@buuzn03 If your S is applying to schools that are more commonly discussed on the 3.0 threads, you should not feel disingenuous about participating there, just be honest about who you are. The great thing about CC is that you can give and take where it is appropriate for you, and easily skim over the parts that don’t apply.
@3SailAway I think that is a fabulous idea! With my S21, we most certainly are not targeting T20 LAC’s or Ivies. My son is a solid 1Q A/B student but not in the top 10% of his class, will graduate with maybe 6 AP classes and some DC, does not have any EC outside of marching band (which he loves and is trying out to be a section leader for next fall) and doesn’t even really know what he wants to major in lol. We’re in Texas, and he’ll be applying to all our State schools and also Univ of Arkansas (reciprocal tuition for Texas students!). Although TAMU is his first choice and where he really wants to go, I don’t know if his SAT/ACT scores will be enough for Academic Admit as he’s not a strong test taker. We’re hoping he’ll get good enough merit aid at UTSA or Texas State, both of which are safeties at this point. I don’t think his Math scores on SAT/ACT will get him any AES at UTD either. I have twins entering high school this fall so we have already been very, very, very honest with S21 about how much we can afford to pay, how student loans work and how much all these schools will cost.
There’s some underling side eye in the Texas forums here (as well in the competitive high schools in my area) that if you’re staying in state and not going to UT or TAMU, then people will start clutching their pearls lol. Texas Tech, UTD are considered “second tier”, and then UTSA, UNT, TXSU barely get any love. I don’t know why that is.
Anyway, I really appreciate all the information I’ve gleaned from these forums and the high stat students on how this whole college admin process works. When it’s time to rinse, lather and repeat this process with my S23 twins, I just may have one high stat kid on my hands as well ?
@JanieWalker I agree no one should feel they have to censor…I just don’t like to read a thread that will turn into what seems to be a “look how great I am” advertisement, which is why I also don’t read Chance me threads…I guess mt point was…if we could have a thread that is more about the schools some are choosing for fit over prestige/stats versus concentrating on the prestige and stats, it would be refreshing.
And @Acersaccharum, I do follow that thread even though the stats are a bit off, but I haven’t found those are the school’s he’s interested in either…maybe we are just an outlier…oh! I should start an island of misfits thread! Lol
While my kid will likely have some high stats, we are full pay and chasing merit and looking for fit and are looking at a lot of T2 and state schools. I’d lurk in the type of thread you suggest. 
I’m trying to plan out our next two years. When are you all planning to have your DD/DS start test prep and sit for the ACT or SAT? DD has medical condition which causes her to miss a lot of school, so I was hoping to avoid having her prep and take the ACT/SAT during the busy school year, but is doing it this summer too early? Should I wait until next summer or is that too late?
@DOTexe my son has been working with a tutor once a week since February to start SAT prep. He has really bad text anxiety so we decided the sooner the better. Starting first week of June, he will go into intensive SAT prep with his tutor 3 days a week and supplement with Khan Academy prep at home 30 minutes a day. He is taking the SAT last week of August (our school year starts Aug 13). Since he’s in marching band and the fall semester is crazy busy for him, he won’t take the SAT again until November, and if needed then December as well I guess. I’m putting a hard stop on 3 tries. Spring semester of Junior year he’ll take the ACT. Our goal is to be completely done with all testing by the end of 11th grade so that he can spend the summer before senior year working on essays and applying early (Texas schools open up applications July 1 apparently lol).
@3SailAway I get what you’re saying. Today is the first time I’ve read this thread in a while. While D21 has above a 3.5, we are full pay and will be looking for merit over big names. S17 was more like a 2.8 kinda guy, so I actually found this site with 3.0-3.4 thread. I still lurk there because D21 will be interested in a lot of those schools as well.
On to SAT prep…we definitely have more laid back approach! D will start in late June when school lets out, once a week with one on one, they give some homework, then the week before the August test our local community college has a Mon-Friday 9am-4pm intensive prep class for $250 she’ll do. August SAT, September 14 ACT and we’ll see where she ends up. I’m praying for one and done but we’ll see!
Been a stressful sophomore year…D’s main extra curricular became way too large of a commitment. What was a 3 day a week schedule was pushed to a 4 day a week schedule (practice an hour from home, 1.5 hours from school, getting home at 10pm at least 2 days a week with 3 honors classes at an Uber-competitive high school). Then basically bullying by teammates and coaches to commit to 5 days a week - we all decided it was time to say goodbye. It hurt in the moment, but D’s stress level is much better, grades are up and i’m Saving a boatload cash!
Here’s hoping for a great August SAT and no prepping needed junior year!
@DOTexe My S21 will be doing prep this summer to take the first SAT or ACT in the Fall. I’m having him do a practice test of each after school gets out to see which he prefers and then he’ll prep for that. He doesn’t really want to take a prep class this summer so for the summer the plan is for him to prep with Khan Academy and/or prep book materials. He had a pretty good PSAT so I think that could be fine. If his Fall score isn’t where he’d like it then I’ll insist on tutoring/class before a 2nd time. He’ll be looking for merit aid too and doesn’t do much in ECs so he’ll need strong test scores to widen his options.
