My D21 had a lopsided score with English higher. Since she was clearly not looking to major in Stem, we sent her score in the situation described. She wanted schools to see her strong English score!
She got into her first choice where her math was below the 50% range, English above, and composite in the middle of the 50% range.
Ok great. This is him too- def a humanities kid and no interest in math or STEM
D23 got a yes from NMSU!
Woohoo! Congratulations! There’s nothing like that first acceptance to melt so much of the stress and uncertainly away. Hope your D24 celebrates!
Following this…
D24 is interested in STEM and her Math score is 50 points lower than her EBRW. Is a 50 point spread lopsided?
I’m pretty sure she’s submitting scores everywhere, and they are reasonably good scores (super score above 1400) and she doesn’t have a whole lot outside of grades and scores (very limited extracurriculars) to evaluate. At her reach school, her Math is just below the 25th % while her verbal is >75th. She’s considering applying undecided there.
Awesome!!! So exciting for her and must feel great to have an acceptance in the bag🙌🏻
Something to be aware of is how much variation there is in the level of math skills required for STEM majors between one college and the next. Matching the student to the college is important in that regard: Better IMO to “fit in” with the majority of the students and how the course material is taught, than to always be on the edge.
It’s still going to seem really hard no matter what (at least it did to me), but ought to at least seem achievable. We had 50% attrition among engineering admits between the first and second year when I entered, and that seemed to have a lot to do with different levels of math preparation/ability. At other schools (as I learned comparing notes post-graduation), the same subjects were taught with a lot more of a practical emphasis and not nearly as heavy on advanced math.
Either approach turns out perfectly good engineers. My company plugged me into a “can do lots of math-y things” job. The vast majority of engineers, though they of course had studied and used some calculus in college, did equally important work using little more than algebra – if even that.
I agree with you 100% on this. Her reach is not MY first choice for her for these very reasons. At the other schools on her list, her scores are solidly mid 50 to above 75%. I believe these environments would be a better fit, and would not be disappointed if she isn’t admitted to the reach school.
Does her transcript supports her interest in STEM (meaning taking challenging STEM classes)?
Not sure what colleges she’s looking at, but my high stats DS2022 applied as math major with higher English/Reading ACT than his Math/Science. But he had all AP STEM, no AP in non-STEM (except Spanish). And great letter of recommendation from his AP Calc teacher.
Was accepted to great colleges.
Yes - AP CHem, AP physics 2, AP Bio, AP Calc AB.
LOR from AP Chem teacher.
Hope it’s enough!
D24 has to turn in a draft of her Common App personal statement essay to the college counseling class this Friday, but has some bad writer’s block. It’s hard to write/talk about yourself!
Had a nice conversation with S24 tonight. We blocked out our calendars for open houses and other college stuff the next few months. We talked about his schools and he is dropping a few from his list as he doesn’t think he would want to go to them. I think even though his list is small, they are really strong matches for him. It’s getting busy!
I took it as a good sign when S24 dropped a couple off his list because it told me that he was thinking more about where he really wants to be. Sometimes I feel like he doesn’t think about all of this stuff but I guess he does and is just quiet about it.
I agree, sometimes it’s hard to crack what is in their heads as boys are not as communicative as girls, typically.
We are both a little scared that he is down to four schools but I truly believe he will get into them all and he will be able to choose. Also, I felt he was ride or die with his number one but now I think he will have a hard time choosing with three.
We had only 4 ( 1 reach, 1-2 matches, 1 safety) and then he wanted 1 more reach. So, it is all still good.
We’ve only got 5 at most (one school is still in the may apply, may not apply column) on D24’s list. One is a safety, 2 are matches , 1 is a reachy-match (is that a thing?) and one is a reach. My D has only expressed mild preferences for one over the other, so my takeaway is that she’d likely be happy matriculating at any of them. Don’t see the need for a long list in that case.
I feel better knowing we’re not alone with not applying to ALL the schools 
It is lot of time, effort, $ investment to apply to more universities, even with common app. If everyone only applies to the minimum set, it will be easier for both sides as the acceptance rate will get better. However lot of kids and parents take the max set approach and blast to 12+ schools! In my naive understanding it spirals and hinders other kids. Schools will have a bad yield as well.
More than 2 schools in each category (reach, match, safety) is waste of $, time and effort.
That is true in many cases, but there are exceptions. My DD falls into this GPA category and is a poor test taker. She is applying to 10 Direct Entry nursing programs as a test-optional candidate. These programs, even at 80%+ admit rate schools, are incredibly selective. So, she chose 10 - 2 reaches, 4 targets and 4 safeties. Merit $$ also will factor into her decision so she hopes to get a couple of yes’s to compare offers.
There are always exceptions and your DD has a valid reason. One of our friend’s DS applied to 14 schools and started school in their state flagship.
I’ve heard kids who don’t have a hook to Ivy , apply to more top schools to increase their odds.
We are not sure of our chances as DS24 has average GPA with decent SAT score. We researched a lot and went with the minimum set of 5 schools. If our safety doesn’t pan out ( hoping to hear by 10/1), we plan to apply to 5 more schools.
Abundance of choices is not helping when the results are not certain. There should be a more certain way to know the decision upfront to reduce the stress for the families.