The high school does not offer AP Physics C. This shouldn’t be a concern because most schools don’t offer it or offer just Mechanics or E&M. The situation would be different if he had taken Physics 1 & 2 and not opting to take C even thought it’s offered. Most of the time, the top STEM schools will prefer the student that opted to take the “highest” courses available at their high school, if it was possible. Remember the very top schools have 95%+ rejection rates.
AP English Literature: Some schools could view this as a negative (taking AP English Language in 11th grade & dropping back down to the honors sequence by taking English IV Honors). Most people classify English/Language Arts as fundamental and not so much as an elective. To my understanding, California is one of the states that doesn’t require four full years in English/Language Arts to graduate from high school. This is not the same decision as being a freshman in college & deciding not to take “Introduction to Fiction” because the student isn’t interested. It really depends on the college.
He isn’t nerdy. Would MIT be the best match for him? The test scores (even if a perfect 1600) & the swimming won’t matter if MIT isn’t the best fit. He needs to see it as the best fit. Why waste four years of your life swimming at a “nerd” school if you’re not a nerd?
What English is he taking senior year? At some schools, including many highly rejective schools, not having an AP or DE English class in 12th grade, after having had AP Lang in junior year, is going to be a weakness in his app.
Does he have a 1470 as you wrote here, or 1490, as in the thread title?
Regardless, he will need a higher verbal score for MIT and JHU with recruiting or without…he should directly ask the coaches what number he needs to hit. If he wants to take the test again, because you are in CA, he needs to register quickly. In some areas of CA, there aren’t many seats left for August, Sept, and Oct test dates.
Each family will evaluate this in their own unique way. You can look at outcomes data and the like but there no guarantees what that will look like when he is graduating college. Some families have multiple kids to put thru college, some parents are close to retirement age and want to funnel more money that way, etc. etc.
MIT is going to be a stretch. The coach has not yet said what SAT he would need, but I think at least 1500. Same with Hopkins. He also is on the edge in terms of swim recruiting times at both schools.
Most of the other schools listed are more likely. Dartmouth is the slowest Ivy for swim. The rest of the Ivy’s are likely out of reach for swim. Without a sport, he is below the SAT needed for Ivy’s.
If he doesn’t improve his SAT, I’m trying to figure out which schools would be reasonable reached vs targets. Swimming is a factor although he could do club at larger schools.
Any online programs that would help him with verbal SAT prep?
His SAT verbal is 670. He is currently planning to take English 4 senior year. Public high school does not offer honors English classes. Only AP lit or English 4. School also requires that English be taken at the high school (not at a community college).
Has he done all of the SAT bluebook practice tests? If affordable, I would suggest a tutor, rather than him trying to self-study. Suggestions @lindagaf?
Probably 1550 at both. And JHU would have a much higher probability of admission than MIT, assuming full coach support at both.
At which schools has he submitted the academic pre-read materials?
Off that list, Case Western stood out to me as a university with excellent STEM stuff, and while a D3, they do have merit, and they reportedly often offer some to recruited athletes.
As a merit scholarship, not as an athletic scholarship. The NCAA keeps (or at least kept) a close eye on schools disguising sport scholarship (not allow) as something else. The NCAA may be too busy right now to care about D3, but in the past they’ve even questioned work study or loans as favoritism if too many athletes got preferred treatment.
On your list, Colorado school of Mines gives both athletic scholarships and merit. A lot of the merit is through the department and I know some alums sponsor scholarships in their departments. At one time (not sure if still true) petroleum engineering was flush with cash to give out.
If this student MUST increase his SAT score to have any shot, this student needs a private tutor.
OP says budget isn’t a major factor. Spring for 5 or 6 sessions with a private tutor, one on one.
There is, IMO, no online program that will make enough difference to a student in this situation. We aren’t talking about a kid trying to get from 1200 to 1400. This student just needs to pick up points here and there. A good private tutor will help him do that.
As for the rest, the list of schools being thrown around will offer VASTLY different experiences, none of which will guarantee the golden ticket. I’d suggest your student decide what is important to them and narrow from there. Class size, use of TAs, opportunity for research, location, weather, support for academic and non-academic activities are but a few things to consider. What’s important is what’s important to your student.
