the admissions process.

however, if it’s too late to retake the test, it’s important to keep in mind that the school will evaluate all parts of your application. some parts, like your high school gpa, will be mostly out of your hands by this point, so focus on the parts of it, like the essay, that you can still control!
 

 

 

miami university sat scores

just like its act scores, miami university sat scores are above the national average of 1000 (composite), clocking in at 1308. here’s how their average sat score breaks down, from 25th percentile to 75th percentile ranges.

remember, these percentiles only tell you how the middle 50% of admitted students scored. in other words, 25% of successful applicants students had an evidence-based reading and writing score of below 600. on the other hand, 25% had a score above 680.

similarly, 25% of students admitted to miami had math scores below 610—and 25% had math scores above 730 (wow!).
 

 

 

freshman profile

so just what does miami’s most recent freshman class look like? they come from all around the country—though more than half (60%) are from ohio, and more than a quarter (28%) are from butler, hamilton, or warren counties within ohio. keeping in mind that the school is a public institution, so, this isn’t uncommon; it likely receives a much higher number of applicants from local areas.

however, that doesn’t mean that you need to be an ohioan to get in! 2.3% of students are international, and 44% of those come from china.

if you had a parent or other relative attend the school, you’d be in good company at miami: 36% of admitted students this year were legacies.
 

 

 

other admissions requirements and info

in addition to taking the act or sat, you’ll need to complete a few more steps to apply to miami. here’s what they’re looking for!

• the common application, including the specialized miami university supplement (note that the honors college/university honors program has an additional required essay)
• a letter of recommendation from a counselor or teacher
• your high school transcripts (usually provided by a counselor through the common app)
• any additional requirements for various majors (think: an art portfolio)
• $50 application fee

faqs

how hard is it to get into miami university?

with an 80% acceptance rate, it’s not as difficult to get into miami university as some other schools. think of it this way: you have a 4 out of 5 chance of getting in.

if miami’s your dream school, though, consider applying either early decision or early action. acceptance rates for both of these programs were much higher than for the general admissions pool!

what are the top programs at miami university?

the most popular programs are business, management, marketing, and related support services; social sciences; and communication, journalism, and related programs. us news & world report placed its business program in the top 50 at national public universities; they ranked its undergraduate engineering program within the top 10, as well.

what else makes miami university unique?

academically, miami’s renowned for its undergraduate liberal arts program. in the previous year, entering freshman had more than 110 declared majors, and there are more than 120 offered at the school! us news & world report ranked the school’s commitment to undergraduate teaching overall within the top 10 national public universities.

in terms of the social scene, 25% of men and 40% of women in the student body participate in greek life, so this is something to keep in mind if you’re either super excited about fraternities and sororities or super anti-greek life!

does miami university use the common app?

yes, they do! here’s what you need to know about the common app, including the personal statement.

does miami university offer financial aid?

yes! 80% of freshman last year filled out a fafsa form, and 100% of freshmen with financial need received financial aid offers.
 

 

 

how to get into miami university-oxford: takeaways

if you’re looking for a public research university with a small-town campus vibe, thriving greek life, and top-notch undergraduate teaching, this miami of ohio might be right for you! to get in, make sure you present the best application you possibly can, including polished essays and a recommendation from a teacher or counselor who really knows and appreciates you.

in the meantime, work on boosting your test scores into the miami university sat or act range (we offer a guaranteed 4 point increase on the act and 100 points on the sat!).

the post how to get into miami university: sat and act scores, gpa and more appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

if you’re looking for a vibrant campus in a small town, the university of georgia (uga) just might be for you! founded in 1785, uga is the oldest public college in the u.s. with 700+ student organizations and ncaa division i sports teams, the school promises just about everything you could want. so what do you need to know about how to get into uga? in this post, we’ll take a look at uga admissions, including uga sat and act scores!

before anything else, here’s uga admissions data in a nutshell!
 

