<p>Junior female, 4.4 GPA W, 1990 SAT I (but retaking), 630 SATII World History, 550 Bio (aah!), class president when i was a sophomore, ASB secretary now, two varsity sports, great essays, and hopefully great recs. I live in CA and go to an extremely small, poor, public school where most everyone stays instate. Can you tell me what I need to become competitive for Vassar? The SATs need raising to......what? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I'd say your SAT's would need a raising by 100-200 points to be safe. You have pretty good credentials. I wish you the best of luck. I'm sure you'll do fine. Good luck. =]</p>
<p>SAT 2's are the problem... 550 and 630 are quite sad.... pick those up</p>
<p>jackson17, to be competitive at these very selective schools, unless you are an underrepresented minority, an athlete, or a related to a major donor (technically called a "hook"), you should compare your information (statistics) to the information available for admitted students to the school you desire. You can obtain this information by Googling "Common Data Set" for each school. More easily, but costing approx $16 for a subscription, you can go to usnews.com and sign up for the Premium On-line Edition of the Best Colleges Report. The information for admitted students is easily accessed there. The information for the SAT I that I list is from this. On the OLD SAT, the 25 to 75%ile range for Vassar (which you would obtain by adding your Math + CR on the new SAT) was
Verbal: 660 740
Math: 650 720
Combined: 1310 1460 </p>
<p>It is usually presumed that students who are admitted with scores at the low end of that range are those that have a "hook" (see above), so if you are NOT hooked, you would be most competitive with SAT I scores closer to the 75%ile. </p>
<p>With a combined SAT I of 1990, I'm guessing that your combined Math + CR is around 1330, right? This would put you around the 25%ile of admitted students, which is fairly low if you don't have one of the hooks noted above. Of course, SAT scores are NOT the only consideration for Vassar, but don't underestimate their importance as a screen. If you did not do any significant prep for the first take of the SAT I, then try following the "xiggi method" (search this on CC), and retake.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>thanks for all the info, guys. actually, my combined CR + M is 1200 (making the situation even more sad), but I did not do any prepping whatsoever. I'm already signed up for the May SAT and I'm studying and doing practice problems. I'm pretty sure I could get a 100-point increase, and I have done some practice for my next SAT II also. thanks for the tips anyway......hopefully I'll raise the scores.</p>
<p>I have some published poems and a poem that won a contest - does that count for anything? I also have several best-student-in-class awards.
I'm grasping at straws here......gotta justify those SATs.</p>
<p>Just to be current: the 25-75% range for CR/M SAT I for Vassar Class of 2009 is 1340-1450. (The data above are for Class of 2008.)</p>
<p>bummmmmppppp.....</p>
<p>last one.....any more advice welcome and needed!!!</p>
<p>jackson17, the "best student in class" awards are not likely to sway an admissions committee one way or another, since they are common for all of the applicants to schools like Vassar. Your published poems will certainly add to your admissions application, but don't think of them as "making up" for low test scores. Especially if you are not a minority or athlete. Vassar asks students to submit a graded writing sample with their application and also a "my space" with the application. This will be a good place to put your poems.</p>
<p>About improving your test scores, you need to prove that you can do it before you go in to know whether or not your prepping is working. Take a timed SAT under testing conditions at home and score it objectively. If the scores are improved, then you're on the right track. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Just wanted to clarify that the "My Space" I am talking about is actually a part of the paper app to Vassar...not myspace.com.</p>
<p>Jackson... I think sometimes these boards are too score-obsessed. My daughter has been admitted to Barnard, RD, with SAT scores lower than yours. Even her SAT II bio (also taken in 9th grade) was lower. She just doesn't test well. She had about a 3.8 GPA UW/ around 4.1 weighted. My daughter is white; from a well-regarded urban public school; both parents are college grads with advanced degrees. She does not play sports. No individual awards during high school. Never elected "President" of anything. </p>
<p>In other words, her test scores are below median for the schools that accepted her (also accepted at Chicago & NYU) and she is not "hooked".</p>
<p>Yes, test scores are important, but the advice that you get about needing to be at the top 75% of the range is simply wrong. People post that sort of stuff all the time on these boards, and then you also see people amazed and distraught when they or their kids end up waitlisted or rejected at the colleges where this formula was applied -- they were so certain that their scores would get them in.</p>
