<p>great score on the SATIIs, I concur. The lit one in particular is a tough exam.</p>
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I guess this could work but I have a hard time imagining how this would be a compelling essay. First, the OP’s daughter had a 217 PSAT scores and is an excellent student at her school … the 2300 SAT is not out of line for a 217 PSAT at all. Second, if I read an essay about the applicant being surprised they are good candidate it would most likely diminish my view of the candidate rather than enhance it …to me, it reads the candidate either lacks confidence or is unaware. Again, this probably could be spun well … but it seems like a tough premise to sell to me. </p>
<p>OP you touched a nerve regarding prepping for the PSAT. I live in the DC area and have been wondering whether to spend the money on PSAT prep or let my DD self study. Your scenario has convinced me to spend the money. If your daughter mentions who her camp friends used in DC, I would be very grateful if you would post the information. Good luck to your DD. </p>
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<p>Someone also mentioned Macalester with merit aid. The problem is that many schools will give merit aid, but not enough to get the price down anywhere near $20K. For example, my kid had a 2380 SAT, and she got $15K in merit and would have had $2K in NMF money from them last year, and that is it. I do know they give out some $20K scholarships, but even that is not enough to get near what the OP is looking for.</p>
<p>Also, someone mentioned checking EFC on FAFSA. That doesn’t mean a lot in terms of cost of attendance for colleges. The Net Price Calculators are where you need to look.</p>
<p>And the idea of writing an essay about this is honestly terrible. The point of the essay is to show something interesting and unusual about yourself that makes the ad com think you would be a good addition to their campus. They know your SAT score… finding out that you were surprised it was so good isn’t really the sort of thing that matters to them. Pick something totally unrelated.</p>
<p>Those subject matter test scores are very good. Not top of the line, the subject score averages tend to skew higher than regular SATs, but perfectly acceptable for anyplace she applies. She should not take a math subject test if it is not her strength, she is fine with these.</p>
<p>The southern universities fall all over themselves to attract kids with high test scores – Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, etc. and all have honors colleges with like-minded smart kids. Money is your gating factor here, not climate, or urban or whatever. So, filter your college choices first by money, then add in the other ingredients.</p>
<p>Hi. Ldoponce, the PSAT prep was done in school, not by private prep companies to my understanding. The students go to St. Albans and Sidwell Friends. The next time I speak with her I’ll have her double check but we were discussing how her counselor hasn’t been a good match for her needs and what the schools and counselors do for students at private schools. I’m glad my situation has helped someone make a decision. 
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<p>Ldoponce - My daughter is a counselor at a summer camp that has limited access to phones/internet. Usually she can connect at the nearest town on Wed. her day off.</p>
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The southern universities fall all over themselves to attract kids with high test scores – Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, etc. and all have honors colleges with like-minded smart kids. Money is your gating factor here, not climate,>>>>></p>
<p>Very true. Visit Alabama…many, many oos students, gorgeous campus, strong academics…excellent law school, public policy office is very active with involvement with lower ses community.</p>
<p>Full tuition merit would be given. Remaining costs would be about 15k.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply OP. We are in private and the College Counselors don’t meet with students (or parents) until second semester of junior year which is way to late in my opinion. </p>
<p>I agree with @Ldoponce about second semester of HS junior year of being way to late for meeting with counselors about college.</p>
<p>I have found that looking at what smart students/smart parents a few grades ahead of your students are doing. Get out early and see colleges in your area, so you get a feel for what is going on, what kind of questions to ask, what to look for. At least try to visit most likely schools early. Reserve second semester senior visits based on merit or newly discovered, or confirmation type visit.</p>
<p>Getting in some research ahead, pacing yourself and your student. Make a chart of deadlines for various schools so important things can get done on time.</p>
