<p>I have a feeling we're overlooking something pretty obvious here. </p>
<p>My son is a sophomore so we're just getting started in this game. It looks like he'll have about 2200 SAT, 3.7 GPA and pretty good ECs. Now, let's say we want a general idea if a school is a good bet, and I want to emphasize that at this stage it's just about a general idea. And that's because there are many colleges right now that are possibilities, so starting a thread for each one seems kind of likely to waste a lot of people's time. And we understand that a general idea is just a general idea; if he has his heart set on Princeton it might still be worth a try but we wouldn't count on it. </p>
<p>So what do we do to quickly check out his chances at different colleges?</p>
<p>compare his scores to the average for each school, and then go visit the ones that he likes according to size/location etc. does he know wht he wants to major? if he has a general idea he can look up schools that are good in the fields that he might want to go into. then you would have a smaller list of the schools he might want to apply to, and then over th esummer go visit them and see how you feel about the environments</p>
<p>You might want to check out the College Board site. There is a college match up part of the site. Also, go to the book store and look in the college section. One book that we looked at was “Colleges That Change Lives.” Another is the Fiske College Guide. There are also Princeton Review college books, and many, many more. He can go to the college guidance office in his HS and maybe they have bulletins and view books from colleges. Your library may also have some resources. All of these books have similar patterns which include criteria for applicants, and they all seem like they would be the perfect place for you. I would not really worry about visiting schools yet, unless you all (mostly your son!) is curious about it and wants to get started early. Spring Break junior year is soon enough to start visiting, but if there is a school near where you live, you could just casually mosey over there and begin to get a feel for a college campus. When the time comes, be sure that he has a wide range of schools on his list. The important thing is that it feels right when he visits, if he is able. You don’t really even have to visit every school unless and until he gets accepted. It can get very pricey. Start slowly and eventually it will begin to become sensible.</p>
<p>It sounds like your son is trying to find colleges worth considering by matching his SAT scores and GPA with other schools. But I don’t think this method is a very good one, because those schools are very different. Your son should think about what his needs and goals are in life (okay, this is definitely philosophical, and what tenth-grader knows what his goal in life is?). The point is: you should go about searching for colleges with the end in mind. What kind of person does your son want to become? Is there anything that your son is really interested in? What kinds of classes does he like in school? Large, small? Does he want to stay in a big city or does he want to live with fewer non-college people? And so on.</p>
<p>When your son is looking for colleges (it’s still a bit early), he should try to visualize the perfect college, and then seek the colleges that match his ideal college. No college will be perfect, but there are plenty of good ones.</p>
<p>VERY general summation: If his SAT scores and his GPA are in the 75% or above compared to accepted students- not enrolled students- consider the college to be a safety-UNLESS the acceptance rate is less than 30%. Then it should be considered a match. At colleges where the acceptance rates drop down to the 10-15% range-like Princeton- consider those to be a reach, no matter what your son’s stats are.</p>
<p>Ask his high school if they have naviance. If they do, ask for an ID. You will be able to track GPA & SAT scores with admitted, denied, waitlisted then accepted and waitlisted then not accepted from his school. Be a little cautious because you have to compensate for recruited athletes, URMs, etc. who might not have super high stats and may bring down the average a little. </p>
<p>Visit a few colleges just so he can start deciding which types appeal to him. Large public, private university, LAC, rural, suburban in large city, distance from home, etc. At this stage, it’s probably worthwhile to get a sense of what he wants more than narrowing down a list of colleges based on GPA & SAT. I have a 10th grader too, and we visit when we can so that next year he can tell his GC what he wants. </p>
<p>Remember that reach schools with low admissions rates are reaches for everyone. In a way, finding safeties and matches is more work but could be the most rewarding.</p>
<p>“Visit a few colleges just so he can start deciding which types appeal to him. Large public, private university, LAC, rural, suburban in large city, distance from home, etc. At this stage, it’s probably worthwhile to get a sense of what he wants more than narrowing down a list of colleges based on GPA & SAT.”</p>
<p>I second this advise and that of dchow08. Figure out the kind of school he’d be happiest at and the characteristics that matter most to him. Then add your own criteria (distance, financial constraints, etc…). Once you and your son have done this, the list of possibilities will be managable.</p>
<h2>VERY general summation: If his SAT scores and his GPA are in the 75% or above compared to accepted students- not enrolled students- consider the college to be a safety-UNLESS the acceptance rate is less than 30%.</h2>
<p>Thanks menloparkmom. That sounds like exactly what we’re looking for now. But as I said, we’re really newbies here. So, uhm,…what’s the easiest way to get those numbers for each college?</p>
<p>Go to the left-hand column of this page and click on the “NEW! Stats Profiles” link. You can look back over the past couple years at the records of a number of CCers who have applied to the school that you’re considering, and see whether they were accepted, rejected, deferred, waitlisted, etc.</p>
<p>WE found the Collegeboard search function a good place to start: You do have to sign in initially but we found this site to be a valuable tool.
[College</a> MatchMaker - Type of School](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)
There are subsequent page which ask for SAT scores/ GPA. Filling in the questions on each page and saving the results will take you through the questions and filter out colleges that don’t meet your specificatons. You can change the paramaters and see how the results change. In addition, once we had a few colleges selected and saved under My College List, it was REALLY helpful to look at the “find similar” function to see other colleges that also have the characteristics you are looking for.</p>
<p>I also STRONGLY suggest you head over to Parent Forum, where dozens more CC veteran parents post and “hang out” This forum- College admissions- “tends” to have more HS students than parents posting here.</p>
<p>“So, uhm,…what’s the easiest way to get those numbers for each college?”</p>
<p>Pay $15 to completely access the U.S. News Premium college on-line site, which gives you stats for thousands of colleges. This includes SAT and gpa breakdowns of accepted students, detailed info about financial aid awards, etc.</p>
<p>bird rock,
while gadad’s advice to look at CC stat profiles may be helpful, CC is hardly a cross section of applicants. go to [College</a> Search - SAT Registration - College Admissions - Scholarships](<a href=“http://collegeboard.com%5DCollege”>http://collegeboard.com) and type in the name of a school. Then click on the “SAT, AP, CLEP” tab to find the 25/75 percentile scores. Explore the other tabs to get information on other aspects of the college.</p>