While most college scholarships are not completely based on your ACT or SAT test score, a good result certainly helps. Many organizations offering scholarships consider test scores a good indicator of how well you will do in college so, along with other considerations such as your grade point average, they are willing to help you financially. High scorers should research specific scholarships which lend the most credence to these tests in order to have the best shot at snagging large awards.
Obviously, you need a good score on the ACT or SAT to help you obtain a merit based scholarship. The ideal situation is to obtain a perfect 36 composite on the ACT or a 2400 on the SAT which is a 800 each on critical reading, writing and math sections. Most students benefit from taking practice tests and studying using specific test taking strategy workbooks. Some of the best known study guides include those from Kaplan, Princeton and Barron’s publishers. It is important to remember you can take the ACT and SAT multiple times though it can be costly to do so as they range from around $35 to $45 in price and additional funds to send score reports to various colleges of your choice.
Along with the scholarships offered through specific universities there are many other opportunities for merit based awards that rely heavily on ACT and SAT scores. The most competitive and, generally, the most lucrative of these are national scholarships which are open to students around the country. Students often find much more success in winning awards from their local area in which organizations offer financial awards to students headed for college. Among these are clubs, corporations and charities. Go College recommends searching for scholarships that best fit what you have to offer. Your ACT or SAT score is one factor that you base your searches on but, you also need to factor in your other strong points and look at specific niches you fit into. For example, there are merit scholarships that exist which are only available to women, or a particular ethnicity.
There are multiple ways to find out about the various scholarships available to students including those which consider test scores to be a key factor. The first step for a high school student is often a visit to the guidance office which should have a plethora of information regarding scholarship resources. The other main way students locate scholarships is through web searches which can lead you to scholarship directories. Among the most well known and thorough of these is Fastweb (see Resources below).
The official ACT website advises students to be wary of scams which often proclaim to offer lucrative scholarships but, in reality, are designed to take your money. According to the ACT, you should avoid any entity that promises a “guaranteed” scholarship, asks you for information regarding your bank account or credit card and those for which you cannot find additional information about from other sources. Remember, many of these thieves put up reputable appearing websites and have skilled communications personnel which can con you of your own money rather than helping you pay for your education.
