<p>I need help/advice regarding my daughters college search. She is a junior in a public but very competitive high school in New Jersey (always sends kids to top schools) and just got her march SAT results. The score is really bad, specially her CR (480, M 630, W 570, 8/12 in essay). This is the first time she takes the SATs and her PSATs were better, I dont know what happened. When she took the PSATs sophomore year she was around the 90th percentile, and went downhill from there. She took a test prep class btw. Her grades on the other hand have gotten better even as she takes more challenging classes:
Freshman: wGPA 3.852 w/ honors geometry, French 3 for language
Sophmore: wGPA 4.02 w/ honors algebra II/trigonometry and honors English, French 4 for language (she took the biology SAT and got 570, she wasnt in AP bio)
Junior: wGPA 4.125 (first half of the year) w/ honors English, honors precalculus, and AP Chemistry, switched to Spanish 5, got into AP English but decided not to take it.
Courses for Senior year: AP Physics B, AP Calculus AB, AP Spanish, AP Environmental Science, Honors English (also got into AP but decided not to take it)
EC: Costume Crew Head starting this year (costume crew all 3 years) and the school productions always win awards both acting, crew and directing; Key Club, Yearbook, Darfur; has volunteered in the Animal shelter summer camp as a counselor for 5 years (including 2009) and this year she will be the head counselor, in charge of a group of about 20.
She has somewhat of an interesting story: I am a single mom, Hispanic, and dropped out of college when she was born (I was 20 yrs old) only to return when she was 1 year. She was born in US but in order for me to go to college (Im a professional engineer now) we returned to my country in Central America, Costa Rica, and as a result up until coming back to the US at age 7 her language was Spanish. So she started 1st grade not knowing a word of English. She has never met her father (hes Russian), and we have moved a lot over the years, mostly in Florida and New Jersey.
Now reading the posts in this forum can be depressing because there are so many outstanding students all wanting to go to the Ivys, but thats not whats important to me or her (even if she had a chance, which is not likely at all). I just didnt come all the way over here to have her go to a mediocre school. She took the SATs just a week after the end of the school production; she was trying to catch up with school and very sleep deprived.
So I have two questions: 1. Should she take it again in May? She wants to concentrate on her grades and AP exam, but I think waiting until October, so close to applications even if she studies and practices all summer (which she says she will) is not a good idea. She is going to take the Chem SAT, Math II and Spanish. And will try to learn Italian over the summer. (her dad spoke 6 languages)
2. She wants to stay in the northeast mid Atlantic region (maybe as far west as Pittsburgh), and go to a small to medium size school. She doesnt care about name, but wants it to be a challenging school. She is undecided as to her major but is leaning towards the natural sciences (took marine biology this year and loved it, same with biology last year, loves animals). Any schools we should be looking at?
I know is hard to believe but she writes very well, her research projects and essays are always excellent, so her application essay is going to be a plus. And her teachers love her.
