<p>Thank you for the replies. </p>
<p>1) Nephew is doing his summer internship at Johnson and Johnson, and at the same time studying for the SAT’s in December. </p>
<p>2) He was in to smoking, drinking, girls and parties in HS. Which distracted him a lot and he was not able to balance fun and academics. He took the SAT’s for the sake of it. A 2.5+ is a shoo in at St. Cloud from his HS. He became more serious in College (which I guess is the other way around for many kids). This surprised many of us (in the family) as he started taking jobs and internships seriously and he is working very hard in college. </p>
<p>3) He did not take pre-calculus in college because he got a perfect score on the placement tests and got an A in Calculus in his HS. His command over the English language is a bit poor as I said in my first post, we are European immigrants. He speaks fluently in English now and is working hard on his SAT’s. </p>
<p>My question:- </p>
<p>[ul]
[<em>]Should he even bother studying for the SAT’s (I and subject tests) ?. Do schools like Cornell and Michigan look at it ?.
[</em>]What do you think will his chances be at the universities listed above with his current stats ?
[li]Which all college’s do you people think he should aim for ?. [/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Because he is doing his internship and has to study at the same time (he wants to take a break as all his friends are on vacation !). So, should he study for the SAT’s or no ?.</p>
<p>For Cornell (transfer select rate <25%), his HS transcript is required and his SATs are recommended. <a href=“http://www.dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000435.pdf#pagemode=bookmarks[/url]”>http://www.dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000435.pdf#pagemode=bookmarks</a></p>
<p>UMich (transfer select rate <45%), has the same requirements for transcript and SATs. <a href=“Office of Budget and Planning”>Office of Budget and Planning;
<p>I would have him study and retake the test. Since an essay is required for each school I would have him focus on what changed for him from HS to college in his studies.</p>
<p>I think the real question is which of the colleges on the transfer list will offer a better “advancement opportunity” vs cost of attendance than the college that he is currently attending.</p>
<p>Current List:-</p>
<ul>
<li>University of Minnesota - Twin cities (safety)</li>
<li>University of Michigan - Ann Arbor</li>
<li>University of Wisconsin</li>
<li>University of California - LA</li>
<li>University of California - Berkeley</li>
<li>Cornell University</li>
<li>Northwestern University</li>
<li>Dartmouth college</li>
</ul>
<p>I don’t know that at UCLA/Berkeley grad earns more than a UM, UMich or UW grad. Might be different for Cornell etc. If my son couldn’t get into Cornell I would probably consider U of M just for the COA vs salary ratio. FYI my father in law, husband, and numerous friends graduated from U of M engineering and all had very successful careers.</p>
<p>Do colleges weigh an SAT taken while in college the same way they would weigh SATs taken while in high school? It would seem obvious that a college kid would have a higher SAT, wouldn’t it?</p>
<p>Since he’s a full pay student, maybe he should consider some “need aware” schools. Santa Clara claims to be need-blind but some insist that they aren’t.</p>
<p>Test scores are a VERY minor part of transfer admissions criteria at UMich. If UMich is he one he’s aiming for there’s really no point in bothering with them.</p>
<p>^ Evidence please? The CDS says they are recommended.</p>
<p>This is on the Uof M transfer admissions website: If you did not take the ACT or SAT as a high school student, these scores will not be required as part of your transfer application to the University of Michigan and you should not sit for the exams as a college student.</p>
<p>That alone should tell you that they are considered but not heavily. I cannot fathom that any college places much emphasis on high school than the emphasis they would place on college performance.</p>
<p>“^ Evidence please? The CDS says they are recommended.”</p>
<p>I go there and have met many transfer students… It’s not as if they’ve published that. If you don’t believe me there’s nothing I can give you that will convince you.</p>
<p>It’s good to read about a high school student that has gotten more serious on academics at college. Good for him! </p>
<p>The more typical scenario for high school slackers is high math SAT scores and low class grades. It’s possible that he just had a tired/uninspired SAT test morning. He should try taking a practice test. He may be ready for SAT retake before December. (Or it is possible he will need prep because sometimes the basic skills get rusty when doing a lot of higher level math). </p>
<p>I’m glad his professors have been involved in the discussions. Engineering courses really do build upon each other, so strong basics are important.</p>
<p>I do not necessarily give a lot of credit to the student himself and his professors at what is a low ranked university regarding whether his coursework there will be sufficient for him to step into a program like most of those on his list and be prepared. I went to one of those schools on the list, and while I was not an engineering major, a lot of my friends were. They are some of the smartest people I know, and they struggled mightily with the coursework there. I know some who flunked out, and it wasn’t because they partied their way out, they just couldn’t keep up. The step from St. Cloud State to most of those schools is very big.</p>
<p>^Well, it’s a big step up from HS too, and people still do fine with that. And it’s not like he needs a 3.9 at these schools.</p>
<p>Thank you all. </p>
<p>I just had one more question. His HS is in Europe (Germany), and he has one original copy of his transcripts with him. So will the university ask for the transcripts to be sent directly from the HS (which does not look possible to me as it is very backward and when my son had to send his transcripts, I went to the HS - got the transcripts sealed - then sent it from DHL). So what should he do ?</p>
<p>Usually the schools want the transcripts directly from the school to prove they have not been tampered with.</p>
<p>I think the University of Minnesota would be a good choice and that his St. Cloud State classes will most easily transfer there.</p>
<p>SO there is no other alternative ?</p>
<p>Contact the universities he is looking at transferring to and explain the situation. They’ll tell you what to do.</p>