I’m a rising senior. I have a 3.9 UW GPA, fantastic AP scores (one 4, three 5s), strong extracurriculars, and good teachers who will write my LORs. I also have a learning disability that makes math incredibly hard. At school, I have accommodations which have helped me to get the grades I have gotten in math. On the SAT however, I don’t have those accommodations and I score really poorly in the math section.
I say all of this because my top choice school requires the submission of SAT scores and mine is 200 points lower than the bottom 25% average. I’ve taken the SAT once, taking that test was just an anxiety driven nightmare. Aside from my SAT score, I fit the profile for an average admitted student. Is it worth it to still apply? How should I go about explaining my A-s & Bs in math while having a very low SAT math score? For context, I am not applying to any STEM programs & it’s a liberal arts, so it’s not like super important that I understand multivariable calculus at any point.
Did you try and get SAT and/or ACT accommodations?
What school on your list requires test scores?
Have you asked your HS GC what they think, and how to handle this?
The accommodations I have weren’t going to be translated to the SAT (It’s full use of class notes). I’m trying to get into Georgetown. I will be talking to my counsellor about this, but I plan on applying EA and that means I have about 3 months, so I would like to get this ball rolling sooner rather than later.
I have a story for you…Although obviously a bit of a different scenario.
I applied to Georgetown for grad school and was required to submit GRE scores. Not sure how it is now, but back then the GRE had three sections: English, Math, and Logic. I did very well on logic and English, but my math score was a complete embarrassment. Like way below average and certainly not in the typical range for a school like Georgetown (it was somewhere in the 400s!).
Long story short, I was accepted to Georgetown despite the crazy bad math score. As I said, grad school is obviously a bit different from undergrad, but at least that is some evidence that even Georgetown might overlook a low math score on a standardized test if the rest of the application is strong.
That makes me feel better. I know I can write a really good essay & I know I can do a fantastic interview, so I feel like I can pull it off (especially with holistic admissions) but it’s also terrifying to be so far below the average.
Obviously I don’t work in admissions. The way I view it is that AO are looking for students who will be successful at their university. If a student has low math test scores, but took higher levels of HS/DE math, and did well, the AO will feel more confident that the student is prepared in math. If a student has low math test scores and struggled in HS math, that will be a tougher admit.
I think you may find it difficult to replicate those accommodations in college. Are you prepared to navigate college without accommodations?
Well, taking Algebra 2 as a junior alongside 3 AP classes might be a red flag…taking AP Statistics next year.
From what my accommodations counsellor has told me, they should be flexible on it. I too am quite concerned about this, but everyone I know has told me that universities are required to make such accommodations.
That is not true. I encourage you to contact the disability office of each school on your list and talk about this with them. There is huge variance as to how different schools handle LDs.
Colleges are not mandated to duplicate the accommodations that a HS offered.
It helps if a student had an IEP or 504 in HS and if standardized testing approves accommodations.
Edit: Do you only have accommodations for math or is it for all subjects?
You will need sufficient documentation that you require this one accommodation in college. And you will be the one who will need to advocate for this with your professors. There is no case manager or anyone else who will be following you around to deal with accommodations.
In addition, there is no guarantee that a college will provide the same accommodations as you had in high school.
Have you researched any test optional schools out there. There are many many that have gone this route, or even test blind. This might be something you should consider.
You also can’t look at the SAT score in a vacuum. It will be evaluated (where you send it) along with your GPA and course rigor, as well factors like essays, activities, LoRs. We don’t know any of those things look for you, except for math…
Are you a rising senior who just finished Alg 2, or a rising junior who will be taking Alg 2 this Fall?
For a reach school like Gtown, pre-calc may be a better choice senior year than AP Stats.
What major are you planning? What does the rest of your HS rigor look like? How many classes in each of the 4 core areas will you have taken when you graduate? What proportion are honors
@redwhiteandbess - everyone here wants to be supportive of you, and nobody wants to tell you that your chances of getting into EA at Georgetown are vanishingly small. Also, nobody really knows anything for sure! We’d all be super happy for you if you were accepted.
That said - in comparison to other highly selective schools with very low acceptance rates, where every candidate (no matter scores/GPA/rigor/etc.) is fighting very difficult odds, Georgetown has a reputation for considering test scores and academic rigor meaningfully more significantly than other schools which also have holistic admissions. Put differently, you’re targeting a school where your application’s weak spots (SAT scores and less-rigorous math curricula) may matter substantially more than they would at other schools. Your AP scores, “strong extracurriculars,” and probably-good LORs are helpful, but unless we’re missing something, they aren’t substantial differentiators from many other applicants.
I’d encourage you to strongly consider another EA/ED option, especially ones that are test-optional. I’m sure your counselor or the people here can help with ideas if you’d like. I hope I’m wrong, but I’d feel like I was doing you a disservice if I didn’t say something.
A better fit would be a school that is test optional and has no math courses required in college. It is unlikely the type of accomodation you currently enjoy will be granted.
OP will get accommodations in college – any college in the US – with a diagnosed disability. All universities have offices to handle this, and it is required by law. It’s not exactly the same as the 504/IEP process required at K-12 levels, but it’s similar. The disability does have to be diagnosed, and it helps if there is a paper trail, but if you’ve gotten accommodations as a high school student, I can’t imagine a circumstance in which you wouldn’t get them as a college student. Assistance with notetaking, for example, is a fairly common accommodation.
OP, you can explain the SAT/GPA discrepancy in your application, in the section provided for such explanations. Your counselor should do the same in their letter. Any school that uses a holistic admissions process should at least see that information.
Yes, he will get some accomodations, but this particular one may be considered as a fundamental change to the nature and rigor of the course and thus not provided. Note taking during class and extended time for exams are typical. Access to all course notes during an exam is not typical. It would be worth a call to the disability office to ask if they have ever done this before.
Yes, I understand that. My comment wasn’t that they will not receive accommodations, but that they might not receive the same accommodations that they had in HS - full use of class notes. My question was, if OP doesn’t receive full use of notes, do they feel prepared to navigate college? Colleges are not required to give the same accommodations that students had in HS. Sometimes colleges have more options available. Sometimes they have less.
I can’t tell if OP applied for SAT accommodations and was denied or if they didn’t apply because they didn’t see their accommodation listed. If they were denied, I would figure out why and make sure that they have everything they need to apply for accommodations through the college disability office.
Sure, it’s worth a call. But I can promise you that assistance with note-taking would not, in my experience having taught in some capacity at six different universities, be considered a “fundamental change to the nature and rigor of the course.” Unless it’s a course on notetaking, notetaking is a tool for better performance, not a measure of the same. The form of accommodation could vary – sometimes professors provide notes or outlines to the whole class (problem solved), sometimes a student can record lectures, sometimes a professor provides recorded lectures, sometimes students contribute their notes to a Google doc, and sometimes a student works with a notetaker in class. But I have never, ever seen a request for this accommodation denied.
Good grief, no one thinks extratime or note taking would be denied. Using all your notes in an otherwise closed book exam is a different matter entirely.