table of contents

• uga sat scores
• uga act scores
• uga acceptance rate
• uga gpa average
• uga freshman profile
• other admissions requirements and info
• faqs
• how to get into uga: a final look

uga sat scores

before anything else, know this: uga is going test-optional for fall 2021!! if you already have scores you love, that’s great—make sure you submit the official score report.

however, if you haven’t taken the test yet and are worried about doing so, know that you don’t have to this year.

future students, take note: uga admissions hasn’t decided yet whether to continue the policy into future years, so plan on taking either the act or the sat for now…we’ll keep you posted!

in the meantime, here’s the rundown of uga sat scores. like the school, we’re providing these from the 25th percentile to the 75th percentile.

pretty high! but remember that 25% of students scored below a composite of 1310, and 75% scored above a composite of 1460 (wow!).

if your scores are well within or above the average sat scores range for uga in both sections, that’s awesome! but if they’re not, you can retake the exam without any fear: uga uses sat superscores in admissions.
 

 

 

uga act scores

just in case you skipped right down to this section (who could blame you?!), we’ll say it again: uga is test-optional for fall 2021, and may or may not be in future years, so keep that in mind when seeing where your scores stack up.

without further ado, here they are: uga act scores!

*2019 data

those scores are pretty high—composite 30-34 is equivalent to the 93rd-99th percentiles on the act.

the fact that the composite score from the 2020 admissions cycle is so much higher than the sectional scores (which are from the 2019 admissions cycle—the school didn’t provide them for the most recent year) tells you that the sectional scores likely jumped up over the course of the last year, too.

however, if some of your sectional scores are already within that 30-34 uga act scores range, you’re in luck! you may want to take the act again, because the admissions offers will use your highest sectional scores, no matter which test day they come from. that’s right: they use the act superscore!
 

 

 

uga acceptance rate

the overall acceptance rate at uga is pretty competitive, at 46%. however, that’s for regular decision admissions. the number jumps up higher for early action applicants, who are accepted at a rate of 58.5%.

what does this tell you? well, if uga’s your dream school, let them know by submitting an early action application! it can only help your chances.

for transfer students, meanwhile, the acceptance rate jumped to 70%. so if you’d love to go to school in athens, georgia, but you didn’t get in the first time around, this might be a good option for you!

• pro-tip from slyndgaard (uga ’18), admitsee:

uga gpa average

by their own admission, grades and academics (coursework) are the most important factors the uga admissions counselors review. they’ve provided gpas for core subjects for two different groups of students: all admitted first-year students (freshmen) and all admitted honors students.

for incoming freshman generally, the middle 50% of gpas was 3.94-4.21. for honors students, that jumped up to 4.00-4.30.

whoa, whoa, whoa, you might be thinking. gpas above 4.0? what the—

these are weighted gpas, or gpas where some classes (think: ap, ib, honors) were graded out of the 5.0 scale (5 = a, 4 = b) instead of the traditional 4.0 scale (4 = a, 3 = b).

so students at uga definitely had high gpas—but you don’t necessarily need straight as to get in (though they couldn’t hurt!).

note that uga admissions actually unweights all gpas to the 4.0 scale during the admissions process, though the school reports the weighted gpas to look tougher. sneaky!
 

 

 

university of georgia freshman profile

although uga is a public university in the state of georgia, its students come from around the world and from all different american backgrounds. last year, admitted students came from 67 countries. meanwhile, 800 u.s. students came from households where english was not the primary language spoken.

however, if you’re an anxious local, you can set your worries aside: the georgians are definitely represented at uga! last year, students from 534 different high schools and 155 different counties within the state were admitted.

overall, students came from 43 different states. after georgia, the students with the highest uga representation were from north carolina, florida, and texas.
 