On the topic of a separate board for those not targeting T20-30, my S21 would definitely fit in that – he has a good GPA right now (mostly As but was more Bs in 9th, so strong upward trend) and will have 6-7 APs but that doesn’t put him in the top 10% of his class, he’s not very driven, and, as I said above, he doesn’t do much in ECs. So, I’d definitely participate in a board for those who fall between the Ivy-targeting and the 3.0-3.4 but I think it’s good for more of us to talk about these kinds of kids here too. I do also read the 3.0-3.4 topic for ideas on colleges where he’d have a strong shot at merit aid. Between the two conversations, I find a lot of value.
@DOTexe I am aiming to get testing done early (maybe this summer?) because it helps on the back end (next summer) when they might want to start applications. We have no time for test prep during the school year, so we have to do something this summer. I do think, however, that much will be learned in junior year and re-testing next summer might show big improvements. My D is also taking APUSH right now, so she’ll take the SAT2 for US History. I don’t know if she will apply to schools requiring the SAT 2, but just to be sure, she should take it now while the material is fresh (just another frustrating aspect of standardized testing - grrr!). If we know a year from now that she needs a second SAT2, she’ll take one then.
FWIW, my D19 did not prep or test until summer after junior year. It was rough, but doable. She had wanted to get her essays done over summer and that did not happen, but our school has a September break, and she cranked it out, applying EA to all of her schools. It worked out, she had 4/4 acceptances.
D21 is starting SAT prep using Kahn Academy and prep books the day after her June SAT2 exams (we homeschool, so she’s doing a lot of standardized testing to supplement her application). The plan is three or four hours a day six days a week through the summer, except for when she is doing a three week summer camp. She’s taking the late August SAT. Really hoping it is a one-and-done so she doesn’t have to worry about it after this summer.
We’re another trying to get testing done early. My S21 is also considering swimming in college, so the recruiting schedule will also dictate sooner rather than later with testing. He’s signed up for the June and if he has to retake will probably due it in August.
@DOTexe – good question. I’m trying to get my S21 to take the SAT in May or June as a baseline to help with summer prep but he doesn’t want to. He’s in avoidance mode, and I’m trying to figure out how hard to push him. I think it’s b/c he’s got friends who are already scoring really high and he doesn’t think he’ll match them. 
Anyway, he’s got a busy June and July but Aug is pretty wide open so I’m going to try to get him the practice books to do some practice exams and then take both SAT and ACT this Fall so he can figure out which to focus on.
Depending how he does (his pre-ACT score was pretty meh compared to his grades) I can see him getting more serious/motivated about test prep summer after Junior year and being a kid who’s still trying to get the score he wants Fall of senior year. Of course, this makes it difficult to figure out where to visit Spring of Junior year . . we’ll have to visit a range of colleges. He’s pre-engineering right now.
In other news, he’s been pretty light on ECs until this Spring where he was part of a rookie robotics team that had a great season! Got 3 different rookie awards and made it to the state championship tournament! I think he’s going to end up being one of those pointy kids with just a couple but deep ECs.
Hi all., .I have been reading this thread from time to time since the beginning, but also decided to wait to jump in until our kids are up next for the college search. With a mix of excitement and dismay (the empty nest will hit me HARD) that time is close at hand for our rising juniors!
I’ve thought a lot about the “average excellent” designation coined by @Lindagaf and decided that we really could use an additional concept for the kids whose abilities/interests/personalities fall somewhere between average excellent and the 3.0-3,4 students … but without losing the wonderful, supportive, fit-over prestige spirit of the 3.0-3,4 thread (which is my fav here, BTW!)
In my head I think of it as the “average very good” student…which is exactly what my daughter is. In my mind, the average very good student could range from the 3.5-to the 4.0 kid…and have a very wide range of test scores (i,e, 25-32 ACT), I guess it describes more of a mind-set than a specific point on the stats section: A diligent, bright, curious kid who strives to do well, has a normal range of interests, and who is happiest in a cooperative rather than hyper-competitive atmosphere. Also, a kid who certainly has intellectual interests and abilities, but who may be more pragmatic than deeply intellectual.
