<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>2college…he is in a public school, one of the top three in the state. However, there seems to be little help from the guidance department. I guess that’s the big difference between a public school and a private school.</p>
<p>RR, You should be able to find other public schools in that list. I do want you to keep a few things in mind: </p>
<p>1- If he’s looking at large publics, apply early. A lot of them function on rolling admission and once a class is full, it’s full.
2- You will probably need to apply lower than whatever his strength is. So he probably won’t get into a school where he has the median gpa.
3- When you look at Naviance, look carefully at the % accepted. If the admitted students of 2 schools have similar stats, you son is much more likely to get into the one with a high admissions rate.
4- Your son’s essay will be more important than that of most kids. </p>
<p>One of my kids had similar stats and was admitted to 2 flagship schools: Arizona and Indiana. I think your son would also have a good chance at some of the New England flagships, at Penn State and at Delaware. If by any chance he’s Catholic, Catholic U in DC might also be a good place for him.</p>
<p>I second the importance of the essay. My son had comments in one acceptance letter and from another admissions officer regarding the strength of his essay. Also, he believes his first semester grades senior year are what pushed him over the top at his reach. After being deferred EA, he submitted straight A’s in 3 APs and 2 honors and an elective proving he was up for the task. While this may not help those applying earlier in the cycle perhaps some readers may benefit.</p>
<p>It is tricky! We’ve been through a similar scenario once and are about to again.</p>
<p>When I look at Naviance for other high schools (we don’t have it), you can see some colleges (like Virginia Tech) that draw a hard line at, say, 3.0 or 3.2 unweighted. It’s almost like they don’t look at the SAT or strength of curriculum. Others have a GPA floor, but accepatnces are spotty and scattered across a big range of SAT scores. The top schools can be clustered at the very top of the GPA range. That can give you a feel for how each college works.</p>
<p>Take a look at the data from some other high schools. I like this one because it has an unweighted GPA option.
<a href=“https://connection.naviance.com/fc/signin.php?hsid=johnson[/url]”>https://connection.naviance.com/fc/signin.php?hsid=johnson</a> (guest password=wildcat)
Michigan does look like a stretch. Indiana looks somewhat more realisitic.</p>
<p>Also, look to see what percentage of accepted students are in the top 10 percent of the class. That gives some indication of how selective the school is with respect to GPA.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would start the list looking for safeties and matches as if his scores were somewhat lower. If all of the acceptances are above his GPA, you are hoping to be an outlier on the curve. It could happen, but it sounds risky. This is a case that might justify more applications that typical, but start at the bottom!</p>
<p>Simliar here for my 2007 graduate. 2300+ SATs, not in top 10% of class, GPA 3.8+ weighted, good but not remarkable ECs, good essays and recommendations. With weighting, many kids have a 4.0+ GPA. Another very bright kid that just wasn’t into grades. Naviance was not that much help as there was not another data point for a kid like him (no scores that high). He got into almost all the schools he applied to, but those were in the high 20s/very low 30s on the USNWR list, not the most elite schools (both universities and LACs). He was waitlisted at Hopkins, despite having parent go to grad school there (did not stay on wait list). We were also looking for merit money, which he received at several schools. His acceptances were pretty much as I anticipated, but better than the GC expected. </p>
<p>I can easily find his spot on our schools Naviance system, as he is usually the dot farthest to the right but with the lowest GPA (for the high SAT scores). He is happy and likely would not have been able to attend the higher rated schools, even if he got in for financial reasons.</p>
<p>There are several midwestern flagships that have very numbers driven admissions with SAT/GPA tables. His test scores would put him in good shape for automatic admission. I’m talking about schools like Oklahoma, Kansas and Mizzou. My lopsided stat kid had positive results at these schools.</p>
<p>Thank you all again…you are all so helpful! 2college…I found what you were talking about on Naviance…had never thought to scroll down! Now…when I look at the % accepted, what type of percentage should I be looking for?</p>
<p>Thanks also for the college recommendations…it is really so appreciated!</p>
<p>I wish I could say that my son is going to take a whole bunch of APs next year and pull As in there, thereby increasing his changes to get into a reach school. But, as is his pattern, he is only taking one AP (Latin) and just doesn’t seem to be worried about getting into a school. His attitude is, “I’ll get in somewhere and I’ll enjoy it”. There is something to be said for that attitude…I wish I could have more of it myself, but I’ve read too many horror stories about kids having nowhere to go…</p>
<p>We had the opposite problem, which you see very little about on this site. My daughter is a senior at a very strong catholic high school that routinely sends a few girls to Ivys and Cal and Stanford and so on, and she has about a 3.8 gpa, unweighted. Her SATs (after 2 tries) are about 1500/2400, and ACT the equivalent. We have never been able to get to the bottom of her low test scores. It worked out OK, and she got into the exact college she wanted (fortunately, she is a recruited athlete) but had it not been for that, I don’t know what we would have done. She was another one who didn’t really match any of the points on Naviance. I wonder why this never comes up on this board?</p>
<p>stryker it does, usually people suggest looking at the test optional schools. There are a number of them now, many are excellent schools. You can find the list at fairtest.org.</p>
<p>Here is the bad news from our competitive public school:</p>
<p>Michigan waitlisted 4.2 GPA(weighted on a 5 point scale), 2100 SAT, 4.3 GPA 2025 SAT,
4.3 GPA 2000 SAT, 4.2 GPA 1925 SAT, and a 3.7 GPA 1900 SAT </p>
<p>Your chances are better at Indiana, Ohio State, Miami of Ohio, or even Wisconsin, according to our Naviance.</p>
<p>I just saw a typo in my post. It should read "he probably won’t get into a school where he has the median <i>SAT</i>.</p>
<p>As far as what sort of admissions % to look for, obviously, higher is better but I would aim to have some that admit over 50%. If you can find a college that admits a substantially higher % of applicants from your school than in general (assuming your school’s applicants are similar to the general applicant pool), you probably have a college that thinks favorably of your school’s curriculum. We have several colleges in the top 100 that have admited 80%-100% of our public school’s applicants. You have to keep searching to find those schools but often the guidance counselors push them.</p>
<p>How should I gauge where his SAT score sits versus the median…by total or by section? I ask this because currently he has a 760 in math and a 590 in CR (630 writing)…this always puts his math way above the 75th percentile at his reach schools, but CR down in the 25th. At match schools, of course, he is still way above in math and a little more average in CR. (He has retaken the SATs, and does expect his CR to go up, but unless his math stays the same it won’t help much because some schools…like Michigan…don’t superscore).</p>
<p>Identifying match and reach based on Sophomore year PSAT scores and GPA should be taken with a grain of salt. Factor in who your child is in as a senior.</p>
<p>Toadstool…not sure if you were referring to me, but my son is a junior and those scores are from the January SAT. He took it again in March. His GPA may be a bit higher by the end of the year, but I’d rather use the lower one at this point.</p>