<p>Our eldest was admitted to Oberlin RD with a decent amount of merit but chose to go elsewhere. He's encouraging his brother to apply but they have very different stats and we're wondering if he has any real chance. I'm also concerned he may not be able to compete academically.</p>
<p>He has an 87 average which works out to 3.2 unweighted. His gpa shows an upward trend, 3.4 sophomore year and 3.5 last year. He'll have taken 5 APs by the time he graduates as well as honors english.</p>
<p>SAT first sitting:
Math - 670
Reading - 730
Writing - 710</p>
<p>ECs:
shakespeare club
acting in shakespeare plays
improv comedy troupe
varsity tennis</p>
<p>If Oberlin is truly his first choice, I would definitely apply ED! ED has a fairly high acceptance rate (about 60% last year according to the CDS) and it seems like he has a solid application. Of course I’d make sure to have some back ups and prepare for a rejection/deferral, but I’d say he has a good chance of getting and and he should go for it! </p>
<p>Obviously I don’t know your son, but I wouldn’t worry about him being able to compete academically. The SAT score shows he’s plenty prepared/“smart” enough and the GPA trend shows he is willing to put in some effort which is really all you need to do well at Oberlin!</p>
<p>Additionally, I see that you wrote first sitting on the SAT score. Is he planning to retake? 2110 is a great score and is actually higher than my SAT score was, but I did a lot better on the ACT so if he is willing to take more tests, maybe try out a practice test for that and see if he likes it better. The GPA is a little low but the upward trend is great and will help him along with the good test scores! Good luck with the application/senior year!</p>
<p>thanks, good idea on the ACT. He was disappointed by his writing score in the first sitting…He’s a strong writer and he thinks he can score in the high 700s. </p>
<p>well, this is very encouraging, I guess our next step is to visit.</p>
<p>no, he’s a good comedic actor/writer but he doesn’t want to go that route. We live in a place where a lot of students go that route and I know those spots are very competitive. </p>
<p>we visited today, he loved it and, at least at this point in time, he wants to apply ED. In fact, he said he’ll be upset if he doesn’t get in. sigh…</p>
<p>just wanted to offer a heartfelt thank you to the posters in this thread, we didn’t think his gpa would play at oberlin but due to your encouragement, we visited, he loved it and is attending in the fall.</p>
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