<p>She is only in the middle of her junior year. Lot of growth will happen between now and the end of the year in June. I would have her take both SAT & ACT in June and again in Oct. after summer prep. You may be surprised by the new scores.</p>
<p>Every time I read a CC thread which extols the higher ed system in another country, I remind myself how lucky we are to live in the USA where one’s life is not determined by a standardized test score. (Ask me about my cousin overseas who decorates cakes in a commercial bakery because she missed the university track by one point back in middle school. In the US she’d have been an engineer or an architect and would have made a damn fine one. But in her country she ended up in a vo-tech HS (straight A student, but it wasn’t a university track).</p>
<p>OP- hugs. You’ve got four choices now as I see it.</p>
<p>1- bury your disappointment and remind yourself how great your D is just the way she is and regardless of where she ends up.
2- Try the ACT or suggest some very modest SAT prep for the next go-round. Her scores may indeed go up. I’m not suggesting torturing her- just a bit of prep.
3-Broaden your outlook. If your D loved Brown, figure out a bunch of schools which are a less competitive admit which have that “Browniness” to them. Posters here can be helpful with an alternate slate of schools which have the qualities your D loved where she is a competitive admit just the way she is.
4-Figure out down to the penny what you can afford to contribute; work with your D to see if there are affordable options that you haven’t considered which are a compromise between your in-state option and something that’s out of reach in terms of admissions and perhaps finances.</p>
<p>There are hundreds of great schools which are not Harvard or Stanford. Some of them would be delighted to welcome your D right now, even if her scores don’t go up at all. And some of them would be delighted to welcome your D with a very modest uptick (which most seniors seem to see even without a lot of angst.)</p>
<p>Big hugs.</p>
<p>Since when is that SAT score bad? That’s actually a pretty amazing score! Feel proud of that… And she did it in one try!</p>
<p>OP, I can relate to the feeling that you woke up one day to find that your D was not going to be perceived by the admissions world as the bright, talented young woman you know her to be. You have received some excellent suggestions on this thread. As parents many others of us go through ups and downs and we feel for you as you ride out this step of your family’s journey.</p>
<p>Dreaming big is good if it is also your D’s dream.</p>
<p>I agree with above posts which
- encourage another go at the SATs and also the ACT just in case it turns out to be more suited to her capabilities
- urge you to look beyond the rankings for excellent schools which are in your D’s reach.</p>
<p>Two other thoughts. One, why not have her take SAT subject tests? Our D was an okay SAT taker. But she chose her two best subjects and aced one of them, and on the other she did pretty well. It boosted her confidence and also showed up well on her apps.</p>
<p>Two, why not look at women’s colleges? They take leadership – diligence – GPA very seriously. You may find that test scores are a bit more forgiving, while still ensuring academic caliber comparable to schools with higher SAT stats. Smith, Bryn Mawr, Mt Holyoke, Scripps and Barnard are all wonderful schools. Each and every one of them has an affiliation with a coed school/schools (some of them extremely close) in case that matters to your D.</p>
<p>It will all work out, OP. In the meantime your honesty and willingness to articulate your experience are commendable. These can only help as you support your D in her search.</p>
<p>PS For the more selective colleges SAT IIs are required</p>
<p>What are DD’s ideas about college?</p>
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<p>For SOME of the more selective colleges SAT IIs are required.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m a bad mother, but I never had top 20 dreams for my kids (and good thing, because they aren’t top 20 material). One of my kids was offered some opportunities at top LACs or other private schools, and she was really just going through the motions. She wanted to like them but just didn’t. When we found her school, it was like the clouds parted and the sun beamed down on her. She was visably happy, a changed kid. She is a child who always has buyer’s remorse, and she has never looked back on this choice.</p>
<p>The advice is to ‘learn to love your safety.’ Well, can’t you just love it immediately? Why do people have to feel like it is settling to go to a state school? My other daughter picked an OOS and loves it. The more she learns about it, the more she loves it.</p>
<p>Hmmm…straight A’s (never gotten a B)…top of her class, good EC’s and a true passion with an SAT score of 1980 in January of her junior year. Maybe I’m missing something but I see no reason a Top 20 is out of the question at all.</p>
<p>My D was in pretty much the same situation 2 years ago. Similar grades, good EC’s, etc…with a 1950 SAT score first try. Took it a second time and got a 2150 and this was with lots of SAT prep. In April of her junior year decided to take the ACT on a whim, no prep at all, no pressure, just went in relaxed and took the test. </p>
<p>Result - 34, now in second year at Duke and thriving!!</p>
<p>If it’s your D’s desire to attend a top 20 school there is absolutely no reason to give that up at this point!!!</p>
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<p>NYU is not a top 20 school and not that hard to get into. You can decide for yourself if it’s worth paying for.</p>
