Need some match school help

College Search & Selection
#1

My daughter just retook her SAT, so hopefully things will improve. Her math score was decent but her overall was 1340, so suddenly schools all seem to be reach vs. match. We are hoping her score improved, when she took the test my mother was critically ill and died, so she was grief strickened and jet lagged. After visiting a few schools she really wants to attend a LAC. She prefers Midwest or east coast. Her reach schools are Kenyon and Bowdain …she has 2 safeties that are true safeties. Open to suggestions for some match/low reach.

A bit about her:
Asian
Major neuroscience (also interested in bioethics)
Attends a well regarded school for the arts
Takes the most rigorous courses her school offers (only 5AP’s plus honors)
Pre professional ballet dancer at a big company school
NHS
NHS for dance arts
National youth arts finalist
3.9/4.7 GPA
Was selected for a very competitive STEM internship this summer
Teaches adaptive dance for kids with DS for the past 4 years
Hospital volunteer in a neurological institute
Yearbook photographer
Plans to submit an art supplement video

Due to her SAT scores I am worried most schools she is interested in will pass on her due to test scores.

Suggestions/feedback appreciated. On a side note if her scored didn’t improve enough in the June test, any prep suggestions for August test?

#2

First, she’s in great shape. Second, Bowdoin is test optional, she doesn’t need to submit her SAT score regardless if she improves or not. I would say Kenyon is a total match for her, btw. The students I know who have been admitted there had lower GPAs.

#3

Kenyon lists their overlap schools, which can lead to ideas for other great colleges across a range of selectivity: http://www.kenyon.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-statistics/. At this time, she would seem to be a good candidate for Bates, Denison and Macalester and maybe one or two others from this group. When her most recent testing becomes available, she can she can explore further options if desired.

#4

St. Olaf and Bucknell immediately came to mind as matches. They are strong in science and the arts.
Denison too.

Not sure about safeties. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

#5

If she preferred Bowdoin, did she already visit Bates and decide it wasn’t a top choice? Bates has a strong dance program, though more contemporary and less classical. Dickinson has affiliation with Central PA Ballet Company, if she wanted the opportunity to continue to take serious class at some point in college (most college ballet classes will not satisfy a highly trained student, as I understand). Skidmore and Conn Coll might be worth a look as well – unless she has already explored and rejected them as preferred options. Both have a strong artistic feel, Conn has strong dance but again is contemporary. More matchish/safetyish would be Lawrence University in Appleton, WI – strong sciences and strong arts presence, though it is primarily known for its Music Conservatory. We visited all of those, other than Skidmore, and thought they were warm, engaging environments. Bates, Dickinson, Conn Coll, and Lawrence are test optional. The advice we heard about whether to submit scores to test optional schools was, if the scores are not consistent with your academic performance/achievement, then don’t submit.

I would hesitate to call Kenyon a match for anyone, as admission to LACs is very much about fit. Kenyon admissions is tricky to sort out, as it had has 28% acceptance two years ago, then 34% last year, and as far as I can tell, has not announced its admissions data for the entering class this year, so it is not clear whether the admissions rate was similar to last year or increased.

#6

Actually her SAT was 1310, I don’t see an edit button. Thanks for the encouragement, reading cc you start to think there are limited options for good schools without top everything. Would a school like Emory consider her or are the number driven? As far as safeties, we have two that are a given (state and one LAC she is far above their stats).

#7

I think Emory would be quite a reach – at least, the kids we know who were accepted had tippy top scores as well as gpa. Acceptance rate is below 25% and Common Data Set shows its middle 50% test score range is 670-740.

#8

Regarding standardized testing, if your daughter can show strong AP test results, she might have good chances at some text-flexible (in contrast to test-optional) schools.

#9

By all means take both SAT & ACT a couple times each as soon as possible. A bump in the scores will open many doors.

#10

University of Richmond could be a good fit. They have a very strong dance program and give merit scholarships to attract talented dancers.

https://theatredance.richmond.edu/major-minor/dance.html
https://neuroscience.richmond.edu/concentration/index.html
https://psychology.richmond.edu/major-minor/cognitive.html
https://hcs.richmond.edu/major-minor/index.html

#11

These responses have been so helpful, thank you.

I forgot to mention her SAT essay was 7,6,7.

#12
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