@ScaredNJDad, My point was that the acceptance range at some highly selective LAC’s is 2-3 times higher than the avg. at the upper band, even though the difference is only 2-3 ACT points. While I have only seen admission/acceptance ACT distributions for a couple of schools as most don’t publish detailed info by bands, I don’t believe this is the case with many highly selective universities as their applicant pools tend to be more bunched at the top.
Adding to @ScaredNJDad1’s post, Bates went test optional after the faculty voted to make it so in 1984. I can’t imagine going test optional is something the faculty would support if it was simply a cynical attempt on the part of the administration to raise the school’s profile or bring in more full-pay students.
@lynkel Did you apply to Colby? The acceptance rate for females looks about 30%.
@ScaredNJDad it was my ED1 school and I was sure I was going to be accepted because I already was a part time student. They rejected me as well as my friend who had better stats than I do and was also a part time student there.
Well keep the faith. It is a long shot but maybe other parts of the application will win the day for you. Where else did you apply? We were very impressed with St. Michael’s in Burlington, VT.
@ScaredNJDad1 I was accepted at Thomas with an amazing scholarship, Gordon College, and Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. Colby was my top choice, Bates is my 2nd choice, and then Thomas.
Test optional colleges that are very selective like Bates, Bowdoin and Wesleyan are going to look for those who don’t submit scores to be stellar in every other way. So while top 10% and 92 gpa are great, it may not be enough. Looking at your classes, you have AP stats and AP environmental science. Those are not as rigorous as AP Calc and AP chem or bio would be, so that may hurt you. Your ecs are nice, but are not going to set you apart. And as other posters have pointed out, it is harder for a girl to get into Bates.
2 things may help -if your recs are really outstanding and if your hs is very highly regarded- that may compensate.
Did you submit scores to Colby?
@wisteria100 Colby requires scores and I think that dragged me down. I have pretty good recs, should I get an additional one from my Colby professor? If she agrees to it? And I have attended one very highly regarded high school but am currently not attending. I was there for all of my sophomore year.
I don’t necessarily think more recs are better, was just saying that for applicants not submitting scores, they will look even closer at what the rec says. So if a teacher says, this is one of the most gifted students I have ever encountered, then something like that is going to stand out.
@wisteria100 Right. Okay, thank you!