Can someone tell me if colleges look closely at SAT and ACTs?? and how hard should i try to get good scores on

They sure do. I took the ACT and could have gotten full tuition if my score was a 25, but sadly I got a 23. I wish I would have done better.

Colleges weigh heavily on these scores. It is a major part of their determination but so is your classes, gpa, and extracurriculers, they wont overlook the scores but they want a balanced application. Look at a princeton's review, fisks guide or another college reference book or online at college board dot com for specific gpa requirements

Universities usually look a lot more closer at grades and college test scores (Along with volunteer work and all that jazz.) than community colleges. If you have over a 3.5 G.P.A and have "less than average" scores, you should be fine. Otherwise, I'd look into having a plan B community college, just in case. Good luck though. :)

It really depends on what your scores where. If they where ok, between 20-25 on the ACTs and you have over a 3.5 GPA you should be ok. Lower than a 20 you might want to think about retaking them. Plus a lot of scholarships are determined upon your ACT scores.

I used to work in admissions for another college. MSU is very competitive so I don't think they will overlook your scores. Even at the less competitive school I worked for the SAT scores were considered and never overlooked (the verbal was weighted more than math). I would suggest taking a course, like Kaplan or Princeton review. You can call them and ask them what their average SAT or ACT score is.

From experience, there seems to be several things that will give you the edge when getting into college: (1) High SAT scores. Not necessarily in all areas, but one area in particular may set you apart. Also, don't be afraid to take the SAT more than once. I took it several times and my score went up significantly. (2) When in high school, take AP courses or courses at a local community college. It shows admissions that you're thinking seriously about your future. Even if you don't do well in them, at least it shows you're trying. (3) Find a way to portray yourself as being unique. What is it about you that makes you special? What can you do better than anyone else? Make a point of mentioning that on your college application. (4) Something supplemental. Whether it be an essay or a portfolio of your work. Contributing something besides just the standard application will make it appear as if you've accomplished more than anyone else.

hi badgirl! Yes they do! But it's a lot more complicated than that! The competition to get accepted to schools are harder than it ever used to be! Competition is tough! In some instances, it actually comes right down to days missed of school, extra cirricular activities, community services, volunteer work... In the not so distant past, it was what the colleges and universities could offer US, now it's more about what WE can offer them. There are also many other factors that make it harder to get accepted into schools. There was a recent program on television I saw about two months ago that talked about the fact that so many colleges only have so many spaces available and that there is a certain percentage of those slots given to minorities and that some people were angry and frustrated because they lost a spot to a top school they wanted because they were, in fact, caucasian. They had the SAT, GPA, ACT and everything else but lost the slot, because that quota had been filled and a spot given to someone that did not do as well academically because they were a minority. Now this is fact... and you can actually contact MSU admissions and ask them for information on their percentage of students for which slots. They should share that information, or direct you to where it is. Interesting to read! Apparently, schools have several "rounds" of selection for students. The first round, based on academic achievement. The second round, if they do not fill their quota of minories, chooses those with lower ACT, GPA and SAT scores to make up the Diversity of the student population. I do believe in Ehtnic Diversity. The program I saw really made me fume, because the people being interviewed just "assumed" they should get into the college/university of their choice based soley on Academic Achievement. Never assume anything. Okay, I googled it.. not the same as what I saw, but it explains Etchic Diversity on college campuses and how the GPA and SAT and ACT only plays into a portion of the admissions policy. Now this is an essay a college student wrote... but it talks about the same thing that I saw on the television. Here is a quote from that paper and the link to it is the first one below. "UCLA accepts 40 to 60 percent of their students strictly on academic premise, but they do not achieve desirable diversity with theses students. The second group of students accepted contains those whose combine academic and supplemental rating give them an overall high score. In this group students with a low academic and high supplemental rating could still be accepted. Of the 6,801 students accepted on their academic criteria alone, only 77 or about 1 percent were African American. Of Asian American and Caucasian students 81 percent had an academic rankings of one or two. For the African American and Mexican applicants less than 13 percent of those admitted had an academic rankings of 1 or 2. UCLA is significantly lowering the standards by which they are accepting minorities in order to achieve diversity." Good luck at MSU! = )