Can I ask a follow up question? My son did not take the essay on the SAT because we initially thought he was just going in to qualify for a math super score and as a sophomore we thought he would probably end up having to take the test again at some point. Since he did well, he doesn’t want to but I see at least one school he was interested in (Berkeley) requires it. Is there any solution for this outside of taking the entire test again and doing the essay?
Unfortunately it seems like it’s not possible to take just the essay portion of the SAT, your son would have to take the SAT again with the essay add-on.
What’s worse is that the UCs don’t superscore so you wouldn’t be able to submit your current SAT and would have to do well again (well technically you do have to send in all your scores because of score-choice). Given their accomplishments though, I think they will be able to score high again.
The essay cannot be taken separately. Any college that requires or recommends the essay will expect to see the essay. That means taking the test again. Recommended, especially at top colleges, pretty much means required.
He can try the ACT. If he did that well as a sophomore, he might do very well on ACT too. High scores on the ACT will now also be considered for National Merit (PSAT.)
Your sophomore son already has a ranked list of 15 colleges? Really? Expect that to change a lot before he applies.
I disagree that colleges need to be visited before acceptances. Certainly, it can be very helpful, but no college expects kids to visit if they aren’t within a couple of hours of campus. I do think it’s best to avoid visiting a campus in summer, if possible. It’s like visiting a zoo with no animals.
Visiting colleges is very time consuming and expensive. It can be a fun way to spend time together, but it’s not necessary. With my eldest, we visited a ton of colleges. Too many, and I mean well over 15. She revisited her final three choices after acceptance, on more extensive visits, and that was a good way to make a final decision. With my son, we visited about 6 or 7. He applied to and was accepted to three he never visited. He visited one after acceptance, and revisited another after acceptance, where he enrolled. It was more than enough. My point is don’t feel that you must visit every college applied to.
As for next moves, I suggest getting a guide such as Fiske to learn more about colleges of interest. I personally think it’s best to visit colleges as a junior, when the idea of “going to college” feels more concrete. I get the sense that you are very keen for him to get started, but believe me, he is going to do a LOT of growing and changing over the next two years. I don’t think there’s a need to rush. His “plan” to get a PhD might be totally abandoned by the time he’s a senior in college.
Your S has several similarities with my S21. He’s also 6’6" with very high GPA & test scores. He’s known since middle school that he wants to get a PhD and do research. His interests revolve around nanotech but include AI & quantum computing like your S.
S21 jokes about how many times he’s heard that his interests can change and that he might decide against a PhD. But some kids will be the exception to the rule. S21 is a likely exception. Your S might be too.
I agree with the CC consensus that you should start by visiting some nearby colleges to see what characteristics he likes/dislikes or that don’t matter. Go on the general admissions/department tours to get a general overview of the school. But don’t stop there.
We started college visits Freshman year mainly so that he/we could talk to people who knew more than he did about nanotech. Meeting with individual professors/researchers in his field has been THE BEST THING.
(Pro tip: have your S start a Linkedin page and connect with the people he meets.)
Before each visit, we’d go through the school’s website, looking for who he wanted to talk with and what he wanted to see. About half of the people we contacted met with us.
Most of the meetings were wonderful. Extremely talented people doing cutting edge research who helped S21 understand what he did and didn’t know about their fields. He also got a feel for the type of PI that he’d like to work with.
wrt Quantum Computing, one of our best meetings was with Dr Will Oliver at MIT. He put us in contact with the Quantum Computing Institute at ORNL, just 3 hours from us and right next to our state flagship UTK. That led to a full day for S21 at Oak Ridge visiting with some of the top quantum computing experts in the world.
Definitely try to meet the quantum computing and quantum chemistry PI’s & Dept heads at the schools you visit. And look for schools that are close to DOE & DOD research labs.
If UTK isn’t on your son’s list, you might want to consider it for its proximity to ORNL. And it’s not going to have the sticker shock like many “top” schools. Also, for students who get a PhD, where they get their undergrad doesn’t matter near as much as where they get their terminal degree.
And I’ll 2nd Purdue. We had a wonderful 1-on-1 meeting and tour with the managing Director of the Quantum Institute. But it didn’t make our cut for undergrad.
"My daughter took the SAT as a sophomore( in October) and did very well. She applied to SCS in CMU last year. (RD). She did not know about their SAT timing requirements. She was admitted into SCS. "
They don’t say anything about the timing of SAT or ACT, at least from what I can tell. They’re not in favor of SAT subject tests being taken in 9th or 10th grade.
@ADH0621 I would be on the lookout for the UCs to drop the essay based on their recent report. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/2173306-uc-faculty-report-recommends-continued-use-of-sat-act-in-admissions.html Unfortunately, that decision may or may not occur before your son would want to finish testing, even though he isn’t applying until Nov 2021. (If this were my kid, I would be tempted to wait a year, to see if they drop it.)
Edit, I missed that you are out of state for UCs. I wouldn’t think twice about axing UCs from the potential list (as pointed out below, 70k/yr, no aid).
Berkeley does not fund non-residents, and there are no guarantees, with his scores/gpa that he will be funded. Assume $70-72k per year. Must visit this campus for fit.