We have access but it seems that the format has changed. I can’t find the scattergrams anymore.
We were given Naviance access in late January of 11th grade.
Not all schools allow access to Naviance. For example, I’ve heard from friends that quite a few NYC day schools do not. Parents/kids may access it only while in the college office of their school. There are individual accounts for each student, but the passwords are held by the college counselors and are very tightly controlled.
We have partial access to Naviance. We can see the list of schools our son is interested in and where he stands in comparison to the total number of students from his school that have applying to various colleges. The school didn’t give parents or students access to the scatter grams because it is possible to figure out information about specific students if you have a few additional pieces of information. The guidance office does pull up the scatter grams during individual counseling sessions.
Yes, that sounds like the reason they keep it tight to the chest. Public schools give access, but there are cases where the data won’t show since data set is too small. For private schools with small class size, it would probably be invasion of students’ privacy.
Bummer though, b/c Naviance is very helpful and I personally like to see it as a parent (with other kid in LPS, I will have access; but not access to private school’s data).
DS1 school limits scatter grams where the cell sizes are too small. It is a big enough school that you can’t really tell who the students are, especially since the data include multiple years.
For 7D1, our experience was that of NCSwimmom…with access to Naviance, but not the scattergrams. They only let you see it when you were in their office…it was explained to me that the issue with scattergrams is that parents tend to come to invalid conclusions like “Well if a kid with THOSE stats got into SCHOOL X, then my kid is a slam dunk”…not knowing if there was some other factor — like legacy, athlete, URM, or household name/major donor. It was frustrating at the time, but I get it.
With 7D2, we seem to have full access, scattergrams and all…though for some schools, they don’t have 'grams because of the small size of application pool to that particular school. I think because of the “at smaller BS, it’s too easy to figure out who the kids are” thing.
@doschicos et al.: Happy to report that at 7D2’s new school, CC dept. kicks in for Juniors in mid to late Dec, just before break. 7D2 has had first meeting with her CC and we’ve had a call with CC as well. So far, we all seem to be on same page. Kid sat for second SAT last weekend…we’ll see if there’s any lift from her Oct. results. If not, probably won’t take them again unless some coach asks for it. Focus on SAT IIs, academics, and Senior schedule for remainder of Junior year. Man time flies!
““Well if a kid with THOSE stats got into SCHOOL X, then my kid is a slam dunk”…not knowing if there was some other factor — like legacy, athlete, URM, or household name/major donor. It was frustrating at the time, but I get it.”
I really dislike this stance and my kids’ school used to play this angle as well. 1) Give the intelligent parents of these intelligent kids some credit for being intelligent. Give us the data along with an explanation of the caveats and limitations. Any outliers should be deemed not attainable. 2) Parents/students are meeting with the counselors anyway. For the group of families that make the mistake of not being realistic, that discussion can be had one-on-one.
I can understand at a smaller school with few data points as well as denying access at larger schools to scattergrams at colleges where few have applied to protect privacy. I don’t get treating parents like dopes.
@doschicos, it seems that they listened to you, after all… 
Scattergrams are now available to parents of SPS students beginning in their Junior year, sometimes around February (based on the date of last year’s letter to parents). The only limitation is that colleges which have received fewer than five applications from SPS students in the past four years will not be in the graphs. There are also detailed instructions about how to read a scattergram and what to assume, or not.
Yes, @goatmama. They made them available in 2010 after a few of the parents in my older child’s form (can’t take credit for it) made a rightly deserved stink about it. The college office tried the line of reasoning that sevendad posted above and got an earful. Naviance including scattergrams became available a few weeks later. 
You SPS parents are tough! I guess us SAS parents are just pushovers! 
^tough, or the kind they try to weed out during admissions… apparently unsuccessfully. [my emojis are on strike]
We had full access to Naviance and scattergrams from early spring of junior year. Class size is small (53), but everything was accessible. We found it really helpful, especially those scattergrams.
Hi… I am looking for advice or suggestions. Been spending time on Naviance learning about LAC and Universities (including Scattergrams)… looking to visit some colleges next month in New England, maybe Mid Atlantic that are friendly and progressive for Science and Math interests. Good GPA but not high test scores. Unique extra curriculars in math and science… being a Putney kid they see themselves at Pitzer, Hampshire or Bard for the experiential learning and self direction. But these might be too similar to Putney. (Although I do think super large classes and exam heavy will be a turn off) I’d love to expand the search … please suggest schools!! We are a financial aid family
@jdewey, check our Earlham. Not New England, but really good science and math, good FA, very diverse student body. I was really impressed by this one, and it hadn’t really been on my radar, so if you’re feeling open-minded… (And we did run into a couple of the same families at Bard and Earlham re-visits, so there is likely an overlap.) Dickinson maybe? Not sure on what basis they give FA.
Colleges That Change Lives?
@jdewey: this may sound way out of left field, but give WPI a look. Although it is known as a technological university,
it was by far the most liberal-artsy-feeling of the STEM schools we saw, and I think that is very deliberate. It’s very project-based, all about hands-on teamwork, solving real-world problems. Fantastic opportunities there. They are on the quarter system-- 3 classes x four 7-week long terms. My D had lowish test scores, and she got a great merit award, and they met our need. (Being a female applicant is a plus!)
Thanks for the great suggestions, and some of these were on our radar which assures me I’m starting this right. I really appreciate your ideas. For the last month or so, CC is very glitchy for me, I have a very hard time typing a comment, it takes a few page refreshes to get the sentences finished! Hoping to visit some different styles of schools via roadtrip just to get Dewey kid’s head in the game. But we definitely will look at schools in other regions.
DS just had college counseling weekend. I missed out on the first child’s college weekend as it was canceled in 2013 due to blizzard. Was a great experience even for an experienced parent. Mock admissions panel was the highlight of the weekend.
@jdewey@camero43
WPI’s interest in liberal and interdisciplinary studies is very real and evolved into a very purposeful design. This design started in the late 60’s when this old, small engineering college started looking for better ways to educate engineers. Department faculties could not hide in large, isolated groups and reinforce their fellow faculty’s’ disciplinary perspectives. They actually knew other departmental faculties on a personal basis so the family discourse began.
Grudgingly, and with some family disputes, outside support from the NSF ($733,000) and Carnegie Foundation ($188,000) the program evolved to include what amounts to a humanities minor and interdisciplinary research by all the science and engineering majors. The educational mix is inverted for the non-engineering/science majors. In today’s dollars those grants alone amounted to $5,587,000 strictly to study, develop and monitor the development of this new approach. It is important for the institution to keep alive this interdisciplinary perspective. This development required the additional funding of undergraduate research projects for all students. Fortunately, the project funding was found and has evolved into a well developed formal network of supporting organizations in on and off campus project centers all over the globe.
Yes, WPI believes in a liberal education but we are not equipped for students to major in all the interesting areas of human endeavor. This is why it is very important for prospective students to look closely before they apply to colleges. They are not just SAT/ACT scores, HS RIC, geography and costs.
Other fine schools have their own stories to tell! I suggest you also check out Tufts.