Should I apply early action or wait until after I retake the SAT

Question

I'm going to be a senior in high school this upcoming September. I almost have a 3.4 GPA and I got a 1460 on my SAT. I put in about 40 hours of studying but the SAT was really hard and I know my score is not very good at all. I would like to attend John's Hopkins and I know there are a million other kids with much better scores and grades but I was wondering if I could write a really convincing essay and get really good recommendations (For example the President of the NIH)<<(family friend) do I have a chance of getting accepted to Hopkins or any other prestigious school? Also, I've been part of Model U.N. and the C.P.P (College Partnership Program) since 9th grade, I've been taking journalism all throughout high school and I've been elected as graphics editor for this upcoming school year? So, basically I'm asking if I have a chance getting accepted to a prestigious school with my low Sat scores? Should I retake them and wait until after early action and have a lower chance of getting in? Should I not retake them and just send the scores I have and apply early action? I'm not sure what I should do? If I don't have a chance of getting accepted to any prestigious schools such as Hopkins what about St. John's University, Pace University, George Mason, VCU...etc?

Answer 1

worth a shot, but you&#039;d need a much better GPA than that. more like around 3.8 and be in the top 10 percent..and for John Hopkins, i think they accept kids with 2000 at least..so if i were u, i&#039;d work my butt off this year and study super hard for the SAT (ie. get tutoring)

Answer 2

Now of days schools don&#039;t really look into your SAT scores as much. They also look into your grades, attendance, actives..etc. Some schools don&#039;t even require SAT scores but I am not sure about Hopkins. If you think you have good enough grades and lots of extra actives then go for it the worst that can happen is you apply again later.

I would take the SAT again sometime before high school is over though just because it is always harder the first time around and the second you know what to expect and will do much better.