Is he aiming too high?

hmom5
Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:58:37 +0000

You have not mentioned rank and competitive level of his school. You typically would not see many B’s on a transcript of a successful ivy candidate. A few are fine, but if he’s gotten B’s year after year in academic classes except math, an ivy is probably a very high reach. Disregard that if he has a very high class rank.

The bottom line at most ivies is that you need to be in the top few of your class for a real shot if you have no hook. I would also suggest he take the SAT again to get the CR score into the 700’s for a good shot at the next tier.

All that said, it’s worth throwing in a few applications because there may be something in his profile (specifics of his music maybe?) that would make him of interest at ivies and help him defy the odds.