Improved Scores on SAT/ACT

midwesterner
Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:15:32 +0000

The most important schools are his match schools. I only see one on his list - Tulane. If he is happy with his safety, he can move up from there, but he should be looking at more schools where he is at or above the 50 percentile mark in test scores and GPA. Having so few ECs is a negative at the top schools. Have you left off any activities, perhaps something at church or hobby-related, that would show his interests?

Keep adding schools through this semester, then, in the summer, get realistic about safety and match schools. I would advise him to cut down his list of reaches to 3, including Vanderbilt. Having 2-4 reaches, 3-5 matches, 1-2 safeties is a good guideline.

This is a good time for the family to see the college counselor at your school. Ask to see the Naviance diagrams, if your school has them. They will tell you the GPA and test scores of students who have accepted to top schools in the past few years.