Some info on my son:
His single-sitting SAT is 2260 (E: 720, M: 740, W:800), 2-sitting combined is 2280, and ACT is 33 (E:35, M:36, R:27, S:32).
He has perfect scores 800/800 at both SAT Math II and Physics.
He will have 20 AP (8) and college (12 at local City College) courses at graduation.
He has many awards including Commended student NMSC, member of National Honors Society and California Scholarship Federation, and AP scholar with Distinction.
In extracurricular activities, he is an Eagle Scout and member of Order of Arrow (Scouting Honor Society) and has over 200 hours of community services.
However, on the negative side:
His weighted GPA is only 4.47/5 and he is ranked in the top 10% of the graduating class (not top 9%).
What is his chance of getting into really tough schools (Caltech, MIT, Stanford and Berkeley)?
His ACT appears lower than his SAT, should we send his ACT scores or SAT scores? or Both?
How much his many extracurricular activities help with his applications?
Thanks in advance for help.
I would send the SAT - an ACT of 33 corresponds (more or less) to an SAT in the 2100-2200 range. Although I’ve heard that Cal Tech looks at CR+M only and loves perfect scorers, so I’d send them your son’s ACT score (with the 36 in math) over a 1460 with 740 in math.
The AP and college courseload seems very impressive, though I don’t know how rigorous the city college is. NHS and AP scholar with distinction are commonplace at top schools, so I would list them only if your son doesn’t have something else that might occupy one of the 5 Common App slots for awards. 10% class rank shouldn’t be an issue, assuming his unweighted GPA is up to par with his weighted.
You’ve only listed two named extracurricular activities (both related to scouting), which seems a bit light. Most colleges love Eagle Scouts, and with good reason, but I feel that the short list of meaningful ECs (unless the 200 hours of community service are split between a couple of major activities, rather than 5-6 occasional interests) may be your son’s issue.
He has the test scores. We’d need to know your son’s UW GPA to chance him properly (colleges look at this first, because wGPA is rarely comparable between two schools). I think his extracurriculars, as described here, look light, but if any of his awards/volunteering might change that do let us know.
Eric’s unweighted GPA is 3.77. In terms of ECs, he played piano for 10 years and advanced to level 8 (out of 10) in the CM test. He volunteers at local Wildlife Foundation weekly. At school, he is a student teacher for Algebra II, Calculus and Statistics, and VP of the Good Food Club. He also participated in Latin Club and Math Circle. His service hours are mostly with the Wildlife Foundation, Scouts, and as a student teacher at school.
For all these schools selection is somewhat of a lottery, and he’s in the lottery, but the GPA will make it somewhat tough.
At Berkeley the chances depend dramatically on what college he applies to - Engineering is very tough to get into, non-engineering is substantially easier. It will also depend on whether he’s in-state.
3.77 is below all these schools’ midranges, but it won’t sink his application. Those ECs look a lot more solid - piano, wildlife foundation, and the tutoring are all strong extracurriculars. Standing out in a good way at these schools takes some kind of superlative accomplishment, due to nature of the applicant pools, but at least your son won’t be an applicant who’s rejected for having next to no ECs.
In all honesty, nothing really jumps out in your son’s profile (in a good or bad way), but he’s certainly a ‘qualified’ applicant. Of course, these schools have about 30,000 qualified applicants each year, and a few thousand get in, so that guarantees nothing. Make sure he has an affordable safety and 3-4 match schools on his list.
If he’s in-state for Berkeley, I’d give him an above-average shot. Otherwise, his chances are around the admission rate IMHO.
I also retract what I said about Caltech’s CR+M preference. I looked it up, and I’m an idiot. I stand by the point about perfect math scores, but ignore the rest.
Have you calculated his UC GPA for Berkeley? Average last year was around 4.4. Ditto what Cheery said on engineering vs. non engineering at UCB. He’s probably a long shot unless he goes with L&S for UCB.
He got all A’s except four courses where he got B and B+: World History, American History and two English courses at city college.
He is interested in engineering and had taken many science and math courses and did well (all A): calculus, multivariable calculus, statistics, computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, and environmental science.
Should he wrote in his essay or optional writing component of his adequate preparation for an engineering career: his large number of STEM courses, and his perfect scores in SAT physics and math II, and in ACT math? Will that help or people will just ignore it?
I would have to agree with @NotVerySmart ^^^. Your DS is in a good position for other schools but at some of these elite schools, it’s tough competing with perfect SATs and ECs.
To which one might add that writing an essay on how many classes you’ve taken will probably get a groan from the poor application reader, who goes through a few dozen profiles every day. Writing about SAT scores is worse still in this regard.
Each student has a 10-page application to show that they’re qualified (through course load, grades, and test scores) and have impressive extracurriculars. Essays and recommendations, by showing schools what a student is like as a person, are your son’s chance to stand out from the legions of applicants who are merely qualified, by demonstrating that he’s not just qualified but interesting to boot.
I would give him lackluster chances at best at each of these universities. Your son sounds talented but so many talented people are denied admission and despite decent ECs I just don’t think he is special enough for Ivies/MIT/Caltech. Then again, Berkely is a possibility.