<p>A 240 point increase is wonderful! She should be thrilled – this puts her apps into a new light at some of her schools.</p>
<p>Most schools don’t pay too much attention to the writing section, except Harvard states that it will take the writing section into admission considerations. That gives her 1480/1600. It should be enough for the consideration of any school. In addition, the adcom can have a sense of her writing ability from her application essays.</p>
<p>Don’t take too many SAT or ACT tests, it may adversely hurt her chances because it gives the schools a false sense of “score driving”.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Great news!</p>
<p>Now you can get her the ice cream to celebrate.</p>
<p>I have to confess I was almost as curious about how your daughter did on the Oct. SATs as finding out my own daughter’s scores! This thread has really taken on a life of its own.</p>
<p>Congratulations on those great scores. That should make a difference. And I agree that the writing score shouldn’t hurt her.</p>
<p>FWIW: My daughter posted a 110 point increase on the Oct. test (and 330 points higher than her PSAT!). So I know exactly how you’ve been feeling, trying to mesh those scores in the 600s with a strong GPA and a desire to go to one of those selective schools. Having a stronger SAT score relieves some of the tension (only some, mind you).</p>
<p>Congratulation to your D and best wishes.</p>
<p>I think this is an amazing thread. So many people put up a semi-similar OP and get a dozen replies, then it fades away. Yam has presented his info differently and we are all interested and responding…hopefully his DDs apps are as interesting to admissions people!!!</p>
<p>I want to encourage Yam to get really seriously real about reading every one’s comments. My oldest DD did not have great admissions results, she ended up at the state U (still a “top 50” school, but not her dream) and it was never a good place for her.</p>
<p>She was a very good candidate, like every other bright well-rounded kid, 4.0 ish (not sure about the weighting) 1350 SAT (so decent though not amazing) athletically successful, some leadership, all the good things you would hope for. She got too caught up with the new GC at her school encouraging every one to apply to Ivys, etc, when she may have been reviewed, she had nothing to stand out as different. She simply had not discovered her passion, she just new she wanted to be in the “best” place she could be.</p>
<p>I think that when kids have not yet discovered their passion, they go for the top, thinking that will help them find a passion later. Better off is the HS student who knows what they want and what they need and follows their passion to any school which works for them, not concerned about prestige…many kids at small “unknown” to those not on CC are having life-changing experiences!</p>
<p>When you are not clear on your passion and are looking for the “top” school, you risk missing the right schools for you.</p>
<p>I learned a great deal and lucked out as DD2 had a passion which gave her a very crazy looking school list, from NE LAC to West Coast Flagship, based on who had a good program in her passion, she had 6 schools of 7 apps to choose from, all with various monied amounts.</p>
<p>I would always recommend some sort of rolling admit school, it was so wonderful to have an acceptance in October to carry through until April!</p>
<p>Mainly, in reviewing your list, look at what DD is seeking- does every school to which she applies have the double language program she seeks? Then make sure she shows her passion for languages in her essays and presents her apps all around her passions. Even where she lists the other schools to which she applies, it should show she is actively pursuing her passion.</p>
<p>My 2 DDs has such similar profiles in many areas, the main difference was the passion came through on DD2. I could do such a better job for D1 now, I was offering many suggestions which would have been better for her, but she would not hear of it, she was only listening to the GC & friends who were all Ivy crazy…with what I know now, I would sit her down and tell her to seek some more middle of the road options.</p>
<p>Congrats on the terrific score increase! </p>
<p>Kind of makes all the discussion in this thread about scores almost moot … but the sad thing is that illustrates how ridiculous the heavy reliance and focus on SAT scores is. The applicant hasn’t changed – the only thing that separates her and a kid with a whatever her scores were before is the results in the retake. There really isn’t much objectivity in a number that purports to reflect some sort of ability level when in fact at the high ends it is often a reflection of degree of test preparation.</p>
<p>1480+ !! WHOLE different ball game! WHOLE different scattergram! Woo hoo for you both yanimated! That score combined with the rest of her bio will surely take her to one of her reach schools…</p>
<p>Make sure the GC promotes those scores…</p>
<p>ps thanks for the tip off on the wcores coming in. S2 gained the critical 40 points on his SAT II to put his scores over that critical 700 mark. It is a game calmom. I agree.</p>
<p>Congrats to your D. Those are much better scores. But try not to let her change her modified list. :eek: A balanced list is still required. The only thing that has changed are her odds of acceptance (at schools that value the SAT). The reaches are still reaches (just more likely). </p>
<p>And calmom, at least things are getting a little better on our CC SAT/ACT obsession.
