Strategy when grades are lower relative to test scores

jonri
Fri, 27 Sep 2019 21:21:49 +0000

It’s a long time ago now, but my D was like this.

I wouldn’t address it in an essay, but if you can afford to do so, and if he happens to want to apply to a top college which has early decision rather than early action, apply ED. Montauk’s book https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Into-Top-Colleges/dp/0735204098 recommends this.

Colleges accept legacies, athletes and children of donors in the early decision round. Usually, people in these categories can get in with slightly lower test scores. However, the top colleges don’t like admitting that ED gives as much of an advantage as it does–far more than early action. Taking a kid with outstanding test scores in this smaller early pool means being able to take that star hockey player with a 1300 SAT–good, but not usually Ivy worthy–without lowering the average SAT score for the early pool vs. the regular round as much. And the college can be fairly sure it’s “locked in” that high score to help with its stats–especially the 75th percentile.

Now if he’s dreaming of a college with Early Action, this doesn’t work as well–though it still helps a bit. But if his dream school is Early Decision–and Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Northwestern, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, etc. all are–then IF you don’t need to compare financial aid offers and if he’d be very happy to get into one of these colleges and wants to attend a reach school, consider applying ED. Kids with this profile have the best odds of getting into reach colleges in the ED round.