BS suggestions in NE

Periwinkle
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:08:12 +0000

We are fine with a kid who’s a great athelete with a 3.5 GPA, knowing that they’d be competitive, why can’t we accept that an 8th grader with 2240 SAT (let’s face it - as strong a group as the top school candidates are, how many 8th graders have such scores?) with weaker extracurricular activities are equally competitive?



I’ll assume that 2240 SSAT would be in the upper 90s in percentiles. Many, many children take the SSAT each year. The top 10 percent is not a small pool. When the top schools say that the SSAT doesn’t influence decisions, if all sections are over 80%, and that lower SSAT scores don’t necessarily rule candidates out, well… I believe them.

Many students (and their parents) posting here seem to score very highly indeed. That’s very nice, but the schools are very clear that academics are only one factor in the admissions process. Again, I believe them.

I don’t think that the OP should believe that all hope is lost. Rather, her daughter should be able to speak about something she does besides studying. The schools want smart kids. They also want kids who will involve themselves in the life on campus (as the applications make very clear). They won’t turn down a happy, dynamic child who scores in the 85th percentile on the SSAT for a child who scored in the 95th percentile, but never comes out of her room, all things being equal. They don’t have to.