I wouldn’t let rankings or selectivity weigh heavily on the decision. They are thought to be a proxy for quality of undergraduate education, and they simply don’t measure anything associated with that.
The exception is probably quantative financial analysis at MIT. That’s a golden ticket.
The rest, including the other degrees from the big names are not. In fact, the only person I know of that was fired from my son’s team was from MIT. That’s not to say there’s anything inherently wrong with that, or any other school. It’s to say that a person’s success is largely in their hands.
It is a good university and I always like to see Canada mentioned, but U of T engineering is tricky for an undecided student since you apply to a major. Berkeley also has this issue, although if the student starts out in EECS, that would probably cover most of the listed interests. Many of the other schools that have been mentioned offer more flexibility.
Your definition of “top academic” and my definition of “top academic” are not the same, as this list is largely composed of schools I’d consider “top academic.”
If engineering is a major he is seriously interested in (though he is obviously not 100% decided on it), then I wouldn’t consider schools that don’t have engineering. And I would want them to be ABET-accredited in various engineering fields. For instance, Washington & Lee has an engineering major, but it’s not ABET-accredited. My interpretation is that it ends up being used more for people who go on to get a graduate degree in engineering or who want to be hired for their “engineering mind” but not actually do engineering. And although Caltech I think has foregone ABET accreditation in most engineering fields, it is exceptional on many levels.
I would have your son think seriously about what he values in his college experience and then have him verbalize that to his parents. Then you as the parents need to consider what it is you value and how much of what your son values you are willing to pay extra for. Then your son and you should research the schools and see how they measure up on what your son and the parents value.
Some families set a budget and allow their students to pick any school that is within that budget. Others will indicate that they value some schools at $100k, others at $70k, others at $50k, and others at $30k (or whatever numbers are applicable for your family). If there are schools that don’t offer merit aid and that your family don’t value at full price, then your son knows they should be eliminated. Or if a school comes back after their best merit aid offer and the price is above the predetermined value amount of the family, then the kid knows that the school is not a contender.
Has your son visited any college campuses? If so, what have his impressions been?
So the only available options are English IV Regular & AP English Literature. The most competitive may want to take a closer look at the specific curriculum covered in English IV, how it compares to traditional English IV Regular & Honors offerings. The college admissions committees will know more the high school than you would think & what types of students take English IV & what types take AP, how many years this current setup has been in place. The case could be that there is just lack of funding, student interest, or both in Honors. Also course offerings in different schools aren’t the same. It could be the case that the regular class is an awesome class comparable to an honors class elsewhere & the AP class is horrible. Or vice-versa, of course. Both could be strong offerings. Whatever the case may be, the colleges will be fully informed. The context of the specific situation is what is going to matter. It’s a different situation when a high school offers x number of AP classes whereas in another in could be part of some type of AP academy or college preparatory magnet program. In some schools, AP is open access while in others students are screened through criteria (PSAT scores, previous English grades, etc.) Personally, I would opt for AP English Literature. Is there something specific about the English IV option that is better or does he not care for the subject equally (regular, honors, or AP)? For example, he took AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics. Did he enjoy each of these AP classes equally? In some schools, students can only take one science AP due to lack of funding and the schools will schedule the courses during the same period. Most competitive colleges don’t view English as an elective subject and will view taking English IV Regular as questionable.
If there are at MIT and aren’t true nerds, then they’re in a miserable, unhappy place! They may not look like traditional nerds of the part; the times have changed; but trust me, they are nerds. A “false positive” nerd will transfer out.
In terms of academic fit, my first thought (even before your post that listed schools where he’s being recruited) was Harvey Mudd. HMC is extremely strong in all of his areas of interest, and their core curriculum would allow him to explore his interests more thoroughly before declaring his major(s). If he’s recruitable there for swimming, all the better, but the consortium has a competitive coed club team as well, which trains at the beautiful Scripps College pool. As an undergraduate-focused top-tier STEM school, with the positive attributes of both a small school and (by virtue of the closely-intertwined consortium) a mid-sized university, Mudd could offer the best of all worlds. They do give some merit, but of course it’s unknown whether he’d get any. And only you can decide whether it would be worth the full-pay cost… but it would be on my shortlist of those that might.