<p>This is for the son of a friend of mine so I don’t have all the details…</p>
<p>High gpa (close to 4.0)</p>
<p>class rank: 19 out of 500 in senior class in an ok public HS</p>
<p>very low SATs (810) and ACTs (17) - multiple attempts - does not test well</p>
<p>maybe 1 AP class, some honors class - does ok in them</p>
<p>looking for mid-Atlantic area school… money not a major issue</p>
<p>boy lost his father around Labor Day (cancer) </p>
<p>would rather not transfer (i,e, start one place to build a track record in college and then move)</p>
<p>deferred at Elon, Christopher Newport… heard that WVU takes 100% - too far away from DC area.</p>
<p>I know this is late in the process. Mom & son are desperate - this has been a very tough year for them. I would not be on CC on Christmas Day otherwise.</p>
<p>Well, that SAT is killing him. He REALLY needs to at least give it another try, along with the ACT. Maybe he has a learning disability??? He should consider being reviewed for a disability, he could get extra time or something. </p>
<p>Maybe Oxford College of Emory, Berry College, Mercer University, University of Deleware, Millsaps College, Randolph-Macon College.</p>
<p>Oxford College of Emory sounds really great for him!! It’s really small, and a branch of Emory that’s not hard to get into. It accepts like 78% of its applicants!!! Here are some links about it. It’s ACT range(25%-75%) is 22-28. That’s not too bad for him. Plus, I think their SAT is much lower. </p>
<p>Try Ferrum College in Virginia. My brother-in-law went there for his undergraduate. They professors are very caring and very good at bringing out the best in students. My BIL was able to go on to law school. He still stays in touch with his professors and is a loyal alumnus at Ferrum. I believe St. Andrew’s in North or South Carolina also does a lot with kids who have learning disabilities or need extra attention.</p>
<p>I should have given the full name of the college. It is St. Andrews Presbyterian College. It has been written up in Loren Pope’s books. I think they would give the young man a shot. His class standing and GPA should speak well for him. I hope things go well for him; my heart goes out to him for his loss.</p>
<p>I used to think that the straight A student with low standardized test scores was a myth. But my sons friend is exactly that. Hes extremely intelligent and gets the highest marks but goes into an absolute panic when taking any standardized test. </p>
<p>The good news is that the schools guidance councilors made the special effort to contact the admissions people at the fairly selective school he wanted to attend. After explaining the situation he was not required to submit his scores. And this happens more than you might think. Ever notice in a Class of xxxx Profile that there are sometimes a few none submitted in the SAT/ACT breakdown. It will take some extra effort but I think the kid will make out just fine.</p>
<p>yeah, some selective LACs don’t even require test-scores for admissions. </p>
<p>And I forgot to add that Oxford is a 2-year college, which is a draw-back for him. However, if he is on good academic standing, he is guarenteed a transfer to Emory University. So, that’s nice. </p>
<p>And check out another non-selective school called Young Harris. Zell Miller went here.</p>
<p>I was surprised to see the University of Maryland-College Park on that list. It is very near DC, of course. So is Western Maryland, which is called McDaniel now. I have heard good things about McDaniel. I was also surprised to see St. John’s of Annapolis on the list. If he would like a classics-based education that might be an option. Good luck. It looks like he has a number of options.</p>
<p>This is an interesting case because this boy has a very good GPA, some challenging courses, and a good class rank. Only the SAT is low. His best bet is likely to try for one of the SAT optional schools and not submit his scores. He is a good student so should be able to fare ok in a fairly selective environment. I don’t think this is a case of finding a small school for a not so good student. That is why I would go for the following…</p>
<p>Some schools to consider that are small that are SAT optional are Connecticut College, Bard, Hampshire, Hamilton, Sarah Lawrence, Dickinsin, Franklin and Marshall, Muhlenberg, Susquehana, Ursinus, Wheaton College (MA). </p>
<p>However, I know a boy, a current applicant, who has very low SATs too. Unfortunately, he has low grades, low rank, and has not taken challenging courses. But he is applying to McDaniel (in MD) and I see others here have mentioned that school as well. The boy you know is a better candidate in that he has all the other things going for him. Perhaps his Guidance counselor can speak to the issue of not testing well but how well in has performed in Honors courses and so forth. </p>
<p>Good luck to him and it is nice seeing you help him out. </p>
<p>I’m going to add a few schools now that are NOT SAT OPTIONAL, but do admit kids in the lower end of the SAT range and are worth looking into:
Catawba College (NC), Fairleigh Dickinson (NJ), Hofstra (NY), Saint Bonaventure (NY), Westminster College ¶, Duquesne U ¶, Philadelphia Univ. ¶, Quinnipiac (CT), University of Hartford (CT), Springfield College (MA), Western New England college (MA). </p>
<p>I tried to stay with small schools in commuting distance to DC, some closer, some farther. The SAT optional schools would allow this boy to go to a more challenging college as he is a good student, but this list of schools in this post require SATs but I believe might accept students with lower scores (as well as some of these have high percent rates of admission). </p>