Do any of you know of colleges that really emphasize test scores in their application process (perfect ACT/SAT scores)? Most selective colleges (Ivy level schools) use test scores as part of a “holistic” process, but I assume some place more emphasis on them than others. I believe Caltech really likes high test scores - are there others you know of or suspect?
I have perfect test scores (36 ACT, 2400 SAT, 5 on many APs), but a kind of low GPA (3.9), and am looking for places that will value scores over GPA.
However, super-selective schools get plenty of applicants with top-end test scores and top end GPA. To stand out in such a pool, you need something else, such as a high level extracurricular achievement or some such.
When I look at your posting history, I find your questions to be somewhat disingenuous. 2400 SAT, 36 ACT, Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92, Weighted GPA: 4.36
And you cry about your “low” GPA. Unless you screw up your essays, you’ll have lots of admits and merit money waiting for you in March. To pose otherwise is tone-deaf at best, insanely naive at worst.
I’ve counted 22 research universities whose average entering SAT-M and SAT-CR scores added up to 1400, or higher, according to their 2013-14 CDS or other available data. They are listed below. The figure in the first column represents the percentage of enrolled freshmen who ranked in their HS top 10%.
So you could focus on schools closer to the top.
However, I’d take this information with a big grain of salt.
The order may have changed a bit in the past couple years.
In addition, it doesn’t show the full picture of all the factors that influence admission decisions.
Be aware that while WashU does value high scores, it is also prone to reject applicants whose profiles suggest they regard WashU as a kind of elite safety school.
Naviance reports that from our school, almost everyone who is either in the top 10%, or who has a 2300+ SAT gets into Vanderbilt. No other top-20 school has anywhere close to this level of predictability.
Vanderbilt, Wash U, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, CMU, NYU, Rensselaer, and Rice would be my anecdotal picks off the top of my head as schools that seem to value standardized scores more than grades. Some of the schools with the highest SAT scores, like Caltech, Princeton and Chicago, don’t fit the description because they also seem to demand almost perfect grades in addition to high scores.
At the other end of the spectrum is UC Berkeley and UCLA, which care far more about grades than about test scores. Students from my kids’ high school who have with extremely high test scores but just slightly less than perfect grades regularly get rejected from Berkeley but get accepted to multiple other top 25 schools.
I feel Harvard and MIT should I not be considered here. These two schools naturally attract the very tippy top students in the country and the world who naturally have super high scores. On the other hand Vanderbilt, WashU and to a lesser extent Chicago are actively and specifically looking at very high scores over other things.
I would say Vanderbilt is probably the most scores obsessed school.
@Penn95 I’m not sure why you include UChicago. According to that chart a few posts above yours, 98% of the UChicago entering class was in the top 10% of their high school class. If that is accurate, that would indicate that UChicago is not emphasizing standardized test scores over other academic factors.
@ThankYouforHelp Offen just being within 10% of a high school class, is not enough for admission to a modestly competitive school … Of course an school like UChicago demands more!
Notre Dame should not be on this list. They have repeatedly said they put more weight on academic performance in high school and class rank over standardized test scores as they believe that is a better predictor of collegiate success.
@uclaparent9 Of course. But look at the list in post #5. Many top tier schools have more than 10% of their entering class that is outside the top ten percent of their high school class. CMU has 20 percent. This is an indication that they are accepting some of their class with higher test scores and lower grades. And as hebegebe pointed out, this tends to be confirmed by the Naviance stats available to each of us.
@GraceDad well, every school says that, I think, not just Notre Dame. But Notre Dame accepts 5 times more of their class outside of the top 10% than Chicago or MIT does. Who are those students? Some are athletes, but others likely are high test scorers who will bring up the school’s SAT averages for rankings purposes. To be fair, I listed Notre Dame based only on anecdotal stories I have heard.
More than 80 percent of Notre Dame’s students are Catholic, and applicants tend to self-select. As a result, ND’s potential applicant pool is not as large as other elite schools. It would not be surprising that they have to compromise on class rank in order to keep up the stats, especially if they tend to take a greater percentage of applicants from Catholic high schools which tend to be smaller than public schools.
First, 3.9 is not low unless your school has grade inflation or is highly competitive. Based on the scores you have I hope it’s the latter. If it’s highly competitive you should look at Naviance or talk to your GC about prior students like you.
%HS class in the top-tenth is also a factor in ranking and I vaguely remember it weights even more than test scores. UChicago is the “most improved” in both categories from like a decade ago.
At my son’s private prep school, Vandy & Rice have zero rejections at ACT 35/36 and GPA>3.9. 100% rejections at 33 and below. Caltech is not for everyone, but they do have an admission process that will take an intensely science oriented student at an ACT of 33+. I know of several students who were rejected at HYPSM but admitted to Caltech.
None of these schools seem to care much about race either. At Caltech, Asian males are the most common group. Vandy and Rice have some of everyone. They all want very smart kids.
Vanderbilt admits a significant percentage of its freshman class via ED, and consequently the school’s preference for very high test scores is even more pronounced in the RD round. My daughter, for example, applied RD to Vandy and was wait-listed with a 2300 SAT and a 3.98uw GPA. At WashU, by contrast, she was accepted RD . . . and offered a merit scholarship to boot.
I would think, however, that with a 2400 SAT and a 3.9 (and appropriate essays and recommendations), the OP could feel pretty confident of admission to Vanderbilt in the RD round, thus saving the EA/ED option for an even higher reach.