Yes I did. And I commend her for her efforts and wish her well. And as a prior poster noted, there are thousands of colleges in the country and she will surely be admitted to one that is a good fit for her. Just noting that determining that fit might take more work, and colleges do worry about whether students can succeed if enrolled. Overcoming challenges can be a powerful story, but they do need to be overcome usually.
Me again…appreciate the responses and perspectives. Our school does not rank and I don’t believe there is significant grade inflation. Based on the honor roll/high honor roll list that gets published in the local paper guessing she is likely in the top quartile of her class. She is not a good standardized test taker. She has anxiety as well as processing issues in addition to a physical disability. She circles answers in the booklet and someone fills out the score sheet. The SAT require it all to be done in one sitting - a recipe for disaster so we have focused on ACT which is spread out over several days in small chunks.
I suppose part of the reason I am stressed is hearing things like she is in the lower quartile of the schools on her list. Of course we recognize with an ACT score of 24 she may well be for schools like Haverford and Vassar but is that true for test optional schools? At this point she would be as happy to be accepted to Denison as Vassar.
Agree with everyone that reaching out about accommodations once there is critical.
@dancer42- Denison was a school my D was very interested in - and we spent a fair amount of time having conversations with them - they were INCREDIBLY helpful, transparent, and generous with information. As you move forward, I would recommend visiting and meeting with admissions and perhaps even faculty in the dept of her intended majors. They were GREAT
For the schools you mentioned in the first post, Yes, I’m afraid she is. That may not be determinative but is a factor to be considered in fit.some test optional schools have scores submitted only by top scoring candidates but others ask all enrollees to submit their scores after acceptance, Depends on the college. In any event the score range is an indicator of the academic strength of the student body. Personally, I wouldn’t send my child to a school where I knew she would be in the bottom quarter even if she could be admitted, but others differ in their view on the issue. Good luck.
Roycroft mom. I do understand your perspective - don’t get in over your head just because you can. I do think though that her ACT math score is not a true representation of who she is as a student and what she’s capable of. With luck in June she can raise it closer to her English level. She is interested in history, sociology and psychology and while I recognize that some lab sciences and quantitative classes are required, I don’t think she is under prepared to handle some of the schools on her list. She goes to a very competitive high school and while she hasn’t taken the hardest load available she hasn’t been asleep at the wheel either. The key will be making sure she can get the accommodations to make her successful.
@Dancer41 - thank you for the clarification regarding SAT vs ACT. You can find out of he average ACT scores by looking at the Common Data Set. Google this term and the name of. the college. For Skidmore 2016-2017, which was not yet test optional, the botoom 25th percentile of enrolled students had a composite ACT score of 26 (24 for math). Her English score of 31 puts her above the 75th percentile. (All the stuff on admission statistics in the Common Data Set reports is in section C.)
You might want to check in on the disabilities forum as there is helpful info regarding what colleges give which accommodations. Good luck.
Just want to repeat: http://fairtest.org/university/optional
Bates (and Beloit, Bennington,Brandeis, Bowdoin, Bryn Mawr included in the B’s, as an example), Denison, Dickinson, Clark, Skidmore (and Smith right next to it), Colorado College are all on the list. There are many others to consider as well…
.You do have to check with admissions because some are test-optional, some are test-flexible (Colorado), some de-emphasize testing, according to the site- but all make admissions decisions that are not based on scores. Some may ask for scores for merit awards or for placement purposes.
St. Olaf, Haverford and Vassar are not on the list.
With this disconnect between performance in the classroom and performance in testing, and considering a fine motor skill disability and anxiety over tests, I think this is a classic case where testing could just be avoided, period. Most of her schools are on the fairtest site.
With her grades and hard work, and appropriate accommodations, I would think this young woman could thrive at college. I don’t see her scores as indicative of potential in the classroom. I don’t understand why she would prep and stress and work hard for the next test, when it isn’t really needed. I would just tell her not to worry about scores because her work at school is the more important indicator.
Let her skip testing and focus on the volunteering that really does make a difference in her life and her chances- not to mention helping others.
I do agree that one never knows and she should apply to the schools on the list but I do caution that the current list looks a little top heavy to me and I would recommend adding a few less selective options.
Around here, students that like St Olaf also apply to Gustavus and Luther. You may want to read about them.
She would have to determine first if her classroom accomodations which resulted in high performance are likely to be repeated in any specific college. I don’t know of colleges where one can answer exam questions orally if that is more comfortable for you, but there may be some. If that accommodation was central to her performance and unlikely to be repeated, there may be a problem. In any event, it will surely take more work to find the right fit.
This might be a case where a private counselor could really help.
“She just got her first B? You need to relax.”
when I got my first B my mom wanted to take me to disneyworld!
my siblings were straight A…chemistry team … all AP classes …I was a good kid just not a good student.
actually my parents wanted my youngest brother to work a little less and socialize more.
I like compmom’s post. There are options.
Lots and lots of kids get accommodations. Whether it’s specifically the same as what the hs offered is less important than the right support. Good chance there will be an easier math course or two that fit the grad requirements. And this is a high performer; if she gets a C in some math class, based on legit challenges, my own attitude is: so be it. She’s not on a stem track,right?. (And I already suggested Mom look into the actual course choices.)
