<p>Yes. Get some safeties and love them. Wharton rejected at least as many 2350s as they took this year, as the blood on the boards on ED day would attest. And even at little ol Duke, the dean of admissions said they outright rejected ove 1000 vals and 350 perfect SATs this year. If you are thinking Ivy or bust, there’s a strong likelihood of the latter, and you need to think about how your child would fit into the class they are trying to assemble. The martial arts thing sounds really cool. Whic h selective schools would be most interested in that and provide opportunities for him to continue to pursue it?</p>
<p>Rejected 350 perfect SATs? How many 2400s are there total nationally? That sounds like a very high number.</p>
<p>There aren’t that many single-score perfectos, but in the super-score era, based on the cross-tabs you can get from College Board, I would guess there around 5,000 super-scored 2400s.</p>
<p>I read this fast, so others can scrub it too, but basically, for 2012 college bound seniors, there were only 360 single-sitting perfectos. About 1200 kids went 1600 on the two traditional sections that colleges actually use. However, there were 27,000 individual section 800s. My 5,000 is just a guess based how many folks might have retaken to get 800s across all three categories. </p>
<p><a href=“http://research.collegeboard.org/content/sat-data-tables[/url]”>http://research.collegeboard.org/content/sat-data-tables</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The colleges don’t give a crap. Of all the various qualities that are presented in an application, the specific numerical score is the least significant. They are conscious of score ranges but they don’t make decisions based on comparative test scores. That is, to the college, the 2350 is the SAME as the 2400; the 35 ACT is the SAME as the 36. </p>
<p>Try to understand this: if most of the applicants have very high test scores, then the college necessarily has to use criteria other than test scores to make their choices. The student who is focusing on test scores rather than the other criteria is at a competitive disadvantage to a student who is focusing his time on the things that are more important to college admissions.</p>
<p>Calmom thanks so much for the link. S1 has been studying TKD since he was six and took up aikido a few years back. He is now an instructor for both. There were quite a few colleges with karate clubs that are also on his interest List. This is very useful information.</p>
<p>Your thoughts on the test scores for Wharton are welcomed. After seeing the perfect and near perfect scores of those recently accepted from his school, I didn’t think his chances were great.</p>
<p>He does, however, present (IMHO) quite an interesting package of great GPA, most rigorous courses at one of the nation’s top high schools, outstanding musical talent, leadership roles, awards, community service, etc. so there is always hope.</p>
<p>I guess what I do know is that there is the right school for him out there and he will find it. He has what it takes to be successful no matter where he goes and that is what is most important.</p>
<p>Of course, if he could get into somewhere early, wouldn’t that be wonderful!</p>
<p>D1 was considered a “shoo-in” for her ED, so most of her other applications weren’t ready when she was deferred. She had to complete all of her applications over the winter break under a very stressful scenario. Lessons learned…D2 had all of her essays and applications ready to go before her ED decision came out. She wrote some beautiful essays, but lucky for her, she didn’t have to use any of them. We also saved a lot of application fees. It was a situation of if you had your umbrella then you could be sure it is not going to rain. </p>
<p>Just to make OP aware, Georgetown’s EA is not the same as other EAs. Georgetown wouldn’t allow you to apply ED to other schools, but schools like UMich, UVA, maybe Chicago do not have the same constraint. D2 did apply to Cornell ED and EA to UMich and UVa. You should read each school’s policy before applying.</p>
<p>Here is another nuance with Cornell. They will take ACT and SAT subject tests, but since they do not do score choice, your kid would need to submit SAT I and SAT IIs even if his/her ACT score is better.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Those are the details that bring life to an application – that makes a student stand out, both in the ED and RD rounds. </p>
<p>It’s not so much that a college will admit your son because they are looking for TKD/aikido experts-- but that they LIKE him because he has two great talents (martial arts and music) and seems like an interesting and promising kid – and that makes him seem more attractive than umpteen other applicants who have equivalent grades, academic records & test scores. It’s a tough choice they have: a whole lot of very qualified applicants with transcripts that are virtually indistinguishable – so anything that makes the kid stand out and “come alive” to them is a help. Someone is going to spend 10 minutes or less very quickly reading his app file, and form a gut level impression – and that is what is going to essentially determine his fate. </p>
<p>I’m confused by something in your posts. In your first post you wrote wondering whether your son should apply early to his “number one choice” – but by post #15, you were talking about “three schools” (Harvard, Yale, Penn) he was considering for early admission - and by post #35 you’ve added another school (Brown) to the mix. </p>
<p>Does your son know what his absolute first choice college is or not? It seems to me that, financial considerations aside, it doesn’t make much sense for anyone to apply for for binding early admission to any college other than a for-sure, absolute first choice.</p>
<p>Thanks Calmom. Wharton has been his first choice since he can remember. Given the incredible scores of those we know who have been accepted, he is not sure he wants to use his only early decision chance there. After visiting Harvard, they moved up to a tie on the “dream school” list. After we had the " now let’s be realistic, this might not happen" talk, he put Brown in the mix. (And yes, we explained to him that the odds for Brown and every Ivy are steep-so matches and safeties are in place.) He loves the Brown curriculum and after visiting the campus said he felt at home there. </p>
<p>So does he have a first choice yes. Would he fare best by there applying Early? We don’t know.</p>
<p>Also factor is that he has talked with three other kids at school who plan to apply early to Wharton. Whether they really are or not is open to question, but that is what they are sharing now.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I can echo this reality. I don’t know how it will be for next years class, but anecdotal evidence in my neck of the woods proved the top colleges were not really relying on scores so much. If one has a solid score on the entrance exams, taking and retaking to hit a certain score was a waste of time and money. This round I saw an unhooked student with a 32 ACT and equivalent SAT admitted to Harvard while a 36 ACT 2390 SAT got waitlisted. I saw a similar case with Princeton. The take away is remarkable drive , achievement, stand out Essays, and solid teacher recs count more. Since they are building a class, you have to hope that you are the stand out in your category/ region. I say region, because I think regional diversity comes into play.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In other words, he’s still in the process of making up his mind and is not at all sure what his top choice might be. </p>
<p>Brown is a pretty far cry from Wharton. </p>
<p>I think it’s a huge mistake to look at ED or SCEA as a “card” that must be played. Rather, if a student is absolutely sure of his top choice, and that top choice also happens to offer ED or SCEA – than that become an additional option.</p>
<p>You might point out to your son that his undergraduate education is not the end of the line. He could attend undergrad just about anywhere and then go to Wharton for an MBA. Then he would have more flexibility as to choice of major as an undergrad. I don’t know what admit rates are for grad school, but probably not quite as overwhelming as with undergrad.</p>
<p>I agree Brown is very different than Wharton, so he may still need to figure out what he wants. In our case, my kid could have been just as happy at Cornell, NU, Duke, Harvard, Yale, Berkeley…just not at a LAC, so it was to her advantage to use that free option (ED/EA card). Top students do get a real bump during ED at the next tier down school from HYPS. By applying ED is the ultimate show of interest. OP is sophisticated enough to know that it is a card worth playing, and you only get one card.</p>