<p>Test scores are important, but they are only ONE piece of a puzzle, and the colleges do look at the scores in context of where they are coming from. They will not expect you to have the same level of scores as kids coming from east coast preps. Your biggest problem isn't going to be your scores; its going to be making sure that your high school g.c. knows to include a school profile that explains how weak your high school is. </p>
<p>If it is available anywhere nearby, I would advise that you take the ACT. Then you can choose which scores to send. My daughter sent in only her ACT - she had a score of 28, which wasn't that great, but at least it was within the median score range of her schools, even though it was near the bottom. </p>
<p>Now I am not saying you will get into Vassar. Vassar is still a real reach for you. You should apply to Vassar but also apply to other colleges and LACs. I would suggest that you apply to a couple of reachy schools like Vassar and then a bunch of colleges that are match/safety type schools so that you will have a lot of good choices. </p>
<p>But the point is: you should apply if that is where you want to go. You can't get in if you don't apply. You might get in if you do. Even if it is only a 10% chance that you get in, its worth taking the chance. </p>
<p>Now in hindsight, I know why my daughter got into Barnard. My daughter is a perfect fit for Barnard - she had a great interview, great recs, & great application. But before we got the fat envelope, I honestly didn't expect her to get in. Partly because I had been paying far too much attention to bad advice about stats, test scores, and "chances" perpetrated on this board. </p>
<p>So: ask for advice, but don't ever ask anyone on this board to tell you "chances" again. They don't know. All they will do is discourage you over something you do not have much control over. </p>
<p>We already know Vassar is a reach - but it is not an impossible reach. They take at least one out of every 4 kids who applies. Focus on making your differences into an asset - for example, a humorous essay about your experiences at your small rural school might be the sort of thing that grabs their attention and also reinforces the point that you have not had a lot of educational opportunities. It looks like you take a lot of initiative and that you are a real leader at your school --and one advantage of a small school is that you should be able to get some great recommendations from teachers who know you very well. </p>
<p>You might also want to look at Bard & Sarah Lawrence -- both are test-optional schools, so you don't have to submit SATs. They would be good backups for Vassar.</p>
<p>Jackson,</p>
<p>Calmom is right on the money about not listening to score obsessed posters. They do not know any more than you what the chances are.</p>
<p>Colleges and universities, specially selective ones, admit "a class" not just individuals. They want a diverse class that will fit in with the school. Your letters of recommendation, your essay, your passion for certain things, intellectual curiosity, willingness to be challenged tell the story. Scores on standarized tests are the icing on the cake.</p>
<p>Take a deep breath, look at what you have done and concentrate on showing them what you can bring to the school. No harm in trying to improve scores, but they are not the sole determining factor.</p>
<p>As Calmom said, there is way too much bad information floating around.</p>
<p>Thank you both for the detailed answers! I think I, too, was getting obsessed with the scores, but now I'm going to focus on myself as a whole. I can offer a lot of talents and strengths aside from testing, and as calmom said, some of them could be what Vassar is looking for. I did sign up for the ACT as well; I've done some practice problems and I think that could be the ticket to a slightly higher score. Overall, I'm working on everything, so thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I don't know if you've already seen this, but this</a> page from Vassar.edu gives the Vassar admissions statistics for the class of 2010.</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://www.tumr.com/view/?id=20&app=college%5DNash%5B/url">http://www.tumr.com/view/?id=20&app=college]Nash[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I actually hadn't seen that. Thanks.</p>
<p>Note that these are the stats for admitted students -- not for the actual enrollees in the Class of 2010. So you cannot yet compare these SAT scores with the scores from prior years for actual enrollees (which is what is reported on the common data sets and picked up in US News, Princeton Review etc.) The SAT scores for enrollees will be lower.</p>
<p>To make the point, here is the profile for the actual matriculants in the Class of 2009. <a href="http://admissions.vassar.edu/pdfs/class2009stats.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.vassar.edu/pdfs/class2009stats.pdf</a></p>
<p>Note that the number of applications for the Class of 2010 decreased by a little over 3.5% from last year -- counter to the general trend (though Amherst apps also declined -- by about 2%).</p>