<p>Thanks again mom2college!</p>
<p>Do you know how important it is to take and report SAT II tests? It seems like many of the schools our son is interested in only require them if the student has taken SAT I while if you take the ACT they’re not required. </p>
<p>I guess my real question is would high scores on SAT II tests or the AP tests help a student whose GPA was on the lower side? </p>
<p>Any thoughts would be appreciated!</p>
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<p>Higher scores are obviously more helpful than lower scores in all situations, though they won’t necessarily completely cover the lower GPA (though the GPA you mention is not necessarily that low).</p>
<p>Grinnell and Oberlin are two high-quality LACs where a 3.67 UW would not be disqualifying, and a 35 ACT might bring a nice merit scholarship. Grinnell apparently doesn’t publish info on the HS GPAs of its entering class, but for the fall of 2012 Oberlin shows 34% of its% entering class had a GPA of 3.75 or higher, and 28% were in the 3.50-3.74 range; average GPA was 3.57. So your S’s GPA would be somewhere around the middle of the second quartile. But the 35 ACT would be one of the very top scores in the class; middle 50% is 28-32.</p>
<p>Grinnell’s middle 50% ACT is the same as Oberlin’s, 28-32. Both of these school have been known to give good merit aid.</p>
<p>With good ECs, essays, and recommendations, I’d probably count these as “match” schools and say you could aim even a little higher for “reaches,” while identifying a “safety” or two. At Wesleyan, for example, 57.14% of the entering class in 2012 had a GPA of 3.75 or higher, with an average GPA of 3.73, which would put a 3.67 in the third quartile. But the 35 ACT would still be high in the top quartile; middle 50% in 2012 were 29-33.</p>
<p>Here’s why males have a slight edge in LAC admissions: At Wesleyan, 6,053 females applied for freshman admission in 2012, but only 3,993 males did; 911 males were admitted, for a 22.8% admit rate, while 1,191 females were admitted, for a 19.7% admit rate. </p>
<p>The gender balance is even more skewed at Vassar, a former women’s college, where female applicants outnumbered male applicants by more than 2-to-1 (5,433 F to 2,475 M). Of those, 810 males were admitted for a 32.7% admit rate, while 996 females were admitted for an 18.3% admit rate. To be sure, Vassar is an extreme case, but there is some level of gender imbalance at just about every LAC. (At Harvey Mudd and the service academies, the skew is in the opposite direction, but these are hardly traditional LACs). </p>
<p>Find other schools’ common data sets using your favorite search engine, entering the school’s name and the term “common data set.” Section C of the CDS gives you a freshman admission profile.</p>
<p>“I guess my real question is would high scores on SAT II tests or the AP tests help a student whose GPA was on the lower side?”</p>
<p>Yes, they could. You should play to your strengths, whatever they may be. It looks like your son is a great test-taker. Run with that.</p>
<p>bclinton - THANKS for the excellent info of why males have higher acceptances to LAC’s. Had no idea the %applicants male & female was available on CDS! Will incorporate that info in our searches. Wesleyan - great suggestion!
S loves Claremont Mckenna; afraid the skew may be like H Mudd (and lord knows the % accepted is rough!!!)</p>
<p>Hanna: hoping the “first try 35” on ACT magic will also transfer to SAT II’s and AP’s - fingers (and toes)crossed! Thanks</p>
<p>Thanks bean!</p>
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<p>Actually, CMC skews slightly female in applications but slightly male in admits and enrolled freshmen. Somewhat unusual. You’re right, though, the admit rate is brutal. Still worth a try, but I’d call it a “reach.”</p>
<p>Interested in government</p>
<p>Federal? State? Local?</p>
<p>If federal, then is he going to look at DC-area schools? GW, American, Catholic Univ of America, etc? </p>
<p>Is he interested in law school? If so, will you be funding that as well? If not, then maybe it’s a good idea to go for some merit as an undergrad so that some “undergrad money” can be used towards law school.</p>
<p>If your son is a top debater who qualified for nationals as a junior, he should look at Dartmouth, Northwestern, USC, Georgetown, and Wake Forest among other top schools with strong debate programs. Colleges know debate is a very time-intensive activity and requires a student to miss school many Fridays each year. I debated in HS and won the state title (in Ohio) and went to Nationals. I ended up at Georgetown even though my GPA was good but not great (about 3.5 UW). I think your son will do fine with top colleges.</p>
<p>bclintock - per your advice did look at cds for CMC and thought it was interesting as well. maybe the male athlete accounts for skew. Thanks.</p>
<p>mom & muck: DC is definitely a draw! GW & american are on the docket. Muck - as you know lots of Fridays and sometimes Mondays are missed which makes catching up tough. Reaches are on radar.</p>
<p>mom - law school is on the horizon so merit always a great idea!</p>
<p>Do you know your S’s class rank? Being in or out of the Top 10% can be very important.</p>
<p>My S with similar interests, same ACT score, and worse grades but within the Top 10% was accepted three years ago ED to WashU in St. Louis, which has a very strong poli sci department. However, WashU continues to become more and more selective, so it would definitely be a reach. </p>
<p>Colgate is one of those schools which has a much higher ED acceptance rate than RD acceptance rate, so certainly seems within range. </p>
<p>He sounds like a good candidate for merit aid at Dickinson.</p>
<p>thanks sacchi…congrats on your son at WashU - great school.</p>