<p>I just had another friend’s DD fall 1 point short on PSAT for NM, and parents/students did not realize the ramifications - so while at my friend’s house, I met her neighbor who has a very smart HS sophomore - our HS does have the Oct testing available to younger students (often many take ACT repeatedly), and told her to have her do a PSAT so she has a practice test before her junior PSAT test.</p>
<p>Some students are only encouraged to take the SAT in certain areas of the country, with parents/students not realizing the student may qualify for merit with ACT. I know of one such student - he took a lot of dual enrollment, and not realizing he could move the needle on the ACT. His younger sibling won’t make that mistake. My DD worked her way up to Presidential Scholarship with ACT, and I believe he could have done the same with time and preparation.</p>
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<p>Those aren’t really choices. ALL preparation require self study. Organized prep outfits solely capitalize on the naivety and insecurity of parents. Group classes are usually ineffective because students are not motivated to do the extra work that actually is the only beneficial part. On the other hand, a dedicated student can do better with a handful of dollars AND desire. If money is not a concern, combine self study and a competent tutor from OUTSIDE your school environment. </p>
<p>Lastly, the ideal prep has to focus on the Junior October month, for BOTH the PSAT and the SAT. Hence, the timing of the ideal SAT prep is the summer before the Junior HS year. Anything better than spending lazy days or wasting time to college tours should suffice! </p>
<p>I agree that the two SAT Subject scores are great, especially considering your daughter just “went and took” them. The most elite colleges want to see 700+ (and if we’re talking Top 10 or even Top 20, 750+) so she’s in the ballpark for pretty much any school of her choosing. She doesn’t need a math test - subject scores aim at showing academic strengths.</p>
<p>I disagree with the way this student 's potential application is being characterized here.</p>
<p>This is what I see:</p>
<p>–the student has an excellent history of pursuing FOCUSED, multi-faceted ECs in several areas, and they show true interest and the pattern of making her own opportunities. Plus leadership. They also mesh well with her academic interests.
–the student has consistently displayed a pattern of challenging herself academically, including in the areas where she isn’t the strongest, having taken ALL of the APs available to her at her school.
–the student has an excellent SAT–including an 800CR, which schools like the Ivies love–and two fine SATIIs.
–the student has 5s on multiple AP exams
–In short, the student comes across as an extremely bright, well-prepared, interesting and individual go-getter who would add a lot to campus life. </p>
<p>Yes, it would help if her UW GPA was a solid A- at least, but isn’t a 3.71 there? A strong first semester senior year could really help her on that front. And her strong class rank shows that it is a good GPA for her school.</p>
<p>I think that what she needs most is to be presented properly, and to have a really great essay and recs that reflect who she is. I would strongly suggest that she solicit 2 extra recommendations, such as one from her camp employer and one from her theater or dance EC.</p>
<p>It’s great that she has an excellent state flagship as a safety, or near-safety, but I think she has a very legitimate shot at the Ivies, including those with FA policies that would give her substantial assistance. I would strongly suggest that she also apply to Smith and Mount Holyoke, both of which give merit aid. I think that Barnard and Wellesley would both love her–and vice versa–but the money would be more of a problem.</p>
<p>Regarding the FA, if your H is 65, and he accounts for a substantial amount of your income, that will be taken into account. I don’t know how much you contribute to this relative, or how you feel about cutting back on that for a while–are there others who could take up the slack?–but at very least, documented evidence of this ongoing contribution could help on an appeal.</p>
<p>BTW, the VERY LAST thing she should write an essay about is her SAT score! Please!!!</p>
<p>@intparent - I’m going to defend my recommendation of Rhodes. My D received 20k Hon scholarship from Rhodes with lower stats than OP’s D. She also didn’t visit or interview which is a big factor in Rhodes’ scholarships awards. Rhodes has several scholarships over 20k a year including Bellingrath (full tuition ), Morse (32.5k), Cambridge (27.5k) and others which could get OP in the financial ballpark. Definitely think it’s a better bet than recommendations such as Georgetown, NYU, JHU etc. OP’s D could get lucky, but generally she has a much better shot at higher merit at second tier schools, especially smaller LACs. </p>
