<p>Great ECs, a 5 in AP Psych, rigorous senior year schedule including 4 APs and French 4(AP not offered), an A and a B in two undergraduate courses taken over the summer as a rising high school senior at an Ivy, amazing recommendations, but standardized scores are in the 50th percentile. Teachers are shocked at her scores.NAnyang suggestions for getting her application read at a competitive school? I hate to see all of her hard work overlooked because of standardized tests. Thanks for your suggestions.</p>
<p>Unfortunately standardized test scores comprise a large part of your application.
50th percentile would put her at about a 1500 for the SAT, I believe, so that’ll douse any chances at top 30 schools. </p>
<p>She should keep retaking as much as possible, although there really aren’t too test dates left. </p>
<p>Perhaps the good college grades will assuage the bad test performance?</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>Test a look at the test optional schools like Bates and Bowdoin, for example. These are top LACs, so the quality of the education is excellent, and there are others like them.</p>
<p>Re her SAT, retakes are valuable primarily if you can identify where the underlying weaknesses are and then focus on addressing those. Is she running out of time? Is she floundering with certain types of questions? This is the kind of analysis that she/you need to do in order to figure out how she can boost her score. Practice can make a significant difference to SAT scores.</p>
<p>Finally, consider having her try the ACT - some kids do much better on one test vs. the other.</p>
<p>Last or additional option: Have her teachers discuss in their letters of rec how the test scores are not a reflection of her ability as a student. It won’t negate the scores but it could cause the schools which are more holistic in their evaluation to weigh them less heavily, especially if her guidence counselor can add that she is a top student with a rigorous course load compared to her peers.</p>
<p>My son has never done well at standardized tests. He is a top student, but his ACT/ SAT is only fair. He is signed up for 3 more SAT/ACT this fall, and is “trying” to study/ prepare for them. It is very frustrating. Despite what some people say on CC, there really are some students that just do not test well. For whatever their reasons are!</p>
<p>Look at test optional schools, many top LACs do not require them. Bates and Bowdoin also came to my mind.</p>
<p>Sent from my iPhone using CC</p>
<p><a href=“http://fairtest.org/university/optional[/url]”>http://fairtest.org/university/optional</a></p>
<p>Many of the schools on the list won’t interest her. But, a growing number of competitive LACs are moving toward optional. Bates did a 20 year look-back and found virtually no diff in gpa and grad rates between kids who submitted scores and those who didn’t.</p>
<p>Some test-optional schools do require test scores for merit aid consideration. </p>
<p>Last one…if your D is only focusing on top/top schools she may have trouble with admittance. </p>
<p>Does she had match and safety schools?</p>
<p>Great suggestions everyone. She is trying the SAT this weekend(and missing homecoming to do so…not many people take the SAT here so she has to go to another school to take it). She had been taking the ACT. We will be exploring the fairtest site and will check out Bates and Bowdoin based on your suggestions. The problem is definitely going to be getting merit aid if they base it on test scores. She has been counting on going to a school that does a 100% need match as she is independent. (I was her guardian until she turned 18; her parents are not in the picture.) She has worked so hard to change her life since 8th grade when she moved in with us and it is frustrating that the tests may hold her back. So, we appreciate all of your help and suggestions.</p>
<p>Try to match the fairtest list against a list of “meet full needs” schools such as [Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet the Full Financial Needs of Students - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/02/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-the-full-financial-needs-of-students)</p>
<p>As you narrow down, you want to confirm the schools are still meet full need, since everyone has gone through challenges since 2008.</p>
<p>Sounds like a special case. You should not let test scores get in the way of pursuing competitive schools.</p>
<p>Lastone</p>
<p>How is your child studying. Although I firmly believe that self-studying would work for many students (if they are diligent), for others, SAT prep classes and tutoring are helpful (family financial circumstances permitting, of course). The biggest advantage is that someone can analyze your child’s scores and help to focus her on areas in which she needs help.</p>
<p>Also, there are certain ‘tricks’ to the test, which have nothing to do with intelligence. Focusing on these can pay big dividends (especially for a student whose scores are inconsistent with her potential).</p>
<p>You may be doing this already (in which case … never mind), but in case you’re not, it’s an avenue to explore.</p>
<p>There is a list of colleges out there that are SAT optional. Some of them are quite good schools.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone! Hoping for miracles tomorrow. Maybe the SAT will be the charm for her rather than the ACT. Not easy to skip senior year homecoming festivities though! Your suggestions are great and we’ll look into all of them.</p>
<p>Fladad, that would be the link in post #6.</p>