<p>Thank you all. We looked into the ACT because we thought that might be good with her science interest but they denied extended time. Apparently that’s pretty common - to qualify on the SAT but not ACT. </p>
<p>Re. specific schools, we had thought of Johns Hopkins, which she’s emotionally attached to after years of CTY, but heard it was a pre-med mill and so pre-professional that things like class discussion and engagment in learning for the joy of it are rare. Someone told me as long as you’re not in the sciences, it can be a good place. Are these rumors off base? We’ll definitely take a look at WUSTL, Brandeis, Trinity, Boston College, Villanova. We had been thinking of Mt. Holyoke too and are delighted to hear they don’t care as much about the SAT, since that’s looking like one of her weaker points. </p>
<p>I’ve heard of the Xiggi method but don’t know how my daughter could find the time to do it. She’s barely surviving with her schedule of honors and AP courses, extracurriculars and lab job as it is, so fitting test prep in is a real challenge. We stupidly had thought she would ace the SAT because she did in 7th grade for CTY. But they went and changed the test on us. Her predicted score based on 7th grade SAT was 1450-1550. But she’s hovering around 1350 at present. </p>
<p>How do you all feel about Amherst? Its the only legacy spot where we think maybe it might be a fit. Penn and Berkeley are too big. Yale a reach and she didn’t like the snooty admissions officer when we visited. We actually left the tour in the middle she was so turned off by it. I believe at Amherst legacies have a decent shot if their stats are close to the 50% average for the school. She might be able to get there, but I wonder if it would be too tough for her if she did manage to get in? All those super bright science types to compete with. I loved it when I went there, but the kids weren’t that smart a hundred years ago! We used to sit around after dinner and debate ideas for hours - go to proffs houses to continue the discussion, etc. Very stimulating, and not a grind although plenty of challenge. My daughter would have loved it then. I get the impression it may be different now?</p>