Suprise Acceptance Stories?

calmom
Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:40:38 +0000

I would also like to hear what it was like to attend a college where your credentials were well below those of the average student.

I’m sure people on the board are tired of hearing this, but my D (SATs: 580 M, 620 CR) was accepted to Barnard & U. of Chicago; is at Barnard taking about half her courses at Columbia, and is doing fine, with a GPA well above 3.8

Her biggest surprise? The realization, early on in her first semester, that she was probably somewhere in the top third in terms of ability – that is, she was having an easier time grasping concepts than most of her classmates.

I have to say that I agree with briansteffy about SAT scores – I think that they have very little value and reflect artificial test-taking skills more than anything else, and it has virtually nothing to do with the type of deep level thinking and analysis required at the college level.

If anything its probably an advantage for a student to go into college thinking that they have a challenge ahead – those students probably put in more effort from the start, and so they don’t make the mistakes that may over-confident students to stumble.