 

 

other admissions requirements and info

to get into uga, you’ll need to have taken the required high school curriculum. this includes:

• 4 units of mathematics
• 4 units of english
• 3 units of science
• 3 units of social science
• 2 units of the same foreign language

in addition to the school or counselor evaluation on the common app, you’ll also need to submit the optional letter from a teacher or counselor. the school should also send your official high school transcripts.

uga has a wide variety of application deadlines, depending on when you want to start your studies, whether you’re applying for a dual program, whether you’re applying early decision, and a variety of other factors, so check out their list of these deadlines to stay updated!
 

 

 

faqs

how hard is it to get into uga?

medium hard? it’s like asking “how long is a piece of string”—it depends on your application. the school accepts 46% of applicants overall, so you have about a 1 in 2 chance of getting in. this is tougher than a lot of public universities, but not as competitive as some selective private universities, like the ivy league.

for transfer students, it gets significantly easier: their acceptance rate was 70%, or 7 in 10.

applying through early action can also increase your likelihood of getting in, depending on where your application strengths lie.

• slyndgaard from admitsee can tell you all you need to know about early action at uga:

does uga have a waitlist?

yes! out of approximately 700 students who opted to stay on the waitlist in 2020, 300 were offered admission. keep in mind, however, that the numbers have not been as favorable for waitlisted students in prior years. make sure you (gently, once) express your continued interest in uga to the admissions office if it’s your dream school and you’re waiting to hear back.

what are the top programs at uga?

the most popular uga majors are (in order): finance, psychology, biology, marketing, and international relations.

however, as the #15 top public school in the us (according to the us news & world report), uga also has a lot of other great offerings. for example, the same publication rated them #1 in business insurance programs (who knew!), #102 in undergraduate engineering, and #104 in computer science.

what else makes uga unique?

the uga student experience is definitely a vibrant one: athens has been voted into the top college town in the united states.

at the school, you’ll find a pretty significant portion of the population involved in greek life (about 25%), but for those who aren’t interested in fraternities or sororities, there are 700+ clubs and organizations you can take part in, instead.

in addition, uga athletics are d1 in the ncaa, so they’re pretty competitive.

no doubt about it—you won’t be bored at uga!

does uga offer financial aid?

yes! they offer both need-based scholarships/grants and merit-based aid to help cover tuition and living expenses. the average need-based aid is $11,227, and the average merit-based aid is $3,756. overall, the school covers 74% of its students financial need.

what are some uga admission myths?

uga addreses some of these head-on, but here are a few key debunkings!

there’s no minimum sat, act, or gpa. they look at your whole application, so low numbers in any particular area won’t necessarily hurt your application. if you’ve taken challenging courses and gotten slightly less-than-perfect grades and a lower gpa, it’s better (in terms of both admissions decisions and life) than coasting by in easy courses with a perfect 4.0! rigorous courses are a good thing!

they don’t have quotas for any given location, whether that’s your state or your high school.

they also don’t need you to be a well-rounded student (necessarily). this is a huge myth around selective college applications in general. schools are actually looking to create well-rounded student bodies, not to admit only well-rounded students. so let your passions shine in your application!
 

 

 

how to get into uga: a final look

still wondering how to get into uga? make sure your personality comes through in your essays, description of extracurricular activities, and letters of recommendation. share why you’d be a good fit for the school. and, if you can, get your test scores into the uga average act score or sat score range (need help? magoosh offers a 4-point act score increase guarantee, and a 100-point sat score increase guarantee!). good luck!

the post how to get into uga: sat and act scores, gpa and more appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

looking for a top-notch education on an idyllic campus? william and mary, in williamsburg, virginia, might be for you. the second-oldest college in the united states (and the first law school), w&m has literally centuries of educating students under its belt. curious? in this post, we’ll look at what you need to know about how to get into william and mary! from william and mary sat scores and act scores to admissions more generally—everything you need is in this post.

