Hi all, my daughter is a junior, top student with top test scores. We ran the boarding school/private school gauntlet 3 years ago with similar fantastic stats and got waitlisted everywhere. Now she’s terrified that the “match” schools will all think she’s only applying as a backup and the reach schools are always reach schools, so she could end up with no options at all
Stats -
4.0 unweighted GPA
3 AP classes sophomore year ( calc AB, Chem, World history). 5s on all tests
5 AP classes this year (Lit, Calc BC, APUSH, Macro, Physics I)
3-4 AP classes next year (Comp, Micro, Gov, maybe stats) along with Multivariable Calc and a self study physics class
36 ACT with 36 subscores across the board.
Having been through this once already for private/boarding schools has made us very wary of expecting anything. But there just aren’t that many kids with these kind of ACT scores and grades/SAT scores. Obviously she has the potential to be anywhere. But we think anything with a less than 20% acceptance rate is a reach for pretty much anyone, and don’t know how to figure out what are decent “match”schools to be looking at.
She is a student at a West Coast suburban high school with good stats but not “the best” district or high school. She’s topped out their math and physics offerings and will be working out dual enrollment/independent study to get what she needs. There are a few students each year to end up at tippy top schools but it’s not the norm from this high school. Most end up staying in state at one of the public universities.
So how do you approach this? Without getting too deep into the details, she’s also a swimmer, talking to coaches about swimming DIII in college, and has also been involved in high school theater on the tech side. It could look like she’s got so much going for her but we just don’t feel like we can count on these super selective schools to select our kid. But we also think targeting less competitive schools where she can swim could backfire. “Just right” schools seem elusive right now. Any advice from those that may have walked this path before us?
With tip top stats it is important that the student show interest in a match school. Register for a campus visit. If there is an optional essay, write it. If submitting SAT II scores are recommended, submit them.
“But we also think targeting less competitive schools where she can swim could backfire.”
Backfire how?
The key is to find schools that are a good fit for the kid, a good financial fit, and allows her to achieve her goals.
Really high stats kids may have no private matches (being in CA is kind of lucky for you as arguably Cal and UCLA are matches where she has a good chance at and you’d only pay in-state rates).
The top unis in the UK (including Oxbridge) are all publics and much more straightforward (mostly all about your academic prowess in the subject(s) you aim to study). They’re terrific for a kid who is really pointy and interested in one academic subject. Outside of Oxbridge, LSE, and maybe Imperial, if you hit all the minimum requirements, you’re likely in. Does she know what major(s)/goals she wants/has yet?
Any financial limitations?
Does she have some top favorites?
ED (and ED2) could really work for you.
You’ve pretty much got it right-- looking at overall admission rates.
So if you look at under 20% as a reach – then schools with acceptance rates in the 20-50% range would all be matches, and with her stats any school that accepts more than half of its applicants is probably a safety.
This is for schools that have holistic admissions standards.
For schools that have more stats based admission – typically public schools – then even with a lower admissions rate it might be a safety. Also, somes schools have guaranteed merit money for students with high test scores – and obviously a 36 ACT is going to qualify at those schools --and if they are promising the merit money those schools are also probably a very safe bet for admissions. After all, they are offering the money because they hope to attract high stat students.
Why do you think that targeting less competitive schools where she can swim would backfire? As long as she applies RD and doesn’t commit --you would just end up with one more option in the spring.
One more note: don’t overlook the women’s colleges! That’s where academic quality tends to outstrip admissions rates/ selectivity – so another area where you might find elite academics but also a strong match or safety for admissions for your daughter.
Well, I said west coast, but we’re not in California. Washington state has exactly one state school with a swim team, which is just a bit fast for my kid, so in-state schools are not a match. California schools will be OOS tuition for us, for what it’s worth. Cal and UCLA have olympics level swimmers, which my kid is not. She can’t swim for those schools, and with acceptance rates of less than 20% we consider those to be “reach” even if she decides to not swim in college.
I have Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, and Smith all as Ivy-equivalents (by alumni achievements) and they are all easier to get in to than the typical Ivy/equivalent (Barnard as a near-Ivy by alumni achievements but they are obviously part of an Ivy).
Whoops. My badd on the misread (brain picked it up as “CA”). So is swimming important to her? What are potential goals after school with the econ/math combo?
Lewis & Clark has a swim team & would be a safety for your daughter-- plus would definitely offer merit money for someone with her stats.
For the most part if you are going out-of-state you probably want to focus on private schools, because they have more aid dollars & scholarships to award-- whereas with an OOS public you end up paying private school prices for a public school education. So generally not worth the money except in those states that offer tuition waivers or merit money based on test scores or NM status. But those also tend to be large universities with no shortage of athletes, so your daughter might also be happier at a smaller college where her swim times will be appreciated.
Claremont Colleges in California also have swim teams – Scripps would probably be a match college – the other colleges in the consortium all now have reach-level acceptance rates. (Pitzer down to 14%, CMC & Pomona even tighter than that).
I think that many colleges would be matches for your daughter and that most wouldn’t reject her on grounds of them believing she’s not really interested in attending. With similar stats, my younger daughter, a 2011 high school graduate, applied to approximately 18 schools and the only ones she didn’t get into were the high reaches for everyone schools. Examples of ones that would probably be matches for your daughter: Grinnell, Carleton, Smith, Scripps, Colby, Whitman.
Will she be a recruited swimmer at some division III schools? If so…I seriously doubt she is going to be rejected with her stats…plus her coach advocating for her.
Is cost an issue?
Her safety school most likely is your state flagship. There is likely club swimming there…and for many students, that’s still enough competition!
Lewis and Clark could be a safety, yes. Claremont group has two swim teams -Pamona Pitzer and Claremont-McKenna-Scripps and has not gotten a response back from CMS coach yet, even though her swim times are competitive.
We can think of lots of safeties, it’s the match schools that seem more elusive right now.
Hoping to be a recruited swimmer but it all depends! Cost is not an issue. State flagship is university of Washington which has no NCAA team and no club team. WSU’s swim team is DI, a. bit fast, and with a 70% admit rate they are a safety for academics.
Look for places that explicitly say they don’t do yield protection and don’t take expressed interest into account. UVA is a good EA choice for that reason (and a big contrast with UMich this year) especially as it doesn’t conflict with SCEA applications. OOS it would be a reasonable match.
@rosered55, right, which is why it’s smart to answer those questions so you look at schools from a possibly different (and, IMO, more relevant) perspective.
I mean, it’s OK to say “she wants a school full of smart kids” but that may be different from “highest up the USNews ranking possible” or “good prep for econ PhD” or “IB target”.