Should my daughter submit SAT score to test optional SLAC

SLACs with an SAT 25th %ile north of 1470 aren’t just looking at numbers and then deciding on a thumbs up or thumbs down for admission - as you know. They are trying to put together a freshman class that meets a variety of criteria with students who complement each other in terms of background, talents, and abilities. One of those criteria is geographic diversity. Coming from Texas is a plus because most SLACs of this tyoe don’t draw heavily from Texas unless it is in Texas or a nearby state, You can check on the common data set of the school you’re considering to see if this is true in this particular case.

As you’ve already seen, most test optional SLACs that I’ve looked at show that the majority of applicants don’t submit standardized test scores at all, so it’s hard to see how not submitting could hurt her. Being ranked #3 in a class of 575 is pretty impressive anywhere. The other side of this argument is that SLACs often know the schools that their applicants come from and the rigor of their curriculum. This is particularly true of East Coast SLACs which are inundated with applications from private prep schools and high achieving, wealthy suburban high schools. They don’t need SATs to validate these students achievements in the classroom.things may be different for SLACs in the South Central region of the country, for example. So, in the cases where your high school is not well known to the SLAC or where there are a limited number of high achievers, 1400, which is equivalent to the 94th percentile, may well be helpful in validating her #3 class rank. Typically each college has a specific Admissions Officer who is responsible for each region of the country. As others have suggested, I think you can call the college and ask about their assessment of your high school, BUT don’t just speak to anyone. Ask specifically for the AO who is responsible for your region and knows your high school.

The bottom line is that what will get her in is not her SAT score but a rich picture of who she is as a person and what she will contribute to the college. In this context, quirky is good. Authenticity in her essay(s) and any other supplementary material you submit is good. It’s all about how she might fit into the mosaic they’re trying to create, and that changes with each new group of applicants every year. So, the better she can describe herself and her talents, abilities, and interests, the better her chances will become.

To answer your question directly, I’m guessing that it would be to her advantage to submit her SAT scores because there will probably be questions about her high school. Submitting her scores, which are very strong but not a slam dunk will help to remove some of those questions. Not submitting her scores will leave questions remaining and the assumption will probably be that her scores are even lower than they are because otherwise she would have submitted them.

One other point about interpreting test score data for any particular college. As has already been noted, the critical number is NOT the SAT mid range but the percentage of students who submitted test scores. The reported score are the mid range ONLY of the one-third of the freshman class who actually submitted SAT scores. The school knows absolutely nothing about more than half of the class who enrolled this year. If we assume that all of those students had test scores below the 25th %ile (1470), which is probably the case for the vast majority of them, then that 25th percentile becomes more like the 75th %ile for all students and 1400 becomes more like the 50th percentile of ALL students - including those who did not submit. Keep in mind that 1400 is a very strong score.

In summary, the SAT score will not get her in. Her essays, letters of reference, and extracurriculars will get her in - or not. The SAT will only be a piece which will help to validate her academic achievements.

My final thought is that while each SLAC has its own personality, they tend to be more alike than they are different, so no need to focus on just one. The son of a friend - a very strong student like your daughter - applied to a bunch of SLACs. He was rejected at Williams, Amherst, and Pomona, but he was accepted at Middlebury, Colby, Wesleyan, and Occidental. So, in the end he had great choices at schools who decided that his personality and talents were a good fit for what they needed that year. Just my 2 cents. Best of luck.

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