<p>I've applied early to William and Mary and UVA already and I plan on applying to UNC Chapel Hill, JMU, U of Richmond, Virginia Tech and either Vanderbilt Notre Dame or Rochester. I am supposed to receive my decision from W&M this week so hopefully this post will be irrelevant in a few days, but nevertheless... </p>
<p>I've been looking around on different websites and most of them are preaching the whole "We look at everything, your test scores are important but they will never be the deciding factor," motto. Does anyone know how true this is? Because I have strong grades</p>
<p>4.23 GPA taking 4 APs this year (Spanish, English Lit, Government, and Environmental Science). top 8% in class</p>
<p>I've got leadership/ECs
attended numerous leadership conferences; President of class junior year; secretary of class sophomore year; NHS President; Lead Student Ambassador; Recipient of William and Mary leadership Award; founded non-profit to donate toys to victims of Hurricane Katrina; SCA spirit coordinator; summer camp counselor; member of track team 10th-11th grade; Chamber Orchestra 10-12;member of National Spanish Honor Society; member of younglife</p>
<p>But my SAT is weak at 1780 (640 reading 530 math 610 writing)</p>
<p>I've been on this website a lot and it seems as though everyone discourages people to apply to schools if their SAT isn't in the 2000s and that just doesn't seem fair. so my question is, do colleges really incorporate a holistic review process or will an average SAT really kill my chances at top schools? How holistic is the review?</p>
<p>“Holistic approach” has to be taken with a grain of salt… you have a lot going for you, but in the end your scores are well below the 25th percentile ranges for all of those schools. I’m guessing you are not living in either Virginia or NC so simply put those state schools are far reaches.</p>
<p>I live in Virginia and my reading and writing are in the 50% for UVA and W&M and top 25% for VT, Richmond, JMU, and UNC(I think) my math of course is the killer I’m in the 50% or only JMU with that one. With UNC, my entire family minus myself, parents, and brother live in the state of North Carolina so we found out that if I change my residency to a family member in NC I’ll be eligible for in-state tuition my 2nd year. That being said Virginia schools are at the top of the list of course. I’m just trying to grasp this whole holistic thing. I don’t like it that my scores from a test I took some Saturday morning can ruin my chances even though it seems like I’m pretty solid elsewhere.</p>
<p>I totally agree with you view on the tests… I think you have a shot then at your Virginia schools, and if you can work something around with being in state for UNC then you’re on your way.</p>
<p>I know Wake Forest is an excellent test-optional school in NC. It’s a top school for all humanity subjects. It also gives generous FA, so you can consider it. I think everything except your test score is so perfect, so you have a great chance for those top test-optional schools.</p>
<p>The VA schools do take a hollistic approach, but to a certain extent. Improving your SATs at least to the 1900’s would really boost your chances but I think that considering your strong awards and ECs, you are competitive as an applicant. It’s happened before, and worst case I think you would get deffered because they don’t outright reject a person based on an okay test score.
Instate:
UVA and W&M are high match
JMU low match
Richmond match
UNC and Notre Dame low reach
I don’t know about any of the other schools
Please chance me back!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1584986-chance-me-uva-please-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1584986-chance-me-uva-please-will-chance-back.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks Shirleyxxy, I’ll have to check out Wake Forest. I never really considered tem before. I’m interested in more humanities and social sciences so they may be a good fit!</p>
<p>Well i was accepted to William and Mary so it looks like holistic reviews are real! at least at William and Mary haha thanks all for you input!</p>