I could use some parental advice...

Parents Forum
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I am a Junior at a high school in Virginia. I just took the SAT and I wanted some insight from some adults who are more experienced in this than I am.

SAT: 1880 (670CR, 560M, 650W) I will most likely be retaking.

GPA: 3.9UW/4.25W

Rank: Top 10%

EC’s: My EC’s aren’t exactly anything special. FBLA (Treasurer, expecting higher office next year), Rotary Interact Club (Club Communications Officer, expecting higher office next year), National Honor Society. I volunteer at the local hospital and humane society. I also participate in a youth group at my church and I have also participated in mission’s trips with this group. I did track in the 10th grade, but I’m unsure if I will continue this.

I have taken the most rigorous schedule offered at my school, however my school does not offer AP’s so the majority of my classes are dual enrollment through the local CC. I may graduate with my Associate’s Degree if I take a few extra courses over the summer but I’m undecided on this so far.

11th Grade: College Chemistry, College U.S. History, College PreCalc, College Calculus, Honors English, Public Speaking

12th Grade (expected): College Biology, College English and Lit, College Statistics, Honors Government, Physics, and an internship course that my school offers.

I am interested in engineering, but I am also considering going to medical school so I have tried to keep a wide assortment of schools on my list.

I am interested in: UVA, Tulane, Duke, Virginia Tech, VCU, William & Mary, and George Mason.

I realize that a lot of these schools are reaches, so that is mainly what I am asking for help on. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on schools that I should consider adding to my list. Any other advice would also be appreciated.

2

You really, really need to study and retest. You are going to have a hard time getting into AND succeeding in an engineering program if that is your top math score. What is your financial situation?

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Since you need to improve your SAT scores for the colleges you list, there is a long time poster xiggi who wrote valuable advice that you can search on these forums, and also this:
http://vectorperformance.squarespace.com/storage/sat-prep/Xiggi%20Advice.pdf

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The M+CR score is what colleges really look at.

Your score is a 1230. that is too low for schools like Duke and Tulane.

Your math score does not bode well for eng’g, nor being a premed student.

What math grades have you gotten this year for your classes? What math will you be taking as a senior?

You’re taking college chem ? What grades are you getting?

If you want med school, then any college level courses that you take in high school will count.

How much will your family pay?

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@mom2collegekids I have gotten A’s in all of my math classes this year, and I will be taking Statistics senior year. I am currently taking Calculus. I expected a much higher math score, as I felt that the math was the easiest portion of the test. I plan on retaking after doing some additional studying for math.

Engineering is what my interest is currently, but I am not certain on this path. I feel like medical school is where my interests mainly are.

I have also made A’s throughout College Chemistry so far.

We haven’t specifically discussed an amount that my family will pay. I will definitely be trying to get financial aid and scholarships, but I’m sure my family will contribute as much as possible. UVA is my top choice.

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" EC’s: My EC’s aren’t exactly anything special. FBLA (Treasurer, expecting higher office next year), Rotary Interact Club (Club Communications Officer, expecting higher office next year), National Honor Society. I volunteer at the local hospital and humane society. I also participate in a youth group at my church and I have also participated in mission’s trips with this group. I did track in the 10th grade, but I’m unsure if I will continue this. "

In what world are these ECs considered nothing special ?
One of the girls that works for me has a less than stellar GPA, not even close to your test scores and mediocre ECs and got into George Mason FWIW

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I don’t think George Mason is a reach with those stats.

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Hi Turman,
I’m a parent with lots of free advice. I have 3 kids, one graduated from college, one is at junior college and transferring in the fall, and one is a senior in HS. I know WAY more now than I did 6 years ago. The first time is a little scary, so you’re doing great to be on CC asking questions.

First, think of how you will package your EC’s. Can you take larger leadership roles in any of them? The Common ap starts by asking your activity and position. You have a good variety, maybe focus on a couple starting now, and really develop those.

For colleges, start by googling a list of schools that have engineering majors. Then schools that have sciences. I’ve heard that you don’t have to be at a school that has an actual pre-med program, but certainly the sciences would be important. Then, most important, is to search by SAT rank. http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/sat_75pctl_rank.html

Highlight the schools that have 1200-1250 as the 75th percentile. This is where you have the best chance of getting in and getting merit scholarships. Your SAT is a bit lower than the averages at the schools you mentioned. The math section appears to be the place where you could improve the most. Some schools do not use the writing part. So, you’d be wise to focus on the Math section, and do a lot of studying, then retake it this spring, so you have a better idea where you stand. Remember, you can superscore. You should also try the ACT.

