<p>Parents and others, my S wants to go to an LAC (small size) and is planning to apply to the following:</p>
<p>Reed
Lewis And Clark
Skidmore
Beloit
Puget Sound
Bard
Goucher</p>
<p>He goes to a highly regarded public school in the Northern Virginia suburbs of DC. His stats are as follows:</p>
<p>3.47 weighted GPA (his school does not compute unweighted GPA's)
2120 SAT (730 Critical Reading, 610 Math, 780 Writing)
800 SAT II World History, 780 American History
5 AP courses through junior year, 3 more scheduled for senior year (5 or 4 on all the tests)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars</p>
<p>4 years marching band
District band, baritone sax, junior year
4 years wind ensemble and symphonic band
2 years summer staff assistant TIC media/sports camp</p>
<p>Reed is his top choice and he is planning to apply early decision. Then come Lewis and Clark, Skidmore, Bard and Beloit, basically very close. Puget Sound a bit less so. Goucher is his safety. He has visited each school. </p>
<p>His strategy quite clearly is to apply to "Colleges That Change Lives" type schools, given his somewhat lower GPA and contrasting high test scores. (He studies and learns more outside of school than inside it.) My question to other parents out there is, is this a realistic list? I should add, finally, that he will not need financial assistance, an advantage, presumably, at schools that are not need blind. </p>
<p>I think it sounds like a pretty good list. Too bad that math SAT though. He can emphasize the learning he does outside of class in his essays that will be a good angle. But it doesn’t sound like he has too much time for other than those music activities? I wonder how low his UW actually is and why he isn’t delivering in school and they might be wondering that in terms of college performance. Not sure just musing. And he isn’t choosing a school with marching band for some reason. I can certainly see what he prefers, though, and he seems to have a range of selectivity. It seems he should have a shot at some of his preferences.</p>
<p>(Sorry, I just reread your post and saw that the 3.47 is weighted… so this isn’t quite as relevant, but I’ll leave it anyway. Shrinkwrap’s links are probably more relevant than mine, depending on his unweighted GPA…)</p>
<p>My daughter had similar stats (3.46uw; 2100; 720; 780.) She got into Bard but was denied at Skidmore. If you look at the common data set for Skidmore you can see that they don’t weight test scores nearly as much as GPA and especially rigor of secondary education (test scores are only “considered” rather than “important” or “very important”. Whereas, for example, Wesleyan weights GPA and test scores the same (“important”).</p>
<p>Have you considered Bard’s IDP (Immediate Decision Plan)? It has a higher acceptance rate, plus it’s a fun thing to participate in, AND you find out right away (in Oct or Nov when you do it) whether you’re in or not, and don’t have to commit until after the regular decision results are in.</p>
<p>For a safety, my D applied to Hampshire College. Have you looked at that?</p>
<p>Some other threads we found very useful last year:</p>
<p>A couple real reaches as I’m sure you know, but it looks like a good list. A number of the schools on the list, have pretty imbalanced male/female ratios so being a male will be to his favor.</p>
<p>The spots in Bard’s IDP fill up very quickly and it involves spending a day on campus – so if that’s of interest, check the website to see when the dates will be available and sign up right away. </p>
<p>I think your list is pretty reasonable. Reed is quite the reach but go for it. There’s a good mix of schools. We’re also taking the CTCL route. They have some nice options for the B/B+ student. </p>
<p>Some other suggestions that attract many music kids are Oberlin and Lawrence. </p>
<p>Reed and Bard seem drastically different to me. I think of Reed as the academically intense learning for it’s own sake because it hurts so good crowd, and Bard as the laid back let it come to me oh that’s interesting crowd. I mean that Reed students seem to tolerate and seek more pain. </p>
<p>I think choosing between those two would go a long way toward filling out the rest of the list. </p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad - this might cause some controversy but our recent experience is that Bard is extremely high pressure and intense, not what it’s image is at all. Their prereqs and competition to get into your “concentration” (or whatever they call their major) is intense, so it’s not until Junior year that students can relax a bit more. Definitely not the place for an anxious student or someone who has slight doubts about their abilities.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact after our admitted student day I gave such a scathing review I received a call from Admissions and we discussed the whole image vs reality and they have revamped all their tours from the first time tour to the admitted student tour to better reflect the program. (Our daughter LOVED the school from the first tour, it was her top choice. By the end of the Admitted Student day it was off the list totally.)</p>
<p>Thank all of you who have commented. The links were quite helpful. It shows he has at least a shot at all of these schools. In terms of his marching band background, S is not really interested in pursuing it past high school. We visited UW-Madison, which his father attended, and which has a great marching band. He liked it but very much wants to go to a much smaller school. The other thing I failed to mention, which helps to explain why his grades are relatively low and his test scores higher, is that he has ADHD, and in fact, was even enrolled in a basic skills course early in his high school career in order to help hone his study habits. I suspect the admissions offices at the various schools will see this on his transcript and probably figure it out. Not sure how it will play in terms of accepting him, however.</p>
<p>I know this thread died a month ago, but I will second Lawrence as a great option. I have almost the exact same kid as yours, @jmgradon, marching band, NOVA, similar stats, and he LOVED Lawrence. It is a music conservatory as well as a wonderful LAC and lots of kids not enrolled as music majors play in the many, many ensembles. The small city of Appleton has lots to offer as well. It’s my son’s 2nd choice, after The College of Wooster, which does have a kilt-wearing marching band with bagpipers, which my son thought was awesome… Both schools are academically great but with a laid-back, collaborative vibe. My son is also applying to Beloit, which he liked but not as much as CoW and Lawrence. If Reed had his intended major, he’d apply there too. </p>
<p>Include Goucher College. They have a new application that does not take into account transcripts or test scores. You submit a brief video, a signature of academic integrity, and two class assignments.</p>
<p>You can calculate your son’s unweighted GPA - our experience is that the unweighted GPA is around 0.3 lower if the student takes a lot of AP or honors courses. If they don’t, it’s closer to the weighted GPA.</p>
<p>I have heard that Reed is really expensive, but the NPCs I ran didn’t back that up compared to some other schools. I also heard that it is hard to get into.</p>
<p>About the math SAT - is your son planning to take the SAT again, or is he in an AP math course? My son had only a 630 CR (twice ), but he got a 4 on the AP English Language and Composition exam. I feel like hopefully that puts him in a better spot when they look at his application.</p>
), but he got a 4 on the AP English Language and Composition exam. I feel like hopefully that puts him in a better spot when they look at his application.</p>