Thanks everyone for your help.</p>
<p>The good news is that more and more schools are making the SAT’s optional including some very good colleges. And others schools that require SAT’s are not looking at them with the same weight they were ‘back in the day.’ </p>
<p>Also, don’t stress out your daughter about doing well in testing. It’s not helpful and if you are already talking to her about studying for the test over summer … it sounds like you are already there.</p>
<p>OP, relax. Your daughter has very good grades, an interesting story and will probably write a compelling essay. Her disappointing (so far) SATs will not limit her to “mediocre” schools. If she were my daughter, I’d support her in the decision to focus on grades and APs now, and spend the summer studying for the SATs which she could retake in October. She sounds like a young woman with a good head on her shoulders, and that plan makes sense. I don’t know what taking the SATs in May – and possibly not doing well on them again – would accomplish other than to further stress an already hard-working student. Chin up: you have a great kiddo.</p>
<p>My daughter had the same situation - very good GPA in a challenging curriculum and SAT scores around 1500/2400. We stressed over it, she took individual tutoring and it did not change her score very much. There are some test-optional schools, and many schools put a lot more emphasis on gpa. We did not find anything that suited her in the list of test optional schools, but she did get into the school of her choice with a high gpa and a boost from her athletics. </p>
<p>One suggestion: try her out on the ACT - many kids find it much easier. My daughter did not do any better on one than the other, but one of her friends did very badly on the SAT and then got a very good score on the ACT.</p>
<p>She might be a prime candidate for Smith or Mt. Holyoke, both with excellent sciences, lots of financial aid, and SAT optional. (They count essays, interviews, and intellectual excitement heavily.)</p>
<p>Here’s a list of schools that are either SAT-optional or de-emphasize the test in admissions decisions:</p>
<p>[Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List for Fall 2025 - Fairtest)</p>
<p>also try the ACT.</p>
<p>My son took the ACT and was accepted into all the top schools without the SAT. Some students do much better with the ACT and all the schools take that instead of the SAT. He did take the SAT II’s as well.</p>
<p>Have her read the book “Colleges that Change Lives” and visit the website that these schools have put together [Colleges</a> That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/) . Not so much to find a school for herself in this list, but so that she starts thinking about all of her real options. There are so many good schools in the Northeast! </p>
<p>Is she thinking about a career in technical theater/costume design? ACT or SAT scores won’t be as important because the schools will be looking at her portfolio instead.</p>
<p>When I was a high school student and had to take the SAT, I ordered a preparation book from a catalog (though now surely these things must be available online). I found that I was able to make substantial improvements in my scores through regular use of the book. Perhaps your daughter might benefit from this as well.</p>
<p>Another thread, with a link, showed that some (maybe many) SAT-optional schools defer, when all else is the same between candidates, to take the applicant who took and presumably did well on the SATs, i.e., they don’t like to admit it, but interpret the absence of the scores to be indicative of underperformance.</p>
<p>I’m sorry I don’t recall where that topic thread was.</p>
<p>I do have another question but am not sure here is the right place to ask, but here it is: Let’s say she studies over the summer, realistically how much higher can her score get? What is the most a student can improve on their scores?
Thanks again.</p>
<p>Mine used multiple strategies; books, on-line, courses, “Xiggi’s strategy”, etc. Never improved a single point. </p>
<p>It turned out that, in admissions to where she wanted to go, it didn’t matter a bit. She had a lot going for her (as does your d.) She entered her first choice, with her scores in the bottom 15% of admitted students, and is carrying a 3.8 GPA in a school not known for grade inflation.</p>
<p>yeah you should definitely take the SAT again because most people do better the 2nd time around, also look at the ACT, I did better on the ACT than the SAT and ended up sending my ACT scores, while the SAT is for people who are smart and can think well, the ACT is for people who work hard in school as the ACT is more subject based.</p>
<p>As for schools that your daughter should be looking for, here are some of my suggestions:
Brandeis University, Colby College, Drexel University, Howard University, Mount Holyoke College, Siena College, Temple University, University Of Delaware
these schools are all great for the natural sciences</p>
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<p>I hope you aren’t communicating this to your daughter. I also don’t understand the desperation. Sounds like a fine girl who is fortunate to attend a good school and have a supportive mother. Have her take the ACT after prepping but watch the pressure, it might be causing her anxiety regarding test taking.</p>
<p>OP- You wrote that your daughter took a SAT prep class? Did she have time to study since she was juggling many ECs during the school year? Have her study independently this summer and review her SAT prep course materials before a retake in the fall. As suggested above she should take the ACT. She still has time to register(deadline May 8th) and take the ACT this June. Has she taken her SATIIs?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. She is a wonderful daughter, I am very proud of her. She is not the kind of kid that dwells on things, sho moves on quickly, very resilient. But it’s a parent’s job to worry, and because I am from another country this process has been overwhelming. I don’t communicate my worries directly to her, at least I try to be cool. The title of the post was meant to be catchy, I’m not really desperate, but I do want to find as much information as possible from people that have gone through this already. I will suggest the ACT, I just worry about one more test since she is taking the Subject tests in June, but if it helps.
I also worry about her studying all summer (she did review when taking the test prep but because she was in the middle of the musical maybe didn’t practice enough), and then not improving her score much. How much is too much?</p>