Demographics
State: CT
High School: NE Boarding School and private day school prior
Gender/Race: M/Asian/White
Wesleyan Legacy
Intended Major: Econ/Business
Academics:
Unweighted GPA: 3.78/4.0. May be higher after first semester grades
No class rank at school.
ACT Score: 33 (33 math, 35 English, 29 science, 34 reading) Not superscored
Took honors or advanced classes when available. No AP classes offered. Math through Calculus, 4 years of a less common language with local awards). Challenging classes overall on transcript.
Extracurriculars:
2 varsity sport athlete four years
Year round club participation in one sport 2 years
Food bank volunteer
Leadership role in sports-related club senior year
Other
Recs should be strong
Essays should be ok - pretty good.
Not applying for financial aid and will not be a recruited athlete.
Did not apply ED anywhere.
Schools Considering:
Wesleyan
Williams
Amherst
Middlebury
Bowdoin
Tufts
Northeastern
NYU
Conn College
Trinity
Babson
Northeastern
Michigan
Hobart
Lafayette
Any with a higher acceptance rates he will obviously have a better shot at - Hobart, Babson, Layfeyette, etc…he may even get some merit at those less selective colleges that offer merit. Those are only targets if he wants to go to them. If he is really not interested then move on and find other true safeties. I usually suggest to apply to at least one in state public college near by just so you have that benchmark on costs and if anything happens (life, medical, financial) you are not scrambling to figure out an alternative.
There are some extreme reaches for everyone even at the tip top. Those are unlikely for everyone, but if interested go for it.
Is his high school one with a dedicated well connected college counseling staff that is familiar with the colleges on the list and can give better chance estimates than anyone here?
Any idea where that GPA puts him in his class, percentile-wise?
I think he will get into Conn College, Trinity, Babson, Hobart, Lafayette. I think he won’t get into Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Tufts, Northeastern, NYU, and Michigan. I think he might get into Wesleyan due to legacy and full pay status.
I agree with @parentologist 's list of acceptances but I think there may be a couple more. Possibly Tufts?
I think one of the biggest challenges this student faces is being so similar to athletic recruits but not being a recruit. Otoh, there are a number of LACs where being Asian can help. And no doubt, the CC at his school can chance him best.
I’m not an admissions officer, but I think your son will likely have more than one acceptance to consider come the spring. If I had to make a bet, I’d say Conn College, Trinity, Babson, Hobart, and Lafayette will be admits. There could be others, but as mentioned elsewhere, those are really reaches for all.
ETA: Um, yes, I obviously agree with @parentologist’s list of acceptances, too!
Agree with the a better than 50/50 chance of acceptances at Babson, Lafayette, Trinity, Connecticut College. Maybe NYU because he’s full pay. If he applied early action to Michigan, he’ll get deferred and then accepted ONLY if he makes it clear that he will attend. They are very yield-conscious.
As for the rest, based on the info you provided, it’s tough to know. I don’t feel like I have a sense of your son from what you wrote. The ECs don’t pop. The only thing he has is grades and ACT, but nothing else to differentiate himself. Those LACs are casting a play (a class) and need to know the role he will play in the cast (class). This is especially true at Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Tufts.
The wildcard in the equation is the boarding school he attends. If they have special insight and relationships with any of these schools, that could be in your son’s favor.
Tufts is extremely concerned with yield. If he wants to increase his chances of acceptance at Tufts, he needs to somehow convince them now that they are his absolute first choice. Of course, the way to have done that would have been applying ED1, but Tufts does have ED2. The deadline is Jan 4. Short of that, he could court them with visits and letters, to try to convince them that he really does love them best.
I didn’t know that Michigan was yield-conscious. That explains some really high-stats kids I know who got deferred on early action, made it clear that they really wanted Michigan, then got accepted finally. It also explains kids I know with mediocre academic stats who were applying for the jazz program, who got in. After all, Michigan could be pretty sure that those jazz kids were going to attend, since Michigan was by far the best school they were going to get into, academically, and has a great jazz program. And I could see Michigan not wanting to be the safety school for Ivy aspirants.
I don’t think that they realize that this policy of theirs can backfire. One kid I know of with astronomical stats had this happen to him. Michigan was his first, really only choice, but when he was deferred EA, he also applied to Tufts - which promptly gave him a 25K/yr merit scholarship. He was so hurt by the EA deferral by Michigan that he wound up going to Tufts!
Nope, he didn’t qualify for fin aid. He was awarded some science merit scholarship, at 25K/yr. This was about 6 yrs ago, so I don’t know if they still have that scholarship. But the point is that this was a kid with very high stats, who was shocked and hurt by the EA deferral from Michigan, which had been his dream school. I cannot recall if he was legacy, too. Michigan eventually accepted him, but he had been so wounded by their yield-massaging deferral of him that he wound up going elsewhere.
Well, that’s kind of ridiculous to be “hurt.” It’s not about him, it’s about the college. Applicants would do well to understand a college’s reason for the EA round. For Michigan, it’s not about capturing the cream of the crop up front. It’s about capturing those most likely to attend – and that does not include applicants whom they think are very likely to get into Ivy and similar. So he should take it as a compliment.
I’m very curious about this “merit” award you say he got. I’m not aware of any Tufts merit money at any time within recent memory.