table of contents

• william and mary at a glance
• william and mary sat scores
• william and mary act scores
• william and mary school acceptance rate
• william and mary school gpa average
• william and mary school freshmen profile
• william and mary school other admissions requirements and info
• william and mary faqs
• a final word

william and mary at a glance

ranked #4 for undergraduate teaching by us news & world report (as well as #18 for veterans and #39 among national universities), there are lots of advantages to attending w&m. so just what are they looking for in their students? here’s a quick snapshot!

william and mary sat scores

if your sat scores aren’t quite where you want them to be, there’s good news: william and mary has gone test-optional for three years, starting with the 2020-2021 admissions cycle (class of 2024).

however, it can still be useful to look at william and mary sat scores. why? they not only tell us what the school’s looking for in its students, but they can also tell us about the selectivity of the school more generally.

with that in mind, here they are!

the composite range of 1300-1490 puts william and mary in highly selective territory. a score of 1300 falls into the 90th percentile of sat test-takers, while a score of 1490 falls into the 99th percentile.

taking a look at the division of those scores: math scores are slightly higher than verbal (evidence-based reading and writing) scores, but not significantly. this tells us that the school’s looking for relatively well-balanced students.

80% of successful applicants in the class of 2023 took the sat. however, as the school is going test-optional—at least for the next few years—we’d expect those stats to drop soon!

a quick note that test-optional is different from test-blind. william and mary admissions will still consider your test scores if you include them in your application. and if you’re scoring in this range, we highly recommend that you do!
 

 

 

william and mary act scores

like william and mary sat scores, william and mary act scores are pretty high. but don’t let that intimidate you: remember, the school is test-optional through the 2023-2024 admissions cycle.

if your scores aren’t where you want them to be, you can let the other parts of your application speak for you instead! on the other hand, if your scores are in the w&m average act score range, they’ll only help your admission odds.

with that in mind, here are the william and mary act scores at a glance:

how do these compare to the school average for sat scores? they’re slightly higher, percentage-wise, translating to a 93rd-99th percentile act composite score.

in this case, the 25th percentile-75th percentile of english scores (31-35) are significantly higher than the math scores (27-33). however, don’t read too much into this: remember that the act has four sections, and the school didn’t release data for the science or reading sectional scores.

again, if you’re struggling to pull your scores up, keep in mind that there are no act requirements at w&m. you can also take the sat—or, in a pinch, not submit any test scores at all!
 

 

 

william and mary school acceptance rate

with an acceptance rate of 38%, william and mary is considered most selective by u.s. news. you can think about it this way: about one in three students who applies gets in.

if william and mary is your dream school, though, don’t let this deter you! you can definitely increase your chances of getting in by aiming for high test scores, working on your essays, and otherwise doing your absolute best on the parts of your application that you can still control.
 

 

 

william and mary school gpa average

the average high school gpa of students admitted to william and mary is 3.9. according to us news & world report, admissions committees at the school regard gpa as “very important.”

however, we realize that, if you’re applying to colleges this year, your gpa is now out of your hands. if that’s the case, don’t panic! there are still things you can do to boost your chances of admission.

chief among these? if your gpa is significantly lower than average, submitting high standardized test scores on the act or sat can help show the admissions office that you’re ready for college-level work. even if you’re only able to put in a month or two of prep, this can still have a significant effect on your score and may end up making the difference!
 

 

 

william and mary school freshmen profile

though its name doesn’t sound like it, the college of william & mary is actually a public institution. this means that in-state students have a leg up when it comes to getting in. the school maintains a 65/35 ratio between in-state and out-of-state undergraduate students. however, this may shift slightly from year to year to maintain the balance in the entire population (for example, last year it was 67/33).

after virginia, the states sending the most students to william and mary were maryland, new jersey, pennsylvania, massachusetts, new york, and california. internationally, the most w&m students come from china, canada, south korea, india and the united kingdom.

of the 1,525 students admitted in the class of 2024, the demographics broke down to: 7% black, 11% asian/pacific islander, 8% hispanic/latino, 4% international, and 60% white.

