<p>There is likely to be some understanding at a places like Brown, Oberlin and Vassar that SAT scores might not be as high for a student educated in a different country/system.</p>
<p>Don’t undersell her EC’s. Newspaper editor is usually a highly considered EC. Also…the number of years doing studio art and in a competitive sport are very strong EC’s — even if she’s not going to continue in the sport.</p>
<p>SUNY Purchase - very close to NYC might be a safety/match. The SUNY schools are very actively interested in out-of-state students. Purchase is the most artsy of the SUNY schools.</p>
<p>TCNJ. About 7000 students, with small classes. Has an art school. Easy access via public bus to the Trenton train station, which has frequent trains to NYC. </p>
<p>My son has a bunch of slightly-geeky friends who have applied there. Your D’s stats would make it a low match for her, although it is getting more selective each year.</p>
<p>Your daughter has very good grades. Most any college that would be suitable for her would know about the IB program, and come to that conclusion. I don’t think you need to “help” the admission committees with SAT II scores or ACT scores.</p>
<p>Her SAT is as a junior. There’s a reasonable chance she’ll improve by 50+ points by taking it again. That she’s coming from the UK is a plus. Colleges like geographic diversity, and she will provide that. And she’s a US citizen, which also gives her improved chances while still being viewed as from the UK.</p>
<p>Ultimately I don’t think this community can really address your need for safety college choices. If your daughter had access to a guidance counselor then you’ll get help in the context of your daughter’s needs.</p>
<p>Damaris (above) had good advice about your daughter spending the summer in the US. In addition, while she’s in the US, I would encourage you to contact a well respected private college counselor to work with her, on narrowing her choices, and in preparing her applications, and in figuring out how to best deal with references. It will be money well spent.</p>
<p>fogcity -it is my understanding that “well respected private college counselors” cost about a year’s worth of private college tuition. This is beyond our means and was never budgeted. The school guidance counselor already told me that I can take her place based on my knowledge and research I have done so far, so she is not much help. If you can recommend any counselors with reasonable fees (I understand it’s a vague definition), please PM me.</p>
<p>menloparkmom - she is planning to take SAT subject tests in June. The finals will be in May. Unfortunately, IB curriculum in many subjects doesn’t overlap with US curriculum, so we’re not sure which tests she should take. Math2 will be one, but we’re not sure about second and possibly third. I suggest Chemistry, because she is studying Chemistry HL, but she is saying there are large gaps she would need to self-study. She wanted to take Literature, but I read that the curve is very steep on it, and it’s very hard to get a good score. Spanish is another option, but she is not confident she can get a high score, comparing with all the native speakers that take it. She is studying Spanish HL, and it’s the only 5 among all her grades, so currently her weakest subject. She has all the prep books, but she is just not showing any drive to improve. This is the most frustrating part for me. It’s like she is putting herself down without even trying first.</p>
<p>If your daughter is not willing to do SAT prep, then I wouldn’t recommend retaking the test this spring. Her scores might not rise, and that would further discourage her. Plus, it’s hard to do test prep while in school. </p>
<p>Has she visited schools, or are you planning a trip? If she visits and sees the difference between schools (Brown vs. SUNY), that might give her the incentive to study. </p>
<p>My daughter’s SATs, taken in March of junior year, were very similar to your daughter’s. She retook in October of senior year after doing some modest prep over the summer, and improved a lot.</p>
<p>I sympathize with you – sometimes we parents feel like dealing with our kids at this time is like walking in a minefield.</p>
<p>Brown and NYU sound like good choices for your daughter. Her board scores sound fine to me especially since she is a junior. I also think they will go up a bit if she takes them again. Encourage her to prep, and they could go up substantially. </p>
<p>I saw someone recommended Goucher. I visited that school on two occasions and my impression was that the kids are not mainstream 18 to 22 year olds. It did not strike me as an overly big party school. I think your daughter would probably receive merit money if she applied there with her stats.</p>
<p>The SAT Literature test is also one of the hardest ones out there. I found it much more difficult than Math 2 or Chemistry (the other ones I took), even though I consider myself something of a lit person.</p>
<p>If your daughter is good at the subject, though, you could give it a whirl. I have a lot of friends who took it and we all complained about how we should have taken US History with its nine-question curve instead, but we all received scores of 750+, so perhaps it was all in our heads :)</p>
<p>My son thought SAT Lit test was pretty easy to get a 700 score in with no studying. (He needed to make up a disappointing Math2 score - which should have been better, but he’s just not fast at math.) He hates English, but thought it was pretty easy to suss out correct multiple choice answers. (He already had good Biology and US History scores, but unfortunately was applying to the two schools that need three scores.)</p>
<p>^^ Yes, and Smith and Bryn Mawr too. The only problem - she refuses to consider all-girl schools! Even though Barnard classes are mixed with Columbia. I think she is robbing herself of many good options, especially considering her unwillingness to study hard for SAT. What can I do? She is not listening.</p>
My daughter was not considering all-women’s colleges either until she visited Barnard … and then applied ED. Barnard is literally across the street from Columbia and in NYC which mitigated a lot of her concerns about the social life … it is not the same as being at a coed school but it is pretty darn close … and Barnard is an amazing place!</p>
<p>An IB score of 37 is a very high score. It is much less common to get 7 points (=maximum) for an IB exam than 5 points (=maximum) for an AP exam. Most colleges are familiar with this. You do not mention what the higher level subjects are that she is taking (art probably being one of them). I’m convinced that these details will be looked at carefully by the colleges she is applying to.</p>
<p>The first college that comes to my mind is Bard. Unfortunately it’s a bit in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>Use your “mom option” application for Barnard. What, you haven’t heard of the “mom option”? An entertaining suggestion I read about here on CC - that you tell the student they can apply whereever they want (up to you fill in the blank - eight schools? - being sure there are safeties and matches on the list) but you get to pick one school; you’ll pay the application fees for the other seven if they go along with your suggested mom option place to apply for #8. Barnard really is different from the other single sex schools because of its Columbia connection. It is not uncommon for seniors from our h.s. who are not interested in or not considering single sex schools to make an exception for Barnard. Such a good school, many great programs there - such a cool location.</p>
<p>On close reading, Barnard doesn’t offer studio art major either. They have Art History major with concentration in visual arts. The spring 2010 studio courses listed are very limited. I will try to get her to at least visit Barnard and inquire if she can take more studio courses at Columbia.</p>
An entertaining suggestion I read about here on CC - that you tell the student they can apply whereever they want (up to you fill in the blank - eight schools? - being sure there are safeties and matches on the list) but you get to pick one school; you’ll pay the application fees for the other seven if they go along with your suggested mom option place to apply for