@ChillyCow, that’s interesting. But still, a college/university being able to find the same general caliber of students to fill its classrooms is a somewhat different thing than admissions officers being able to give each student the equivalent chance of admissions that the given student would have had the year before. Some individuals will come out ahead, and some behind where they would have been previously, and I believe high school reputation will be a bigger boost than before, especially with TO and TB admissions. I get that colleges must look after their own priorities, and students who have the most concrete evidence of being “sure things” will get ahead in the line. What constitutes this evidence is in flux this year.
Today I had to drive all around town and listened to more of the Jeff Selingo book, and he mentioned over and over that most schools group apps by HS and read them at the same time. He stressed they claim to not compare applicants, but I can’t see how they don’t.
I have sort of the opposite situation. lol. My D has been accepted to Arizona, Arizona State, and Montana State with test scores sent but no transcripts. Our GC can’t decide how to handle collecting the $2 per transcript fee. Seriously.
It was so strange, we did get the Duke email like some of you mentioned, but that was actually the second school to do this in the same day! Oh, well.
@havenoidea I thought that was so interesting when I read some were test blind, but not all. That speaks volumes in my opinion-at least definitively with regard to the TO schools at Cornell.
@momtogkc that is helpful info, thanks. Most of the schools she is looking at probably have slightly higher 25-75 numbers than your D19’s list, although not by a lot. Tulane isn’t as high on the scores, but admissions is still a bear there. Richmond is one of her “bubble” schools that may or may not get an app. Tulane doesn’t fit in with her others (mostly small LAC’s), but is probably in her top 5, maybe top 2. So that’s encouraging. If that’s her only admit, you will be looking at a really happy girl next fall!
Comparing, though, doesn’t necessarily mean just test scores. Kids will have different classes and different grades and different strengths shown by their essays, ECs, and recommendations. It is an interesting exercise to go through though. For instance, we know one school that’s a reach for D. The AO came to our school “virtually” and D could see all of the kids who came to that meeting.She pretty much knows their classes and grades and their ECs and most of their scores if they have them. (Kids share way too much here.) I try to picture myself reading her app next to theirs. It holds up without a test score. I have to wonder if the AO will see it like that.
Husband reminded me that S21 has a 4 day President’s Day weekend break. I have no clue where we are going, but hope to look at something! So weird.
Another thought is that since it’s his last semester and all apps and grades would be submitted, wouldn’t be the worst thing to take off a couple of extra days in March or April if we are really trying to decide or be sure about someplace.
Comparing, though, doesn’t necessarily mean just test scores. Kids will have different classes and different grades and different strengths shown by their essays, ECs, and recommendations. It is an interesting exercise to go through though. For instance, we know one school that’s a reach for D. The AO came to our school “virtually” and D could see all of the kids who came to that meeting.She pretty much knows their classes and grades and their ECs and most of their scores if they have them. (Kids share way too much here.) I try to picture myself reading her app next to theirs. It holds up without a test score. I have to wonder
We have a scheduled zoom call with our school’s AO from USC next Friday…just for our school. I will be watching with my son to see who else is on the call. I know many of his fellow seniors. My son is ranked 1st in his class so I feel good about his chances, but it’s always good to know who else in his class will be applying.
@homerdog D21 got into Pitt without a test score.
@jeneric – woot woot! Congrats to your D!
My S needs to get his app in there! I noticed they added some essays that are optional. Did your D do those? What school did she apply to?
We made the decision to send D21’s scores to reaches.
He took the SAT in Oct 19 1470 760 Math - Engineering Major.
3.96- 4.0 unweighted (depends on how the school scores a 92)
4.66 weighted.
8 AP classes.
We are hoping that it showed he took it early and there was a good possibility it would have gone up. He did get a sitting for next weekend and if it goes up he will submit new scores.
The great news is he was already accepted to a safety school (which is also a top contender.)
The decision is behind us now, however according to this he shouldn’t have submitted to one or two schools. Time will only tell, he only submitted EA or RD so we will have to wait.
Good luck to everyone faced with the dilemma and to everyone who has a child taking the test in the upcoming weeks.
@AlmostThere2018 She did answer two of the questions and she applied to Dietrich undeclared. I am thankful for the Pitt process of the self reporting of grades. It’s been slow going with our GC to get anything into Common App. She also applied with Pitt’s application.
I wish more colleges would allow self-reporting of grades. DS completed and submitted ten applications but his school will not send the transcript until two weeks before the deadline. He spoke to the GC and was able to get a few sent early as they are rolling admissions, but I am not sure why the school has to wait for the official transcript before considering his app.
Our district started using a service for Transcripts and now you can just order online and have it sent to the colleges. So much easier than waiting for GC to send them.
Here’s a thought. Apply test optional to some of the colleges and submit a score for the others, this way you can hedge your bets. If your D is a STEM major, the 27 is not good but if a humanities major, the 27 might not be a deal breaker if English, Reading, and Science are 33 or above.
I’m hoping the test last week went well and this will be a moot point!
Yes the waiting for transcript and recommendations is annoying. Would like to get those safety rolling admission acceptances already
@momandslp maybe he could could email the AO and let them know his scores and ask if it is better to submit or go TO. I would think from his grades they would know he can do the work. From our school SCOIR scattergram, kids were accepted with lower GPA 3.5 and lower test scores SAT 1250, Act 25, though some of the high GPA and test scores were deferred in EA. I think they will still be balancing keeping there stats high and meeting the financial targets.
We debated about submitting D21’s ACT to Pitt. English and Reading were strong, but math was not where she wanted it. She was going to try the SAT, but that got cancelled, which was probably the best thing for her. She has anxiety on a good day, making her go into a school after months of being home and not having math, she could have had a panic attack and caused a testing irregularity! It was just not worth it!
For other schools she will submit, because her scores are strong for those. She asked her Pre Calc teacher to do her LOR, since she had a high A in the class, thinking that would help to offset the lackluster Math score. The math teacher didn’t come back this year and she has made multiple attempts to contact her. I wish the teacher would have told her no in April. So now she has had to email other teachers. We aren’t in school and won’t be until after the Nov. 15 deadline. The teachers are all stressed and overworked, she felt bad asking for the LOR so late.
Meanwhile, one of her school’s just keeps emailing about her missing items. Things her GC needs to do. She sent it to him the first week of August and resent it a couple of weeks ago. It’s frustrating. He has seen her twice in 3 years and never had an actual conversation with her. This year’s Senior meeting was 20 minutes in a small group via google, with him telling them things they should have been told last year. I wish we could bypass him, but Common App won’t let us!
That’s really frustrating, @jeneric, especially about the math teacher disappearing like that!
@Meddy: re: 9209: "…I read some were test blind, but not all. That speaks volumes in my opinion-at least definitively with regard to the TO schools at Cornell.
?? what “volumes” does it speak ?? To you.
Did you mean that this is evidence of the reasonable speculation that the TO schools are those that feel they are the least dependent on standardized tests in their admissions process anyway ??
For example Architecture is more persuaded by portfolios than SAT scores, Hotel, CALS and the business programs are highly focused on demonstrated interest in their fields. Maybe Dyson is so selective that they’ve found that the scores are just redundant?
Cornell says, “For students unable to provide test scores, the University will place more of an emphasis on transcripts, extracurriculars, essays and recommendations from teachers and secondary school counselors.”
Or did you mean something else ??
I’m an alum and I’ve no idea myself. Beyond my idle speculations above. For example I don’t know why Dyson and CALS would punt but Hum Ec and ILR (where commitment to specific majors must also be quite important) wouldn’t.
What am I missing?