Why do people believe stuff like this?
The College Board site shows that the midrange SAT’s for Williams is 1390-1560; for Vassar its 1390-1530. Both colleges do consider standardized test scores important for admission— but obviously students can be accepted with scores well 1500. And the bottom range of “midrange” is not cutoff – for each subtest, one out of four enrolled students enters with scores below the 25th percentile mark. So yes there is a “minimum” score for admission at each school – but that minimum is somewhere below the bottom of the midrange … it is not some arbitrary bar set near the top.
Will higher scores help? Yes, of course. But to say that a given student will need some lofty score that is not supported by the data is crazy. Perhaps at a particular high school the Naviance data shows that …that is school specific – not something that can be applied across the board.
This is a pet peeve of mine because way back when, some “expert” in college admissions (someone who was well known and charged $$$$ for their services) told me to drop Barnard from our list because they “would not even look” at my daughter with her test scores. (1200 SAT; 27 ACT). And similarly suggested some arbitrary number that was well above the 25th percent mark. My daughter was admitted Barnard RD round and has since graduated summa cum laude. My daughter was a white kid from a well-respected public school in California. But she had some things that made her stand out.
So yeah, I could have posted stats on CC and asked for advice, but instead we looked at what my daughter’s interests and strengths, did appropriate research, and targeted appropriately. And of course made sure my daughter had safeties as well. (In our case she had guaranteed admission to the state U. system based on GPA & class standing).
The OP’s daughter has a stand-out quality with the Ballet experience – something that shows passion, dedication, discipline,commitment. That’s what colleges like to see. I don’t have a clue whether that would get her into Williams or Vassar – but the question won’t be her test scores, the question would be the degree to which the colleges value the dance experience and her other qualities.
If an applicant’s scores seem to be on the lower end of the midrange for a school, that’s a good indication that the college may be a reach – but there is a very big difference between “reach” and “out of reach.”