<p>My daughter is really interested in a school without a gen ed req. Most of those schools are top tier liberal arts colleges. SHe has all plusses I thought for her seeing as after she took the PSAT she started getting hundreds of college letters and books in the mail We set up an email account just for schools at she has over 5000 emails since last october. But now that we are working on narrowing down her list her scores dont seem competitive at all compared to what the class of 2012 had. How important are the SAT/ACT scores?</p>
<h2>Pros</h2>
<p>Ranked #20 out of 550
Earned 32 credits as of junior year only needs 24 to graduate.
3.9 GPA unweighted
Taken every AP class her school offers and dual enrollment
Appeared on the game show Jeopardy
President of Amnesty Intl
President of junior Statesman of America
Studied at several college campuses over the last 4 summers for gifted programs
4 time Presidents Service award winner gold level
Presidents lifetime achievement award winner 2012
Over 500 hours of documented community Service
3 years of JROTC
Other extra currics= human rights campaign, GLSEN, young americans for liberty, national history club, models 4 miracles
National honor society
Scored 85 on asvab</p>
<h2>Cons</h2>
<p>No sports
PSAT 64 math 58 reading 54 writing
She hasnt taken the SAT since 7th grade as part of the Midwest academic talent search. I was told by her guidance counselor add a 0 at the end of her psat score and that is probably what she will get.</p>
<p>She wants to major in near east studies or a choose your own major in near eastern or arabic studies. She wanted to go into the military as she did so well on the asvab bit because of her age west point and the citadel said she would have to wait 2 years before she enlists. so she would have to go to a junior military college then transfer in. Plus she may never make the weight requirement she is too underweight by 15-20lbs.</p>
<p>Schools she is considering</p>
<p>Amherst
Smith
Bennington
Brown
Hamilton
Oberlin
Pitzer
Vassar
WHeaton
Wesleyan
Colgate
Harvard
Swarthmore
Carleton
barnard
Sewanee
Bryn Mawr
Dartmouth
Washington Lee
UVA</p>
<p>We are still narrowing and have a long way to go but she is my first child going to school and I want to make sure we are realistic in where we apply
University of Miami
University of Michigan
Ohio State
University of Pennsylvania
Elon
Pepperdine
Vanderbilt
University Chicago
Loyola
Pace</p>
<p>First off, that list is beyond long (nobody is going to chance for that many schools), it is like you Googled “top liberal arts colleges” and put every result on your list. Cut that list down to no more then 10 schools (since most are very competitive I would recommend it be no longer then four reaches and the rest be matches/safeties). Once the list is cut down, I will gladly chance (I am familiar with almost every school on the list). Also know that she will have to rush to take her tests (from my understanding she is an incoming senior) and hope she does well on the first try, for top schools she will need the SAT and two subject tests or the ACT.</p>
<p>I was asking everyone to chance all the schools I was asking someone to point out a couple that would be good fits. We narrowed the lsit down to about 40 from 300. Now out of the 40 we have three for sure ones we will be applying to:</p>
<p>Elon
Washington University St Louis
Oberlin</p>
<p>The rest we are still investigating, researching etc. I just want some suggestions on were to put our focus. She will be taking the SAT and ACT and the subject test I am unfamiliar with. I will do my research on those now. Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>She should get into Oberlin no problem.
Each school on that list values different things (of course they all care about grades and test scores). I will do chances based on categories (still avoiding chancing 40 schools)…</p>
<p>Ivies - GPA/Rank is high enough, PSAT suggests that her scores will be too low, assuming they are not it will be partially luck
Little ivies (top LACs) - GPA/Rank is high enough, PSAT suggests that her scores will be too low, assuming they are not it will be partially luck. Also they tend to value the essay, recommendations and interview more (in comparison to ivies which focus slightly more on numbers), all of these are aspects are subjective but her essay in particular will need to be strong.
Less competitive LACs - Assuming there is a strong essay she will probably get in.
