Parents of the HS Class of 2026

[2026SwimMom]

I had to try.

D26’s SAT superscore was a 1420 (710 EBRW, 710 M), ACT superscore composite was 34 (35E, 34M, 35R, 32S).

I used what I would consider a would be a “Reach” school, Stanford, which isn’t on her list, just for giggles. CollegeVine algorithm showed it as a Reach as test optional (16%) and with SAT (21%), Hard Target with ACT (27%).

There is no way in heck that Stanford is a Hard Target for her if you take her Science ACT subscore into consideration. I suspect that the algorithm only factors in Science and Reading to calculate the composition, but only looks at English and Math for Chancing.

[Sportsball]

I have a kid like that, S26’s brother. Math comes really easily to him. There has been no pushing.

[SpreadsheetMom]

So I’m not sure I buy what College Vine is selling with its chancing calculator (although it’s certainly fun to play with).

From my understanding, if a student’s ACT or SAT score falls within the middle 50 percent of a college’s range (as reported on the common data set), then that student can reasonably apply to that college, as long as their grades fall within range, too.

Higher than that for scores and/or grades is great, but it doesn’t mean the college becomes so much easier if it still has holistic admissions. And lower than the middle 50 percent maybe makes that school a little harder to get into (in my opinion), but not impossible – the holistic thing still comes into play.

I honestly think there’s no way to predict. I feel like scores and grades are just a checkbox – if they fall within range, then the school will look at the rest of the application. So I feel like it’s not useful to worry about the small nuances in test scores in terms of the likelihood of being admitted to any one school.

My D22 had a composite 36 on the ACT (English 36, Reading 36, Science 36, Math 34) – that averaged to 35.5, which rounded up.

The rest of her stats were also strong – salutatorian, college-level research, lots of longevity and leadership in theatre and chorus, all-state chorus, governor honor’s program, summer internship, blah blah blah all the things. Her essays and rec letters were really good.

She was still waitlisted at Northwestern, WashU, Davidson and Tulane – and rejected from Brown.

You just never know what they’re looking for – but I’m pretty sure it isn’t test scores beyond knowing that the student is capable of succeeding at their school.

[Wjs1107]

I agree. I have heard various things about how it’s fairly accurate (kids getting into schools that they are “chanced” at 48 percent or higher). But who knows. I don’t think it’s something to put much stake into, though I agree it’s fun. And it’s useful that they pull a bunch of data together so you can see the GPA and test averages for many schools at the same time.

[SJ2727]

@SpreadsheetMom

Higher than that for scores and/or grades is great, but it doesn’t mean the college becomes so much easier if it still has holistic admissions.

They do take some of that into account - for example if uou look at the extracurriculars you’ve listed, they take into account what you’ve done and how they scale them from average ones to (i don’t remember the term they use) special ones. They also say something about high school context. Of course at the end of the day they can only input all this quantitatively and spit out a number - they don’t see essays or recommendation letters or how a college is putting its class together. But they claim to show that there is a high correlation between their predictions and actual outcomes.

[2026SwimMom]

@SpreadsheetMom

You just never know what they’re looking for – but I’m pretty sure it isn’t test scores beyond knowing that the student is capable of succeeding at their school.

Agreed. Which is why I think the chancing calculator is a crock of doodoo. I mean, Stanford isn’t a hard target for anyone, except maybe Olympic athletes?

[SJ2727]

And C26 is off to junior prom! I know I’m biased, but I think they look gorgeous. Not sure how long the heels are going to stay on though

[Pnwfamily]

Deleted

[SpreadsheetMom]

Hope they have an excellent time!

I understand the need for anonymity on this site, but man, I so want to share pictures, LOL. My D26 went to prom a couple weeks ago, and her whole dress and bold new haircut combo really made her stand out.

And S25 is at his prom tonight. We did some “bro” pictures at the school before they went to a burger-and-wing place for dinner (seriously) – and these guys had a whole shot list in mind of what pictures they wanted with specific poses and recreations of memes. I cannot remember the last time high school boys wanted to pose for a million pics, but DH and I were here for it! Prom is at the zoo which seems pretty fun, although really far to drive. Still up in the air what the after-plan is, so we’re on standby in case we need to facilitate, lol.

[SJ2727]

I was considering one of those photos where you put an emoji over the face!

[SpreadsheetMom]

But their faces are beautiful!

[SJ2727]

I know!!

[SpreadsheetMom]

I’ll share if you share.

[SpreadsheetMom]

Although wait, does the site itself have guidelines on maintaining anonymity? I think maybe it does.

[SJ2727]

Edit: deleted

[SpreadsheetMom]

Aww, lovely! The dress and hose and heels are totally working!

[SJ2727]

The hose are actually sparkly but you can’t see it in the pic… the outfit started with the sparkly hose in fact, haha, otherwise they would likely have been in a suit! (Which they also rock. That long lean frame is my husband’s genes, not mine, and I am envious lol)

[sbinaz]

You might want to consider not posting a photo even with the face blocked out. There are nefarious individuals online who purposely download photos like that, even with faces blocked out, and use them for questionable reasons.

[SpreadsheetMom]

Ugh. I hate people.

@SJ2727 I’ll PM you.

[coastal2024]

@aewlmom

Thinking we should cut bait on the SAT (currently 1390) and cancel the May SAT test. Right? Then try one more ACT – assuming D26 agrees.

But could someone explain how the ACT superscoring works? Does ACT generate a separate superscore report to send to colleges? Will colleges still see all of the subscores from both tests regardless – or just the highest sub-scores that get pulled into the superscore report? Is there any downside to re-testing (besides a grumpy teenager)? For example, what if she scored lower across the board on the second test – could we just not send the second test and only send the first test results?

So we are in the same boat but the flip of those results (English and reading are great, math/science not good). The way superscoring works is ACT generates a “supescore report” that is a composite of the all the highest scores from any sitting. Some schools will accept just that, however many will ask to see every test sitting result and then they superscore themselves. There are several schools on D26’s list that are asking for ALL test dates to be submitted. It stinks because aside from the obvious where you might not want them to see those low scores from some of the test dates, it is also extremely $$ id you are sending 2 or 3 test dates to several schools. It adds up quickly.

We thought D26 would be done after her second attempt. She wants to try one more time so is taking the June paper test with science. Her only digital option is to wait until September but she is worried about a digital format. Is you go to Compass Test prep and click on ACT, there is a LOT of really good info there about the new test format, superscoring, what the class of 2026 and 2027 should do, etc. It helped us make the decision to go for the paper with science rather than pivot to digital without as there is no test prep for those, no one knows how colleges will view the new tests without science and no one knows which schools will allow superscoring across platforms. It is a lot of stress for sure to try and figure this all out and I don’t like that class of 2026 is the guinea pigs for the new format, scoring, etc.