50 incoming freshmen were valedictorians of their high school classes, with 77% overall placing in the top 10% of their graduating classes.
 

 

 

william and mary school other admissions requirements and info

william and mary look at applications holistically, so if your “stats” aren’t where you’d like them to be, keep in mind that you still have a chance at getting in! two readers go over each application to select, in the words of the william and mary admissions office, “an exceptionally talented and diverse student body.”

if you’re only applying to william and mary, or if your other schools don’t need it, then relax: you can skip the writing portion of the sat or act. the school doesn’t use standardized test essays to evaluate your writing ability; they use your application essay to do this, instead.
 

 

 

william and mary faqs

why isn’t william and mary an ivy league school?

the fact that william and mary isn’t in the ivy league doesn’t say anything about it except that it isn’t part of a particular athletic conference. yup—that’s the only thing that unites harvard, brown, columbia, et al.

in terms of quality, prestige, and sheer age (it was founded in 1693—the second oldest college in the states!), william and mary is up there with the most elite schools. us news & world ranks it in the top 50 universities in the us. so if that’s what’s holding you back from applying—don’t let it!

what is william and mary known for academically?

william and mary is generally known for the high quality of its undergraduate teaching; it was ranked #4 in the united states for this!

more specifically, poets & quants ranks it as #15 in its list of the best undergraduate business schools, while the princeton review ranks it as #10 for the best science lab facilities.

among william and mary students, the most popular majors are social sciences, business and related subjects, biological and biomedical sciences, multi- and interdisciplinary studies, and psychology. it’s also got a great computer science program! as you can see, this backs up those rankings quite well!

what else makes william and mary unique?

in addition to its age, its high teaching quality, and its excellent facilities, william and mary has a close-knit student body. all freshmen and most upperclassmen live on campus. their small class sizes help build this community: the average student-teacher ratio is 11:1.

it’s also known for its athletics: william and mary is a division 1 school, so you can expect to see some good games!

finally, william and mary is known for its illustrious alumni. three presidents (thomas jefferson, james monroe, and john tyler) went here!

does william and mary give merit scholarships?

they do—and they’re pretty generous. on average, students received $4,385 in merit scholarships in 2021.

their programs include the william & mary scholars, which gives students the amount of in-state tuition and fees, monroe scholars, which gives students a $3000 research stipend, and 1693 scholars, which includes full tuition, fees, room, and board (equivalent to in-state levels).

which is harder, uva or william and mary?

it’s very, very…very close. uva ranks #26, with sat scores of 1340-1520 (25th-75th percentiles) and act scores of 30-34 (25th-75th percentiles).

on the other hand, william and mary ranks #39, with sat scores of 1300-1490 (25th-75th percentiles) and act scores of 30-34 (25th-75th percentiles).

based on those stats, it’s fair to say that uva is ever so slightly harder to get into than william and mary. admissions rates make it even clearer: uva’s is 26%, while w&m’s is 38%.

does william and mary have an engineering program?

not in and of itself. instead, the school has a combined degree program with columbia university. you can either spend three or four years at william and mary, then two years at columbia, to get a bachelor’s degree in your primary subject from w&m and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from columbia.

however, if you want to study entirely at william and mary, you can also do that through the physics department, selecting their engineering physics and applied design undergraduate track.

does william and mary have greek life?

they do! william & mary has 16 fraternities and 13 sororities. however, if you don’t want to participate and are worried about missing out, keep in mind that less than a third (31% of men and 29% of women) participate in them.
 

