daughter has high hopes - chance her?
mom22girls
328 replies49 threads Member
GPA - Unweighted: 4.00
GPA - Weighted: 4.50
Class Rank: 1 out of 350
Scores:
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 800
SAT II Physics: 800
AP Scores: physics 5; Euro 3
took psat as sophomore: 221
Colleges of Interest: MIT; CalTech; Stanford, Brown, U Chicago, Cornell
She's planning on 5 ap courses in junior year. Mostly interested in math/science.
18 repliesGPA - Weighted: 4.50
Class Rank: 1 out of 350
Scores:
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 800
SAT II Physics: 800
AP Scores: physics 5; Euro 3
took psat as sophomore: 221
Colleges of Interest: MIT; CalTech; Stanford, Brown, U Chicago, Cornell
She's planning on 5 ap courses in junior year. Mostly interested in math/science.
Post edited by mom22girls on
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Replies to: daughter has high hopes - chance her?
She has great numbers -- couldn't be much greater -- through 10th grade. Unfortunately, great numbers alone won't guarantee her admission at any of the colleges you list. On the other hand, if she keeps it up at this pace, and continues to challenge herself, and shows some leadership and engagement with the world beyond school, and manages to communicate passion and individuality in her essays . . . then she could perfectly well be accepted at all of them, or anywhere else she applied.
Don't count your chickens. Your daughter is putting a fair degree of stress on herself, and it wouldn't be surprising if some cracks showed in the next year and a half. A few cracks may not make a difference in her college applications, or they may. Plus, this is a period in a kid's life when she is growing and changing a lot. What you think she wants now, and what she thinks she wants 16-18 months from now when she submits applications, could be very different things.
So . . . stay cool, stay loose. You have a smart, probably diligent daughter. That's wonderful. She should focus on her current education, and on finding things to do that inspire and challenge her. She should take this year's tests and do as well on them as past history suggests. And then next spring you can take a look at where she is, what it means, and what she wants to do about it.
One final thing: It doesn't take any thought or creativity at all to decide that MIT, Stanford, et al. would be great colleges for a high-achieving math/science student. What takes thought and creativity is figuring out where ELSE she could be happy and stimulated. No matter how great she is, she will want to have a safety or two, because it really IS a crapshoot at the ultra elite level. And, no, Cornell and Chicago don't count as safeties. If you and she want to obsess about something this year, try that: Where would she like to be if all those options were closed off?
Your D's scores and grades will get her in the eligible pile, but those schools have about 10 kids in that pile for every one they have room for.
Good luck to her, she's off to a great start.
Her EC's in school are French Club; Math, French, Science Honor Soc., flute choir, Students for Environmental Quality, she'll be editor of the school newspaper next year. Outside of school she volunteers at church (choir and altar server) and is on a multi-school math team competing at the Harvard/MIT Math Tournament and Mandlebrot. This will be her second summer attending mathcamp. She also tutors as a paying job. Is there anything missing? She doesn't volunteer outside of church/school... would that be an issue?
I've been a member for a while, but not that diligent about scouring the site. Seems very overwhelming sometimes.
Become editor is an example of leadrship, so brava to her. As next year goes along, if she has a chance to be in charge, at some level, of the choir, or be elected president or officer (vp, treasurer) of any of her clubs, give her a thumbs-up (but not a hard shove) to try a leadership role.
To volunteer at school and church is plenty good. Sometimes beyond that gets in the way of their evening schedules and academics.
If anything begins to go sour on any of the activities in school or church, then you can realize there are other community-based offerings. Our D had no in-school opportunity to get choir on her schedule, for example, and our synagogue had no choral group. But she loved music! So once a year she'd join in an adult choir at a church, rehearse 8 weeks and then perform with them, because they sang some beautiful masterworks. That's just an example of how, if she has a real interest or passion, she can pursue it outside of school and church offerings, but only if those disappoint her or can't be scheduled.
I agree that leadership and/or evidence of being a self-starter is lacking at this point. (Perfectly normal at this stage!) I agree that a summer science research experience would be beneficial. There are a number of programs for rising seniors - applications as I recall will be needed in Jan. or Feb.
Remember that there are ways of showing leadership besides being the president of a club. You can spearhead a project for example.
About your high school, have kids with your D's stats been routinely denied by such schools as you llist? Ask your GC what the experience has been with kids of your D's calibre. If they are not experience with elite school admissions, you and D are going to have to take more charge of her app process.
Also, have you looked at the financial situation? Are you able to pay for the education? Do you have need according to those schools? Make sure the schools and you are on the same page. Many, many parents I know with bright, talented kids with what they felt were meager or average financial were sure that their kids would get what they need from the schools in terms of scholarships. Some were very sadly mistaken. Your definition of need and the schools' and governments' may differ greatly. Get that situation under control before whetting your D's appetite for the most expensive schools.
Agree that this could be very useful, especially if she ends up writing a paper for the program that she could use to attach to the application. D attended the YSP program run at UC Davis, which was a 6-8 week program of scientific research with one professor.
I would download the MIT application or get a hard copy of one. It is a good way to compile info that you'll be needing for most of the college applications that you do. Also, reading the essay prompts and looking to see what info the colleges request gives you an idea what "holes" you may want to try to fill.
Don't make getting into a specific college as the end all proposition. Remind your D that if she is motivated and works as hard as she has so far, she will do well no matter where she ends up going.
These tend to be the students who are most on track for top colleges, which look for students with leadership (meaning real leadership with results such as projects a student has initiated and coordinated, not just titles that are resume dressing only), not students who have laundry lists of ECs that they don't have much time for.
Chance threads are a waste of time. No one except admissions officers could do that with any accuracy.
I agree with those who suggest making sure that your D is interested in a broad range of schools including safeties that you know she'd love and where she'd be fulfilled, and that you can afford. No matter how stellar a student is (and your D's stats are stellar), all of the schools on your D's list are reaches, so the odds are against her.