I have a tutoring client who is a sophomore with a 4.0 uw, all AP classes. He expects to take 15 AP exams and get 5s. I was brought in because his PSATs were relatively low, 20. He now is getting 2250 on timed practice tests, and I believe he will get 2300+ in a year. He should be able to get 750+ on 5 or more SAT IIs. His ECs are better than those for an average student, but below average for students admitted to Ivies.
I was telling his mother that he had a reasonable application to top Ivies and such. She felt that wasn’t realistic due to Asian quotas, and lack or strong ECs or any hooks. If he maintains a 4.0 uw with 2300 SATs and say an average of 780 on 3 SAT IIs, what level of schools should he apply to or expect to get accepted at?
From what I have learned from this website and going through the admissions process with a high functioning daughter this year, there are no guarantees at the top schools. If you read the results threads you will see lots of near perfect accepted, deferred, wait listed, and rejected.
He will get past the first round. The rest will depend on how well he sells himself.
If he is interested, he should apply to a few Ivies, but not get his heart set on them. He should also apply to some LACs, a solid state school, etc. He should have a full array of applications and see what happens.
If $ is a problem, he should apply to a few schools that are generous with merit aid.
He will get into some very, very good schools.
He will not get in everywhere.
Like everybody else, he needs a mix of reach, match and safety schools.
My S had a friend in HS who was literally academically “perfect”: 4.0UW with a 2400 and 5’s on every AP.
She got rejected by more schools than she got into, but at the end of the day she ending up going somewhere very, very good.
It will get you pretty far, but in today’s day and age you also need to have rocking essays and extracurriculars to get into some of the very top schools. Nevertheless, with those scores he would probably get full tuition scholarships at several schools and competitive schools that are generally known to prefer students with high stats (ex: Vanderbilt)
I agree with the mom. Being an unhooked Asian means he needs to stand out. Simply having high grades and high SAT scores will not be enough. By the way the scores you mentioned above (2250 total is not so high at most of the Ivies). If this student were to apply to Duke (engineering), a 2250 would place him at the about the 35-40th percentile for admitted students.
Are the parents fairly enlightened about colleges in general? Asian and Indian parents seem to only know 8 schools, two of which are substandard, and MIT.
One of my closest friend’s son is at University of Chicago and the Indian grandparents thought it would embarrassed the family. True story.
High grades and scores are a start, but without other aspects to the application, the applicant will be considered “one-dimensional,” which is a typical knock on high-achieving Asian students. If he’s only a sophomore this year, there is time for him to develop interests outside of academics. If he is interested in top schools, he should develop such interests.
Is he homeschooled? If not, I don’t see why he wants to take 5 SAT2 tests. Just pick three of them and finish the whole thing in one attempt. Don’t waste time on something that would not give you much return.