 

 

a final word

to get into william and mary, make sure you present the best all-around application that you can. even if your scores and gpa are in the william and mary sat average range (or the act average range), it’s not enough. let your personality shine through in your essay and show why you’d be a good fit.

getting your stats up to those ranges can also give your application a boost. study with magoosh for an up to 100-point score guarantee on the sat and an up to 4-point score guarantee on the act to help you get into the college of your dreams. good luck!

the post how to get into william and mary: sat and act scores, gpa, and more appeared first on magoosh blog | high school.

thinking about attending the university of california-riverside? if you’re looking for a strong public university with a scottish flavor (all residence halls are named after locations in scotland, and the school’s team is the highlanders), it may be the right place for you! if you’re feeling like breaking out your best brogue, read on for a closer look at how to get into uc riverside: everything from ucr admissions to their sat and act scores policy!

table of contents

• quick ucr admissions statistics
• more about uc riverside sat scores
• more about uc riverside act scores
• uc riverside acceptance rate
• uc riverside gpa average
• uc riverside freshman profile
• other ucr admissions requirements and information
• ucr admissions faqs
• a final word: how to get into uc riverside

quick ucr admissions statistics

first things first! if you’re wondering how to get into uc riverside, here is the admissions data you’ll need!
 

 
of course, that isn’t the whole picture. for example, average sat and average act scores will be a lot less useful in the coming years than your average gpa! read on to find out why and for more about ucr admissions.

before we dive into uc riverside test scores, an important note: uc admissions has announced that, beginning with students applying for fall 2021 admission, they will be adopting a test-blind policy. check out our post on the a test-optional policy to learn more about this decision and the difference between test-optional, test-blind, and everything in between.

more about uc riverside sat scores

if you’ve already taken the sat and are wondering if your scores are up to scratch, or if you’re considering applying to ucr in a few years and want to make sure you have all of your bases covered, it can be useful to look at records of uc riverside sat and act scores.

if you’re wondering how these scores came into play historically, though— as you might expect, ucr students tend to receive fairly high scores. this table shows the 25th percentile-75th percentile in each section for the admitted class of 2019.
 

 
the composite score of 1130-1400 is useful to consider, even if you’re applying for admission for fall of 2021. why? for one, it gives you some measure of where uc riverside students are academically. these scores place the middle 50% of admitted students between the 64th and 94th percentile of all sat takers.
 

 

 

more about uc riverside act scores

again, just a reminder that uc riverside will not take act scores into consideration starting with students applying for the class of fall 2021. there are no act requirements whatsoever.

if you’re trying to figure out your chances of admission, the average act score won’t help you. however, there are still reasons to keep this information in mind! here’s a brief snapshot of the most recent data available for uc riverside act scores:
 

 
does that mean you shouldn’t take the act or sat if you’re applying to uc riverside? no! this can be really helpful for getting scholarship money (though not the uc regents and chancellor’s scholarships, which are now also test-blind) and class placement. it just means that your high school gpa is more important than before.

also, remember that even though uc riverside may not be considering your test scores, this might not be true for other colleges you’re applying to.
 

 

 

uc riverside acceptance rate

uc riverside’s admission rate was 56.3% in 2019. out of 49,509 applicants, the school accepted 27,886.
 

 

 

uc riverside gpa average

admitted students to ucr had weighted gpas of 3.69-4.11 (middle 50%). the fact that this is the middle 50% of gpas is key, as it means that the upper 25% of students admitted had average gpas above 4.00 on a weighted scale.

how do schools calculate gpas? use this process for an unweighted (out of 4.00) gpa:

1. look at your high school transcript.
2. give yourself points for each grade:
3. assign 4 points for each a.
4. assign 3 points for each b.
5. assign 2 points for each c.
6. assign 1 point for each d.
7. divide the total by the number of graded courses.

but it’s the weighted gpas at uc riverside that ranged from 3.69-4.11. this happens when schools give additional points for honors or ap courses by assigning 5 points for each a, 4 for each b, and so on.

as uc riverside admissions moves away from using standardized test scores, grades will likely become even more important in the admissions process.
 

