@RichInPitt and @vistajay really great news for both of you! It is so nice to have that National Merit option in the pocket.
As expected, D22 is no where close to NM. She had that misbubbling issue, but also did not get serious about prep. Sort of frustrating for her mom, lol, but she is fine with it. Moving on, and that list of NM colleges that we became very familiar with during her sisterās college search is getting tossed to the side. HOWEVER, I do want her to raise that SAT score a hundred points for auto merit, and I think she can. So the nagging is not over yet.
No NM for D22. Thatās OK. She lost track of time on the Math section and came up a few answers short. Weāre proud of her performance (though she isnāt). In our state, NMās usually only come from just a few schools - ones who offer āTest Prepā as a semester-long course each school day right before scheduled testing.
Her ACT composite is high enough to shoot for her dream school, although itās super selective so her odds are just like a lottery.
Her brother will be a Junior at her top choice when she applies. Does this get a legacy bump?
I have heard some schools say that siblings donāt make for a true legacy, but I donāt think it can hurt. I suspect that if the applicant is otherwise in the range, an AO would be tempted to lean yes for family unity reasons.
We have a long-ago (like 200+ year) relative who attended a school that DS is interested in. Does that count?
Guess I should share here, too. S22 is squarely on the bubble. We are in Tennessee. He scored a 215, which is good enough for the Class of '21. Who knows for the Class of '22. Likely he will make Commended. I am proud of his effort. His ACT was cancelled three times over the summer, but he managed to take it two weeks before the PSAT and scored a 34. So, weāre done. Now, it is just grades. He is in a straight IB curriculum and HL Math and Physics is kicking his butt, but he seems to be rising to the occasion (I keep telling him that it is the grade at the end of the year that matters most). So far only one B.
Interestingly, D24 did well on the 8-9 PSAT, scoring a 1330. Soā¦I have that to look forward to, as well.
S22 got a 1450 (700 EBRW, 750 M) with an SSI of 215. Given that our state had a 222 cutoff for the Class of 2021, we are looking at commended status, which he is OK with.
He has been compiling a school list, which is a combination of LACs, medium-sized private universities and a couple of public universities. He hopes to fine tune it over the next few months.
I donāt think siblings are considered a legacy. But my older D has had such a great experience, and itās in USNās top 20 undergrad CS programs, that I think getting it on younger Dās āapply toā list will be easy.
Nowhere else, other than the ābig threeā has the name recognition sheās hooked on right now. Her original long list on Naviance was pretty much the USNews overall top 20. No matter that they werenāt really known for CS programs - they were big names.
@RichInPitt, my S22 has āprestigeitisā as well at the moment. My experience with my older kids is that is a typical place to be at this point of junior year. His present list of top 4 schools looks much different than my list of places I think are good fits that we can likely afford. But there is about a year to go before applications, and my goal is that by then his list will include a good mix of schools that are financial safeties and some reaches where heād need a merit scholarship; and that he will be able to see himself attending any of the schools on the list.
Congrats on the good scores, all. S22 got a 1230 on the October PSAT, up from 1140 the year before. Both with no test prep at all (as his school prefers for establishing a baseline), so I think it bodes well for the eventual SAT. 92nd percentile. His last report card averaged out to a 3.55 unweighted (his school doesnāt weight), with areas heās intent on improving, so all going well.
No real college list still, but heās expressed some interest in NYU. I think he likes that my late father went there, that weāll be close by (weāre moving to New York after he graduates from high school) and that D19 will be wrapping up her senior year next door at Parsons. Will be interested to see if it stays on the list as he looks more closely.
Thatās a nice increase without studying. My older kiddo actually lost points between sophomore and junior year. Fortunately she found them eventually.
My S got a 1320 up from 1190 last year. He did no prep at all, despite the fact I kept moving the SAT study book onto his bed every few weeks and he would just throw it on the floor. His math and English scores were almost equal which really surprised both of us as he felt like he knew all the math and he is definitely not an English kid. Hasnāt read a pleasure book in years and dropped out of honors English last year. His math went up 100 points from last year and his English went up 20. Trying to get him to do an ACT practice test but he has no interest.
Question- are your kids doing many ECās right now and if so, what are they doing? My kid has never been much into ECās, he plays two sports and had a summer job but not much else. He was planing to pick it up a bit this fall but with Covid there isnāt much going on.
Funny thing is that her older sister was the opposite. We visited a few schools that would have been slight reaches and she didnāt even apply to any of them. I think it comes from being at that odd place in high school - in all of the honors/AP classes, but at the lower performance end of them, hovering around top 10% of her class. She didnāt want to āwork so hardā just to keep up with the āsmart kidsā.
Extracurriculars: my DS is still doing Scouts (final steps of his Eagle Scout project) and a few clubs online (especially debate, where he has done some online competitions). Sports are cancelled until at least mid January.
S22 is doing robotics. They met in person before the state closed the schools last month. He also was able to have a shortened marching band season. Thatās it for now. Hopefully other things can restart next semester.
Moving on, and that list of NM colleges that we became very familiar with during her sisterās college search is getting tossed to the side. HOWEVER, I do want her to raise that SAT score a hundred points for auto merit, and I think she can. So the nagging is not over yet. 