<p>You do realize that your “top-20” cutoff is based on a somewhat specious ranking system by (presumably) one for-profit publication? And that it is based on inputs, not outputs? For us, taking the long view about what our kids want to do with their LIVES, not just the next four years, has been incredibly liberating. My son is at a lesser-known LAC where he has had far more opportunities so far than his friends at more prestigious schools. He is likely to end up in graduate school and we are confident his academic preparation will help him get into a program that is fully funded. My daughter will likely attend a “regular” state flagship and none of us has any doubt she will reach whatever goals she sets for herself. I understand that a lot of people start out with dreams of Harvard while their kids are still in the womb but it is certainly not the only path to success.</p>
<p>twoinanddone-I’m with you-state schools can offer some pretty amazing opportunities. And if there are really only 20 schools in the country worth attending, that’s pretty sad since there nearly <em>4000</em>! </p>
<p>The most brilliant person I know-combined MD/PhD (neurology) full-ride, now researcher at a top facility-went to a state university. He can afford to live in the most expensive city in the country, so I guess he’s doing ok.</p>
<p>Second most brilliant person? Chose college based on location for his hobby sport even as places like MIT were chasing him. State U most known for football. He’s at Google now.</p>
<p>Franklin & Marshall does not give merit aid, so probably would not be a great choice. But I agree with a lot of the other possible suggestions. OP, if you are a long time poster out here, you KNOW there are a lot of choices between the top 20 and your state university. And there are some nice LACs that give good merit aid to kids with stats in their top 25%.</p>
<p>Not to beat a dead horse, but Loren Pope’s books Colleges that Change Lives (and the website) and a lesser known book of his, “Looking Beyond the Ivies” are both great resources.</p>
<p>Also look at test optional schools:[SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>A “top 20” might still be possible (like others, I have seen it happen with similar situations though usually with some unusual talent) but there is really no reason to fix on it. They are just schools, not that different from anywhere else.</p>
<p>Personally, I am a fan of state schools. As adults, both my husband and I attended. He liked our state university more than he liked his grad years at Harvard. But it ended up being cheaper for our kids to go to privates.</p>
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<p>Some kids WANT to go to their state university. My son did. He knew he was not top-school material, and our state university happened to have a good program in his intended major. The day he got his SAT scores back, he said, “Well, those scores are good enough to get me into the University of [State].” He was right.</p>
<p>Cal8876 is an example that it is possible. However, even if the OP’s daughter makes a 34 on the ACT, top colleges turn down more qualified applicants than they accept. We can’t predict how this turns out. Let’s say she does make high scores, gets into a top 20 college, and it is very costly. Sometimes, when the dream becomes reality, parents take a closer look at those numbers. It can go either way.
What if she is eligible for merit aid at another college and really loves it? Finally, what if it turns out that State U is the best fit and she’s happy there.
State U is a very solid and possible option. The more she can learn about what it offers her, the better she can see how it would fit her, and how it could be a wise and affordable choice regardless of what other choices she ends up with.
She’s a strong student no matter what her choices are. She is likely to do well.</p>
<p>Hi, folks, i wanted to jump in as the OP and thank you all more than I can say. All of your advice and support and insights…I’m not sure where to start with calling it out…but it means a lot to me and I am going to refer back to this thread for the path ahead. I appreciate all of you.</p>
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<p>Of course. And if that is what the OP’s D truly wants, then that is great. But I don’t get that sense from the OP’s post…</p>
<p>Op,
She should take ACT practice tests to see if her ACT score would be more in sync with her GPA. If it is, then she should study for the ACT and still may have a chance at the top 20!
I completely understand your feelings though. Had to go through the same thing myself.</p>
<p>Liked EastCoastCrazy chapters of life and Pennylane’s psychoanalysis!!</p>
<p>intparent, the OP’s OP speaks exclusively in terms of what she and her husband want for their daughter–what they have wanted for her since she was a baby. The student herself, from her mother’s description, is happy and well-adjusted with a passion for the things that interest her. There seems to be NO problem from the child’s point of view. She doesn’t stress about school or tests and is happily traveling along the path to adulthood. If only every family were so lucky.</p>
<p>And you could describe my D1 the same way… that didn’t mean she wanted to attend our state university, though. She COULD have wanted to. But she didn’t. Size, weather, strength of major in her area of interest weren’t aligned with what she wanted.</p>
<p>The OP hasn’t said – but my guess is that if they have been visiting and talking about these other schools, the D could see herself someplace other than the state university. Being happy/well-adjusted does not equal perfectly content at state university (just not related, IMHO).</p>