Son has a 690 EBRW and 700 Math (94%)
3.81 UWGPA/4.09 WGPA
Rank is 68/246
I was thinking he would submit because the middle 50% on the 2023-2024 CDS is 1370-1475 (18% submitting). However Bates website for class of 2028 states the range is 1410-1530, so when the new CDS is released, son will be just below 25%.
Our public school college advisor has told kid not to submit. I’m struggling with that because kid’s rank 27% and GPA seems a little lower than they might like. I do not want them to assume a lower SAT…
Advice like that is probably intended to artificially raise the interquartile range and create the impression that a school is more competitive academically than it really is. The reason that so few applicants submit scores to Bates is most likely because their scores are bad. I would definitely submit a 1390 SAT.
Just my opinion but I would submit it,
For the reason you said…so they don’t assume lower. I also think it’s good to submit if you think GPA is on the low end…but it doesn’t seem low to me
My D24 was in the same boat at many schools last year (32 ACT/3.73 UW) submitted scores to all her schools last year (didn’t apply to Bates). I have asked a few AO this question about submitting scores slightly below 50th or slightly below 25th (again,not Bates) and no one really answers directly but more than one said it is not likely to hurt nor help much. So maybe it doesn’t really matter? But I would submit and we did so.
Quite frankly, that school needs a new admissions officer.
Because with even a few seconds of thought, that person should realize this ratchets up scores each year, to the point they remove any useful information about promising students in the lower half of the original distribution.
But that’s exactly the result that admissions officer wants though - the test score for ranking purposes goes up while they continue to beat the test-optional drum and ask kids to apply ED
Test scores are not part of USNWR’s ranking methodology. Some others might use it, but no other rankings have anywhere near the importance of USNWR. Sadly.
For OP, have you asked your Bates AO for guidance on how to decide whether to submit or not? If not, I would try that. You don’t have to share your specific score.
So, considering that test scores are dropping nationally I would expect Bates median SAT to be around 1275-1300 if they require test results from all applicants. Submitting a 1390 is a no-brainer.
Just a few questions for you: 1) does your student’s high school have a history of acceptances to Bates? 2) will your student’s score be competitive with other’s scores at his high school if you know (which may be difficult to know), 3) are there others at his school applying to Bates and what are their applications like as compared to your son’s? Is he competitive with them? 4) have you inputted the chances both with scores and without scores? Using something like CollegeVine? 5) “holistically” does your student’s scores help his application? In other words, it sounds like his 1390 makes the application stronger with it rather than without it if the GPA and class rank has him in the top 27-29% of his class. If it’s unlikely for him to get into the school without it, then maybe submit it to raise his chances even just slightly making his application “holistically” stronger. 6) if Bates’ CDS indicates pct of those attending who submitted test scores that can be helpful to know how seriously the school prefers scores or not?
My two kids were completely different in that one had high stats and ok scores and the other lower stats but good scores. My daughter applied to Bates TO and was accepted last year but she had high stats (4.55wgpa and top 5-10%) and solid ECs. Her scores if submitted, would have hurt her chances of getting in. On the flip side, my son five years earlier applied to and was accepted into a few small private colleges not as highly ranked as Bates, schools such as Santa Clara, USD, Portland, Westmont, etc. submitting his scores which were similar to your son’s, but his grades and class rank was lower than your son’s. He would not have gotten into some of these schools without submitting his scores. Of course the landscape between the two differed but with a number of schools going test required, the students applying to some of the privates may look more like pre Covid numbers with possibly lower scores being submitted.
Good luck in your decision! I am sure your son will get into some good schools that he will really enjoy! Just make sure he applies to a good mixture of safeties, targets and reaches…especially since Bates is a reach for 99% of the students out there.
So it’s a really good score in the context of the high school, which bears in favor of reporting it. If the HS average were more like 1300, I would say you perhaps shouldn’t.
I would think of it this way if I were an applicant interested in Bates - since they have an ever-declining percentage of kids submitting test scores then either a) they put more weight on other factors than scholastic aptitude as measured by the SAT or b) kids with high scores are not attracted to Bates. Either way, assuming your kid has those other admission factors, whatever they are, submitting a test score in the 97th percentile nationally should only help them. BTW we didn’t visit Bates, visited Colby and Bowdoin for potential sports recruitment…daughter liked Colby more but didn’t pursue. Too damn cold. Bowdoin too woke. All three great schools regardless.
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