Where did your SAT 1950-2100 child get in?

[pamom59]

SAT 1960 CR 640/M 670/Wr 650
private school Philly suburbs

Penn State University Park (accepted)
Pitt (accepted & attending)
UNH (accepted, Dean's Scholarship)

We viewed PSU and Pitt as "match/target" and UNH "safety."

[DougBetsy]

My son (HS class of '10) got 1340 & 1950 on his SAT. 29 ACT. He was accepted everywhere he applied. No hooks. Just well rounded, excellent essay writer, and dare I say it, he's a boy. I truly believe being a boy tipped at least one decision in his favor.

Accepted:
Wake Forest
U of Richmond
Lafayette
Dickinson (merit $)
Gettysburg (merit)
U of Md (merit)
Elon (merit)
Roanoke College (merit)
Salisbury U (merit)

And, re the ACT...My D is also HS '12. Her first ACT was 29, which was a little lower than we expected. Her second ACT was a 34, a smidge higher than her practices. I really think it's worth trying, if you can convince your son. (Now if her SAT shows the same improvement we'll be turning cartwheels. )

Good luck!

[kellybkk]

CalifLaxMom --

Clearly, with that low SAT and Ivy acceptance (UPenn), you son must be a stellar lax player and athletic recruit. Very big hook, and one treasured by these schools. LAX is the most important male sport after football these days, and school want great LAX teams. Congrats, you unlocked the dirty secret of the Ivies: the Ivies actually want athletes who can scrape by on the standardized tests and have decent grades. It's called the "Athletic Index," and every Ivy has it and uses it.

[seiclan]

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful to us!

[QuietType]

D1 - High School Class of '08
SAT - 1430/2150
GPA - 4.0 UW/4.48 WGPA
Class Rank - Top 5%

Accepted:
Pitt - Honors (Attending)
PSU - Schreyer
CMU ($ Merit)
Vanderbilt
Michigan
VT - Honors ($ Merit)
Rochester ($ Merit)
CWRU
Allegheny ($ Merit)
Wash & Jeff - BA/MD Program ($ Merit)
Duquesne - Honors ($ Merit)

Waitlisted:
Denison (long story!)

Rejected:
Harvard

D2 - High School Class of '10
SAT - 1310/2020
GPA - 3.97 UW/4.40 WGPA
Class Rank - Top 10%

Accepted into school and Architecture program:
PSU - Schreyer (attending)
VT
Cincinnati
Kent State

[sunshinecity]

DD (Asian girl)-just graduated from High School class of 2011
State: Florida
SAT: 1380 (CR/M)/1600, 2030/2400
ACT: 30/36
GPA: 3.86 UW, 4.85 W
12 APs, 8 College Dual Enrollment Courses
Rank: 15/533
Excellent ECs (several club presidents/VP), teacher Recommendation letters, essays and interviews.

Accepted: Wellesley College (will be attending), Emory University, University of Southern California, UF
Wait-listed: UChicago, Haverford College
Rejected: UPenn, WashingtonU in Saint Louis, Northwestern, Rice, Swarthmore College

I think that all the top schools want to admit well-rounded students. Test scores are just one aspect for the admission decision.

Your son has great stats in GPA and APs. How about his ranking? With his current SAT score, he should have good chance to be accepted by some top 20 schools like Emory or Vanderbilt or Rice but will be extremely hard to get into top 10 schools. He will be definitely accepted by UCF and UMiami. Wish your son good luck in his college applications.

[2boysima]

I think the GC is trying to be realistic with you and your son. May not need 1500...but....with CR and Writing both in the 600's....if you're from a high performing HS, and your kid is great at science with good, but not spectacular EC's....the elite schools on your list are likely a stretch.

If he will truly be happy at Miami, he should be OK going after the other schools. If he will be extremely disappointed "settling" for Miami, you might want to try to get him to reconsider his decision on the ACT, and consider some of the other schools suggested on this thread.

[seiclan]

sunshinecity - DS is currently ranked 16/748 and his other stats do seem close to your daughter's. His EC's are ok but nothing stellar and no leadership (not him). I see that your D was rejected from three schools on my son's list and accepted to two of them. We are going to explore Emory more this summer. It seems here, that most with stats near my son didn't get into Vanderbilt (although quiettype's D1 did) and Rice also seems to be a very high reach. I think that I concur with Mathmom's assessment, that since DS's list has two good safeties, it would be ok to let him apply to all those reachy schools. Who knows what will happen come April?

[MomofWildChild]

A lot of kids in that range from around here are thrilled with Alabama Honors. It is a fun school with a great athletic scene. Worth a look.

Kellybkk wrote:

Congrats, you unlocked the dirty secret of the Ivies: the Ivies actually want athletes who can scrape by on the standardized tests and have decent grades. It's called the "Athletic Index," and every Ivy has it and uses it.

Not exactly a dirty secret. I wouldn't call CalifLaxMom's son's scores "scraping by". And did she say her son was a recruit? Amazing how well kids (including the lowly athletes) do at the schools they attend, even with their bottom of the barrel test scores!

[pamom59]

It would be useful for people to mention if their student had a special "hook" such as being a URM or sports recruit. If I'm not mistaken, either one or both is the case with CalifLaxMom's son at Penn?

[aagdad]

S - HS class of 2010 (public)
Middle-class Caucasion - no hooks
SAT - 2170
Class Rank - 7/392
Varsity soccer (not recruited - only plays club in college) and other good EC's w/leadership and work experience

Accepted:
Davidson (attending)
Tufts
Vassar
Oberlin
Northeastern (honors)
Lewis & Clark

Waitisted:
WashU
Lehigh

Rejected:
Harvard
Princeton
UChicago

[ThatMom]

A friend of mine's D - 1400 superscored; about 6 out of a class of 120; 6 APs; 2 dual enrollment classes; good, but not great, soccer player; team captain; Beta Club; Science club; several local art awards

Female caucasian from Georgia

Accepted to Emory, GaTech, Wake Forest, Furman, UGA, Mercer. Waitlisted at Vanderbilt.

My daughter graduated from Emory in 2010, I think your son would have a good chance at Emory and Tech. Emory likes demonstrated interest - visiting is important and applying through the Emory Scholar program is good. Although they won't admit it, I think being male and full pay will help. Tech will weigh the math score heavily.

Vanderbilt's 25th percentile for ACCEPTED students was 1440, I don't know what it is for students that will actually attend.

[1012mom]

@sieclan

2010 grad with SAT just a little higher than your range. Top 30% at top prep. Results at the non-LACs - Accepted: Tufts, UMiami, Tulane - WL: WashU - Rejected: Rice, Yale, Columbia

also 2009 grad with scores below your range - top 10% at well-regarded public got into CMU. From what you have written about your S CMU sounds like it might be a great fit - and is probably match or low reach.

[lenny2]

With a 1430/2140, and about a 3.5 uw but 10 aps and more honors, D got into Vanderbilt, USC, Boston College (early), Tulane, NYU, Villanova (honors, early), Fordham (early), SMU (honors, early), UF (honors), and a few others. She had some interesting extras and a bit of leadership. She did not get into UPenn, UVa, or Tufts.

[boysx3]

I think your son would have a strong shot at Brandeis, and it seems to have the vibe your son is seeking.