Last year I was being told that my D’s first SAT scores (almost exactly the OP’s D’s new scores) weren’t good enough for the schools she was applying to OR for serious consideration for top merit awards at Top 50 schools. She did retake the ACT and do way better, but I remember arguing my rear off that a 1470 (combined with her other stats and ec’s) was “good to go” anywhere. I was swimming upstream.</p>
<p>Garfield’s scattergram would have proved your point. Actually, I had no idea tha schools allowed the public to read their scattergrams. How incredibly useful! You could have easily proved your point, cur, and taken quite a load off your mind.</p>
<p>Wanna make a fortune? Publish the anonymous scattergrams of various ‘types’ of schools: eg. large urban public in the Northwest, top East Coast boarding school, top mid-Atlantic private, lower decile public in the west or southwest. Publish online and update it.</p>
<p>cheers, someone last year posted some links to scattergrams of TJ in Virginia and some others (some well known preps, other privates and large publics). But hey, at the time I was looking for voodoo potions and gris gris, too. If anybody suggested something that might help that wasn’t that expensive or time consuming I was on it like white on rice.</p>
<p>You remind me of my father cur. Man has everything in the world and doesn’t believe he is rich. He’s gonna get a big spankin’ when he gets to heaven if the Lord doesn’t believe his Depressiona Baby story.</p>
<p>OT, sorry. Please forgive. </p>
<p>
I’ve been working on one that’ll make 'em cry. I’m thinking if the winds are blowing out , and my story holds , I might can beg my way in. Tell me how it works out for your dad. Tell him from one sinner to another, I’m pulling for him. ;)</p>
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<p>I suspect the schools don’t have any idea that they are allowing the public to read their scattergrams, either. It has been really interesting seeing these on CC, but I expect this “guest” thing to be shut down pretty soon, and/or a great deal more care taken by the schools to prevent dissemination of the web addresses for their sites.</p>
<p>I have to say, though, that the flatness of the Garfield GPAs makes its scattergrams a lot less interesting than some other schools’.</p>
<p>JHS, last year some that I got into had the kid’s names. :eek: Ooops!</p>
<p>Whether we like it or not, numbers matter. Shes in the ballpark now. Congrats!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>I think the SAT II Math will be the last test she takes because her current score is very very low for Huntsman (630). For now we’re just going to concentrate on keeping senioritis away for at least another three months.</p>
<p>I promise to post the results.</p>
<p>"710CR/770M/690W</p>
<p>240 point increase. She was disappointed by the scores, especially the 690, but it’s better than nothing.</p>
<p>Congratulations on the terrific news! Her increase does boost her chances at all of the colleges that she’s considering. I wouldn’t worry about the 690 W because it doesn’t seem that colleges are weighing the W SAT score as much as the m and CR.</p>
<p>Yan, Glad to hear that some worry has been alleviated. I’m of the school that the SATs are the least of the important factors, but all the same, who needs more anxiety during this already stressful process. </p>
<p>Your daughter should definitely keep her balanced list. Try to help her work up some enthusiasm for the less selectives. Visit, if she hasn’t already.</p>
<p>ED is a bit schizophrenic. You’re told to love your #1 choice with all your heart and soul but at the same time steel yourself to be ready to move on in the event that the school doesn’t reciprocate. It takes some emotional balancing which teenagers in particular are not usually equipped for.</p>
<p>Please let us know how she does.</p>
<p>sorry for bringing up an old topic. i’ve been lurking around here for a while and your thread made me join as an actual member to say–
looking at her information, i do think that your daughter has an easy to high chance of getting into uchicago, reed, cornell, jhu, and middlebury. i assume that she’s applying to stern for nyu so she has a harder chance of getting in as a regular decision candidate. but i’m not too familiar with nyu. </p>
<p>there is also a possibility of her getting into penn; i think they woud definitely look at her as a viable candidate and not just a dreamer. she’s still a little out of her leagues though because most applicants have at least one 800 on the sats. her gpa and sat ii math (low 600s you say?) will be her downfall. harvard and huntsman are both out of her leagues (i’m sorry for being so blunt) but at least she’s met requirements for huntsman and i presume that her extracurriculars (especially the arabic!) will make her standout. i think you should concentrate more on the arabic because that is definitely interesting. i’m just hoping that if they reject her for huntsman, it won’t affect her ability to get into wharton but since she’s early decision, it will definitely help a little.</p>
<p>that’s my 2 cents…
good luck with everything!</p>