Other schools - Not as familiar with, will probably get in.</p>
<p>All though many of those schools are similar on paper I have found that they actually are rather different (it should not be as hard as you think to cut that list down). Visiting is the most effective method of determining if a school is a good fit. Also random things that are important to the individual can help cut down the list. Mine are that they need to have a neuroscience major and not have a stadium (I do not want to go to a school that focusses on sports), having a Quidditch team was a plus. Visiting also helps a lot, I have found that schools that are similar on paper tend to be very different when you visit.</p>
<p>I recommend you focus on standardized testing and not finding specific colleges (like I said before she will be rushing to take her tests/only have one try). Her PSAT score is much lower that what is expected for 90 percent of the schools on that list. Also take some tours of colleges and identify what she wants in a school.</p>
<p>We just found out she is a questbridge finalist. She scored way better to expected on the sat but still not ivy standards…I guess we well see what happens with her ed apps through questbridge and go from there</p>
<p>Hey. I think chancing individual schools is rather foolish because nobody knows enough about you. However, what I am going to do for you is go through your application on this forum and analyze where things may go wrong. I may seem rude at points, but I would rather that you see me as a jerk than for you to get denied to a school.</p>
<p>-The only thing that matters about your daughter’s rank is that she is in the top 10%, which she is.</p>
<p>-Colleges do not care if you do not need to take as many classes senior year to graduate.</p>
<p>-Your scores are low, and you need to admit this and see that it will hurt you in the college process. Once a child is at 32 or higher ACT or 2200+ SAT, scores no longer matter and colleges look at GPA, ECs, essays, interviews… If your child is below this, she will be divided into a pile of lower scoring applicants at the more competitive schools. This will hurt her and you need to acknowledge this and focus your application on some lower tier schools.</p>
<p>-You need focus. What do I mean by focus? Focus is something that much of your ECs revolved around, and something that you were successful at. Most importantly however, focus is what college admissions think you will bring to the college. Now your focus doesn’t have to be unique; mine is mathematics research and engineering. Of course I backed this up (Siemens comp participant, submitted paper to journal, presentation at a conference at a college, tutor in engineering teams at elementary schools (engineering tutor of the state 2x), and competing at an international college engineering competition.</p>
<p>Of course yours doesn’t need to be this extensive, but you need to tell colleges why they want you to come to the school. Once you find your focus, write your R</p>
<p>I agree with @latitude. It’d be helpful to know her new SAT score. Going off of her past PSAT scores, most of those schools are reaches, even with the good GPA and EC’s. If her SAT score is anywhere near her PSAT scores, then forget about any Ivy, any top 10 LAC, and other similarly prestigious schools. Yes, people will say admissions are holistic (and they are), but the fact is, you need top standardized testing to be competitive. After all, its the “standardized” that makes them worthwhile. It’s a level field for everyone, so even if your daughter is one of the top students in her school, she may do so well compared to others across the country.</p>
<p>P.S. - Contrary to what @ArtsyGirl said, I would’t be so confident with Oberlin. It’ll be tough.</p>
<p>I apologize if I came off as too brash, but I’d rather be honest than give you false hope.</p>
<p>I appreciate every one advice. My daughter its fifteen so I don’t allow her own forums inn this world of internet predators. I agree the ec lack focus and I wonder how her school profile many hurt her. Only 20 percent go to college never had an ivy. Her math us 640 reading 660 and wwriting 630. </p>
<p>I figure being a questbridge finalist shows she is inn the running. I feel like academically she can handle the work she has been taking college classes last three terms full time plus full time hs classes and she had a 4.0 in college. Her focus inn community service and her demographics hopefully will make jager stand out. She has excellent references from school and government officials. She is American Indian and African American live in a rural community family of 8 income under $25000 first in family to graduate high school has two jobs still has all the money she won on jeopardy. All around in hoping her story is moving and shows perseverance and dedication. She was awarded travel grants for diversity weekend to Swarthmore Wesleyan Whitman Kenyon Oberlin Franklin and Marshall and Colgate was denied from Amherst and Williams</p>
<p>She is a senior now? And 15 years old?
If that is the case, I would look close to home. 15 from a rural community is a very, very different student than many she will meet. I would also be looking at smaller schools. Big cities are another alarm bell to me. Not saying that masses of people and metropolitan cities are bad, but I’d be looking at getting her into a school where she won’t be too overwhelmed and can find her place. The other stuff might be a better fit for graduate school in a few years, when she is older. This is what I’d think for my child. I obviously don’t know yours. Her youth concerns me though.</p>
<p>She was accepted Early decision at Swarthmore college with a full ride scholarship through the questbridge program. thanks everyone for your input!</p>