So, then find schools that are in your test range, and that have sciences and engineering. Make a list of 20-30 schools, and then do more research on each one.

Good luck!

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I think it’s definitely worthwhile to try to see if you can bring up your math SAT score, and I think it’s quite possible that you will, so don’t get too worked up yet. Also, maybe some of those schools are reaches (Duke), but I don’t think you should count yourself out for any of them. I don’t know the details for these schools since my son didn’t apply to any of them, but some of them may be test optional (I truly don’t know). I can tell you that Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which is primarily an engineering school, has a “Flex-path” option for those who don’t want to submit test scores. If you have a good recommendation from a math teacher, and good grades in math, I don’t think those scores will be deal breakers. Good luck!

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Take the ACT. You may do substantially better on that test.

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You need to ask your parents to work with you to run net price calculators on the colleges you are interested in. They are on the financial aid web pages of each college. You need to figure out if you are eligible for need based aid and what your parents can pay.

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when you say that you’re taking or will take “college” bio, chem, calc, etc…are those dual enrollment classes or what?

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Because you are in Calculus now and headed into Stats, you need to sit down with a good exam prep book before you retake the SAT or take the ACT and review the math that is on those exams.

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You know, often on CC parents raise the alarm over low scores, especially math scores. My daughters took both tests and decided they liked the ACT more so worked from there, but their SAT scores were terrible. I don’t remember my DD2’s math SAT, but it was a lot lower than 560. She just bombed it. After 2 retakes, it was higher on ACT, but not in the top percentages. In high school she never took AP calc, just pre-calc. Like you, she always got As in high school math, just didn’t test well on the SAT/ACT.

She got an A in Calc I first semester freshmen year and is doing just fine in Calc II (because she works like crazy).
However, I agree that you won’t get into Duke without a high test score. You CAN succeed in engineering without acing the SATs. It looks like you are from Virginia, so ask your school counselor where students with your stats get accepted and make sure you have some options that do accept students with lower states…

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Have you considered test optional colleges? That could certainly be an possibility. You also have plenty of time to improve your scores if you so desire. You could prep more for the next time or take the ACT. There are many possibilities. I would, however, make sure you examine what engineering entails and make sure its something you’d really like to do, because it is math heavy.

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Virginia has some great schools and I’ve visited many in the last year or so with my son. We are in VA. My son had a similar SAT math score his first time taking it. He did much better on the ACT. So far he was deferred during ED at William and Mary and accepted to Christopher Newport Univ. And Univ. of Mary Washington with a merit scholarship offer. If you are interested in pre-med I’d suggest you seriously look at VCU and Christopher Newport as they have arrangements with VCU med school and Eastern VA med school for special acceptance, etc. W&M does as well, but that’s more of a reach, where VCU and CNU will be pretty solid for you, even with your current SAT score.

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There are some accredited engineering programs where the Math SAT is in your range, but they are north of Virginia. Look at Loyola(MD), Messiah, Elizabethtown, and Fairfield. I don’t think William & Mary has an engineering program, but I could be wrong.

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Since you are a VA resident with access to an array of good schools of different types at great prices, it doesn’t make financial sense to look much out of state. If you were very low income with top stats, the private schools with super FA would be worth a shot, but I don’t think you have a realistic chance at them. Even more so if you may want to go to med school: keep costs down.

Although I agree with everyone that working on bringing up your math score, in particular, would help you, I echo the advice to look at Christopher Newport et al. A friend’s D who also had score issues was able to start there and transfer to Virginia Tech. They also have the med school programs.

I don’t have the actual figures, but I find it hard to believe that you wouldn’t get in to George Mason and Christopher Newport with your current stats.

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Did you do the SAT one of the sessions where you can see which questions you got wrong? My kids discovered that on the SAT their biggest failing was not reading the questions correctly or doing something silly on the easy questions like leaving out a step. There are patterns to the kinds of questions they ask and you really can improve your scores with practice. If you are doing well in a college calculus course you should be scoring better. I also agree with the suggestion you try the ACT.

With your current scores many of the school you are looking at are super-duper reaches. If your scores don’t improve you need a (almost) completely different list.

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What gender are you OP? Female in engineering major is a good hook