 

 

uc riverside freshman profile

uc riverside has a diverse student body in a number of ways. first of all, ethnicity. by their own categorizations, undergraduate ucr students have the following ethnicities: 41.5% hispanic or latino; 33.8% asian; 11.0% white; 5.6% two or more races; 3.4% international; 3.3% black or african american; 1.1% unknown, less than 0.2% native hawaiian, pacific islander, native american, or alaskan.

54.6% of undergraduates at riverside identify as female, while 45.4% identify as male.

90% of uc riverside students come from california, while 3.4% come from abroad. the remaining 6.6% come from other states.

 

 

other ucr admissions requirements and information

to be considered for uc riverside admission, you’ll need to meet the requirements for the uc system overall. one key requirement is the subject requirement (a-g). this means taking 15 year-long courses in high school, getting a minimum grade of a c. 11 must be completed before your final year.

you can also meet some of these ucr requirements through testing, by the way—so don’t write off those standardized exams just yet!

important! the letter grade requirement for a-g courses completed in winter, spring, or summer 2020 is temporarily dropped. pass/credit grades meet the requirement, but will not be part of the gpa calculation (so gpa requirements for a-g classes still apply).

these subject requirements include:
a) history: 2 years, including specific requirements;
b) english: 4 years, including specific requirements;
c) mathematics: 3 years, including specific requirements;
d) science: 2 years, including specific requirements;
e) language other than english: 2 years, including specific requirements;
f) visual and performing arts: 1 year, including specific requirements;
g) college-preparatory elective: 1 year, including specific requirements.

in addition to taking these courses, there is also a uc riverside gpa requirement: to be considered for admission, you need a 3.0 gpa in a-g courses taken in the 10th and 11th grade years if you are a california resident. non-residents, you’ll need a 3.4 gpa in those subjects.
 

 

 

ucr admissions faqs

is it hard to get into uc riverside?

uc riverside has an overall undergraduate admissions rate of 56.3%, which the u.s. news and world report classifies as “more selective.”

in terms of the larger uc system, however, riverside is easier to get into than some of the other schools. it has a far higher acceptance rate than either ucla or uc berkeley, both of which accept fewer than 20% of applicants. similarly, its acceptance rate is higher than that of uc santa barbara or uc irvine, which each admit around 30% of applicants. it is slightly easier to get into than uc santa cruz, as well.

does uc riverside use the common app?

nope! none of the uc schools use the common application, actually. they use their very own university of california application, instead, as all the uc campuses do.

what do you need to get into uc riverside?

you’ll need to tick a few boxes to get into uc riverside! here are the most important.

1. meet the uc system’s overall coursework (a-g) requirements, described above.
2. take the toefl (minimum 80) or ielts (minimum 6.5) if you are from an international student from a non-native-english-speaking country.
3. complete the application. this involves answering 4 of the 8 “personal insight” (essay) questions uc riverside asks.
4. unlike a lot of other college applications, uc riverside doesn’t require letters of recommendation when you apply. they may ask for one or more recommendations later as part of a “supplemental review” process, but they aren’t a standard requirement.

does uc riverside offer financial aid?

yes! 72% of uc riverside students received need-based aid last year. first year students had an average need-based self-help aid award of 59%, while the average freshman received an additional $4,949 in merit scholarships or grants.
 

 

 

a final word: how to get into uc riverside

if uc riverside is your dream school, what should you do to present the best application possible?

uc riverside admissions officers review the following characteristics when going over your application.

• difficulty of courses taken in high school and grades received in those courses
• your personal qualities, such as leadership, motivation, and passion for helping the community
• your extracurricular activities
• performance in outside of school academic enrichment programs

with all of that said, though, ucr admissions does use a holistic review process: they look at how the aspects of your application combine to show off who you are, not just what your grades have to say about you.

if you’re a junior or senior, focus on what you can control now: your current grades and activities, and emphasizing your personal qualities and performance in various activities on your application. successful applicants will show off who they are and why they’re a good fit for uc riverside! good luck!

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