The CYA is partly in choosing the right safeties, in case. But the other side, for the more preferred colleges, is trying to present the right picture they want, well beyond stats. (And this definitely applies to test optional.)
In that respect, I agree the hospital work is good. But we don’t know what it is or how much, whether it involves a level of responsibilities or frankly, not. Some of the colleges named will like to see some diversity in what she did (and how it gels,) as an indicator she’s likely to explore/take on various things on campus. And her energy. Maybe it’s additional service, maybe some role in the hs, or other activity. Show she’s engaged, open, interested and can commit in various ways. Maybe she’s got this covered (more than honor societies.) But if not, there’s time to tweak.
Also, look at the Common App, see what they ask and how she has space to answer. Try to start to think in a more holistic and strategic way. What do they want, how do I show it? More than stats. It’s possible.
“Good chance there will be an easier math course or two that fit the grad requirements. And this is a high performer; if she gets a C in some math class, based on legit challenges, my own attitude is: so be it. She’s not on a stem track,right?”
This is true. There are usually quantitative classes that count towards distribution requirements that are geared for the more math challenged. All you need to do is pass. One of my kiddos fits this mold. I didn’t really care if the great wasn’t stellar as long as they got through it. Bigger fish to fry than worrying about one or two grades. 
I have mentioned this before on another thread, but many moons ago I did awful on the SATs. I ended up graduating college Magna Cum Laude and then went on to get a Master’s degree. Don’t let anyone tell you that low test scores mean she is not college material. In my case, I pretty much went into panic mode when taking that “big test”. Anxiety can do that. Your D is doing great in school despite some issues. Just apply to a wide variety of schools, find safeties she loves and focus on test optional schools. Good luck.
Thanks all for continuing to provide support and advise. We are definitely focused on test optional and not putting too much focus on ACT prep. She’s doing a few sessions with a neighbor who tutors and we will hope she can raise her score just to give her options. As I mentioned she’s like some test required schools but the test optional ones are equally appealing. She doesn’t have a favorite yet.
I think the advise to focus on the whole student and what she is offering schools is great. She is involved in some more diverse activities. I also know that her counselor at school is very invested in her and will help with that along with helping to tell the stories of the challenges she overcomes every day.
Her work at the hospital is one on one support to kids in recreation classes. Denison has a big brother big sister program that is appealing to her.
Been doing some general research about schools and accommodations so will dig into that where necessary and check out the board here.
Thanks again for all of the perspectives.
@dancer41 To answer your questions, I think that Denison, Dickinson, and St. Olaf would be realistic possibilities. While St. Olaf is not test optional, if she could get her ACT composite up a few points, she might have a chance. The admissions office there is incredibly helpful and kind. They also are holistic in their approach and I imagine her record of community service would be viewed favorably.
You might also look at College of Wooster and some of the other Colleges That Change Lives schools, many of which are test optional. I’m thinking places like Beloit, Ursinus, Susquehanna, Muhlenberg, Allegheny, Clark, Goucher.
I suspect that Colorado College, Vassar, and Bates would be reaches. Also, she should consider how she might fare if she attended a more competitive academic environment. Given the tendency towards anxiety and the processing issues, she might be happier elsewhere.
Edited to add - check out this thread for ideas of where your daughter might get acceptance and possibly merit: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1871275-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2017-3-0-to-3-4-gpa.html
Best of luck to you!
I also encourage you to check out the 3.0-3.4 thread. I’ll be updating it soon with several more schools and results.
I think she has a solid chance at Denison and St Olaf but they are matches, not safeties. I absolutely agree with @mamaedefamilia that you should look at the CTCL schools. I’d add a couple of safeties and pick at most, 1-2 reaches. Those schools will have a more competitive environment and may not be the best fit for long term success.
My S had a 25 ACT superscore and a 3.47 UW GPA. or basically an 89. We deliberately avoided reach schools for a couple of reasons. One being the academic success and support factor but secondly, for overall cost purposes. We were searching for merit monies and knew his chances were best at matches and safeties. He was accepted to all 7 schools that he applied to, and received merit awards at all, including 4 of the CTCL schools. He had medium rigor in his coursework (6 AP’s, 3 honors classes) but does have pretty solid and interesting EC’s which showed passion and I think helped him quite a lot as it painted a pretty clear character picture which made him interesting and not entirely cookie cutter.
If you look at the 3.0-3.4 thread you’ll see crossover applications from kids that applied to some on your list and that might help you find others that “feel” similar in vibe. We also have kids accepted at and attending both Denison and St. Olaf next year on that thread that could be helpful and are lovely people that would welcome PM’s with any questions. Of the rest of your list, kids on our thread were denied or waitlisted at CC and Skidmore and I don’t see applications at the others…
Adding just one more data point - my son was rejected from Haverford this season, and he did have a 3.8 UW GPA and a 31 ACT composite (and he’s male), so based on statistics alone, I think I would classify Haverford as a reach for your D.
That said, Haverford does emphasize holistic emissions, and I think my son’s essay showed that my son was not really the best fit for the Ford’s pervasive honor code (which is more than do not lie, cheat, or steal - instead, it’s more like a contract to live by community values through consensus).
I think Skidmore is less reach-y than Haverford, and Clark U is more match/safety. We visited both, though they ultimately fell off Son’s list.