My son is going into senior year at a top school in the US. Did study abroad for a year in Spain (fluent in Spanish now) during junior year
SAT January - 1290. He retook in August (we won’t know his grade until mid/late September, but he thinks he got somewhere in the 1300s because he had trouble with reading) Depending on his August score, he might retake in October.
SAT II’s - History 630 Biology 620 Spanish 700 (I have heard him speak Spanish & I know he is fluent. This score surprised him, me, everyone!). Will probably take Math 2 in October or November.
GPA unweighted - 3.46
GPA weighted - 3.6
+Solid extracurriculars
I should note he got a 5 on the Spanish AP and is taking 2 AP’s this year (his school only allows 3 and the third he wanted did not fit in with his schedule)
@usagirl1776 It will probably be tough (the GPA will hurt more so than anything else. If he has exhausted the max number of APs allowed, and dual enrollment is an option and your son truly believes he can do well, I would have entertained it). Also, I would send in the 5 and not the SAT2s…concentrate on something else. Your son may not be that great at multiple choice (or in context of Spanish, may be one of those who certainly speaks better than he can write or “see things on a page”…many native speakers of non-English languages are like this and so are English speakers to a large extent. The AP Spanish test is likely more comprehensive in terms of testing style than the SAT2 I would guess) which is okay. He should find other tangible ways to demonstrate an academic strength or passion in whatever areas.
It is a possibility, but I would not say his chances are necessarily even as good as other applicants even if he was attempting an ED round. You should list the extracurriculars other than Study Abroad (this just shows that the student had access to that opportunity, so may not count for much) or at least evaluate whether or not any of them are more academic in nature and could perhaps demonstrate a passion or strength that compensates for weaker portions of the application.
@bernie12 thanks so much for your insigh. For ECs, he volunteers at a tutoring center & is a two season varsity athlete plus he does his schools finance magazine and model un.
@usagirl1776
High Reach, does he have any hooks?
@usagirl1776
Is your son more interested in the Atlanta campus or the Oxford campus?
Is your son good enough to be recruited to play his sport for either the Atlanta or Oxford campuses (which have separate athletic teams)?
@BiffBrown @VANDEMORY1342 definitely more interested in atlanta. Sports probably not. He is a two season varsity athlete but he’s not recruitment level. As for hooks, we are prominent family that might help plus he goes to an amazing high school (the worst schools kids at his school go to are tulane, bu, nyu level so)
@usagirl1776 : Unless it is a very small high school, I doubt that is true. Also, I wouldn’t put a “worst” by the name of those schools. Are you talking prestige or name brand when qualifying like that? There are probably a mixture of schools with lower and higher rank and name recognition that are technically “better” than those places in many or most ways, but if those schools are so heavily matriculated, that more so reflects the views of those students and the community, and those likely need to be expanded. Regardless, it is about how your son performs within his cohort at the school and the students that Emory has got from there in the past. If those students fell in similar income, demographic, or social status brackets and generally had better credentials, it still won’t be easy.
@bernie12 by no means am i saying that those schools are bad!!! They are great – that is my point. All kids at his school end up at schools that you wouldn’t expect from looking at their GPA/SAT scores. It’s the nature of the school to get them in. Also, his grade is around 150 kids and he’s around #50 (although they dont do grading).
I guess we will see !
@usagirl1776 : Does the school keep track of Emory matriculates from the past (I said matriculates because Emory may base decisions partially on who would usually yield from such a school). That may be the best route to go to gauge, but keep in mind that your child could have lower stats or different credentials and still be admitted.
@usagirl1776
So do most students have similar stats to your son? What does naviance say? IMHO a 1290 is low even for Tulane, especially if you say your son has little to no hooks.
Have him try the ACT. Some kids score a lot better on it than on the SAT. The Oxford campus is a little easier to get into than Emory College as a freshman. He should apply to both… ED1 and ED2 also increase the chances.
@usagirl1776
So I noticed that your son’s school does not give out letter grades. I assume it operates like one of the following:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/2003870-high-school-with-no-grades.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1799126-alternative-high-school-with-no-grades.html
How do you know that your son ranks around #50 in his class if they don’t give out grades for coursework but merely written evaluations?
I wonder whether not giving out grades hurts kids from that school when they do take graded standardized exams.
You should check your son’s school’s naviance to see stats of students who have been accepted from his high school. But just from a glance, Emory will be a high reach for him considering his GPA and SAT score.