My D21 (only child) is competent, kind, hard-working, loves to read, and has always done well in school. But she doesn’t seek the spotlight and she’s very much a normal kid. She’s stressed and unhappy in an uber-competitive atmosphere. So far she’s IS in that academic top 10 percent of her high school, has taken just about all the honors/APs possible so far and has a 4.0… BUT she goes to an average public high school where the great majority of kids go on to our local community college and regional state school. I suspect some of the AP classes here are not as difficult as they are in some schools (For example, AP Gov is taught over a year rather than a semester). She has to work very hard for some of her grades, and Math doesn’t come intuitively to her. (Math score was almost 200 points lower than English/reading on PSAT10). My husband is a mathy guy who helps her with math/science when she asks. Though he never does the work FOR her, I believe she would have gotten Bs / maybe Cs in math/chem without his regular coaching. She also has active, well-rounded normal-kid ECs, but no leadership to speak of; and any rewards are on the local level. If anything, she likes to duck the spotlight…happy being the solid kid in a supporting role…i.e. number two instead of section leader…
So far she doesn’t want to go more than three or four hours drive from home and thinks she’ll feel overwhelmed at a very large university, so our very good state flagship may be out. We’re looking at LACs and smaller universities in our area that happen to rank around 40-120 in US News (big range). There’s also one up-and-coming mid-sized university of interest several states away because it’s less than an hour’s drive from my sister (her favorite aunt).
Looking forward to hearing from others!
My D21 is high stats so far (assuming she does well on her upcoming finals) but takes a lot of APs and does have leadership with the ECs, etc. That being said, she does what she does for enjoyment, and she does not want a competitive atmosphere in college. She’s competitive with herself but not with others (wants to do better than she did last week, that kind of thing), and she wants a collaborative and friendly atmosphere. So far she is interested in LACs that range in rank between 3 and 59, and a some smaller Top 100 Universities that range in rank from 1 to 110. Fit is most important and rank is a happenstance. So I can see her fitting in with multiple threads in terms of her attitude and her desire for fit as well as her high stats. So if there are multiple threads created, I hope it’s okay if I participate in ways that would make sense for whatever specific conversation was happening at the time.
@inthegarden it sounds like we have very similar situations, you are just much more eloquent than I. Solid student, not spectacular but doesn’t necessarily want to be. Does NOT want to be in a large population situation (no major cities, no large state schools). However, S21 is interested in math/science and wants to possibly go into engineering…hmmm to get a LAC feel with a strong engineering program is tough. Of course, this may all change but for now would like to find a thread similar to the 3.0-3.4 in support for these types of kids.
@3SailAway, I get what you’re saying. D is a good student but definitely not a superstar. She’s top 3% now but that can change fast at her school with a B here and there as classes get harder. She will need to test prep as her PSAT was 1260. And, with average ECs on top of it, elites are out so the focus is on decent business schools where she may be able to get some merit if she’s able to keep her gpa high, class rank at or below 10% and improve her test score. She’s had only one B+ so far 2nd semester of Freshman year in Pre AP Trig and she’s hoping to hold on to As this semester but workload is intensifying. I worry, too, bc she’s not looking forward to test prepping this summer. She’s going to do it but she doesn’t seem too motivated about it.
Also, D will probably only end up taking 3, maybe 4, AP classes and the rest will mostly be ACP, Honors and a smattering of regular coursework (like Spanish, physics and a couple electives here and there). She’s taking more ACP (dual credit) courses for college credit at one of our state flagships she’s interested in that has a solid business school. Thinking of accounting and the coursework plan for her through Sr year in HS should have her pretty close to that 30 college credits she would need to avoid that 5th year in college to get the required 150 credits to sit for the CPA exam. So direct admit to our state flagship is why that school tops her list of business schools.
@Momof3B, I want D to be totally done with testing by end of Jr year so she can work on her apps the summer before Sr year too. Kudos to you and your S for starting prep already. This year D is in ACP Calc I (which I was happy to find out is worth 5 college credits!) so she will definitely have to brush up on her Alg II and Geometry for the SAT since she hasn’t had those since MS. Also, she’ll need to brush up on grammar and punctuation as well; just what every kid wants to do during summer break, lol. I hope I used that semicolon appropriately. 
Hello again. Also, wanted to say to all of the 2021 parents on this thread, I look forward to sharing this journey with all of you and hearing about all of the accomplishments and challenges of our kids as the few short years we have with them before they’re off to college unfold.
Oh, by the way, when I wrote of my daughter “very much a normal kid” I didn’t mean to imply that those who are different or super-pointy aren’t normal. I hope it didn’t sound that way! I guess I mean she presents as fairly mainstream…she has her shining moments (locally) but she’s not likely to win a state or national award or start a company or even a new club in high school. She likes feeling like she’s part of the top academic group in her school but she doesn’t want to stand out wiithin that group.
It’s difficult to come across the way you want online…I can be guilty of over-thinking or under-thinking how to word things sometimes!
I think we should each be comfortable talking about our kid. It’s all good. Nobody’s kid is better than anyone else’s. So if someone’s kid has an Olympic gold medal and 15 5s on AP exams then they should be able to say so, and if someone else’s kid worked their buns off and got a B instead of the C they were expecting, then that should also be talked of and celebrated. Best effort and hard work within each individual should be the cause for support here, no mater what the actual outcome.
We will be doing serious independent test prep at home this summer- aiming for NMSF/F. It’s a reach, but within reach after PSAT 10. Then 1st SAT will be Dec.