<p>Agree, however, that UMD would be an excellent choice. </p>
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<p>Not sure about Smith, but historically the biggest merit award at Mount Holyoke is $25K (leaving a price of 40K). I think they did add a scholarship for full tuition this year (bringing the cost down to about $13K for the recipient), but I get the impression they might give out only one (can’t tell). Probably very, very competitive. </p>
<p>She has a legitimate shot at the Ivies, but is no better qualified than probably 75% of the applicants who apply there. She needs some other choices that are definitely affordable that she would want to attend as well.</p>
<p>Too late to edit my last post, but I wanted to add that although I think she has a legitimate shot at schools such as Yale, she certainly shouldn’t <em>depend</em> on them coming through. You need to cast a wide net, including substantial automatic merit schools, in-state schools, and, if possible, specific big scholarships for which she has to apply. And I would not discount applying for some things such as the Pepsi scholarships, which can be very substantial.</p>
<p>I had a kid with pretty similar stats (better test scores, actually), and honestly I don’t see this student getting those kinds of awards or into top Ivies. No true hook there, good test scores and solid ECs aren’t enough, especially with a slightly weak GPA (skimming the minimum for those schools). A ‘legitimate’ shot probably means a 5% shot if she is average in the applicant pool, which she probably is. I just wouldn’t want this parent & student going off thinking she has much of a shot at HYPS. Okay to apply to a couple as a flyer, but that probably isn’t going to be where she ends up.</p>
<p>Hi all OP here. Just checking back in as we move forward. Thank you again for all your help both on this thread and throughout CC.</p>
<p>Apparently we have been generous patrons of the arts 
and we need to find low/no cost ways to do this for the future. (We love theater, music, movies, art, eating out, throwing parties, etc.) and by tightening our belts and cutting travel and other nonessential expenses we can contribute up to 35,000 (up from 20,000) a year and we have saved about $60,000.</p>
<p>We will visit:
U Penn (lottery ticket!) did NPC and their financial aid puts them in the ballpark
Rice (reach)
Emory (reach?) hoping for some merit aid to make this work
Tulane (low reach?) hoping for some merit aid here, too
American University (match?) Merit aid, please
University of MD (safety?)</p>
<p>Feedback on reach, match, safety statuses above? </p>
<p>Stat recap:
2300 SAT (800 CR, 780 W, 720M)
GPA UW 3.71/ W 5.8 (B’s in AP science and AP math)
9 AP’s by end of senior yr Took 5 AP tests all 5’s but 4 on Calculus
SAT II Lit 760, US History 750</p>
<p>EC recap
Director of school’s theatre co- elected position - (this is a big deal at her school)
Cast in numerous plays, directed 1 school play last yr
10+ years of ballet/lyrical/modern 15+ hours a week - took 4 national exams to pass to higher skill levels
9 years on a competitive dance team
tutor at domestic abuse shelter - will do senior yr
mock trial 3 yrs - won some sort of award - she said it was a BS award
NHS and other no big deal clubs at school </p>
<p>Jobs:
counselor (paid position) at a sleep away summer camp 10 week camp -this summer
Junior counselor (unpaid) at sleep away camp for 8 weeks - last summer
lifeguard
DJ - prob. won’t include this one, but she knows how to get a party started ha ha</p>
<p>Hooks - none (white female)</p>
<p>We’re looking for some safeties now that she can get excited about. She is interested in gender studies, ethics, public policy, law as it concerns women, children, and minority rights. She wants a medium to large school near or in an urban area</p>
<p>Thoughts? We can’t wait until this is OOOOOOOOOOVER! Good luck all!</p>
<p>Hi OP, good luck, your D’s stats are great. I am guessing from your latest post that women’s colleges are off the list? Also sounds like she/you prefer universities to small liberal arts colleges?</p>
<p>If both observations are true, how about BC, BU, Northeastern, Temple, UVA? </p>
<p>Good luck and please keep us posted! Your D sounds like an interesting student, congratulations.</p>
<p>Hi @momcinco. Yes, at this point she prefers larger universities, but once she visits them she could very well change what she thinks she wants. BU is on our “still looking into” list along with Carnegie Mellon (but we’d need some merit and I don’t think they give much). Hmmmm Temple - I don’t think we’ve looked at that - will do. </p>
<p>Regarding women’s colleges, she’s worried that the more radical, judgmental aspects of her personality might be cultivated in this environment. I mean no offense to people who attend these schools, and it sounds silly as I type it, but if you knew her you’d get what I mean. ;)</p>