This list of schools is fairly broad, but all of these schools are within 150 miles of Montclair, NJ (randomly selected as northern NJ). I don’t know how small of a school you mean by “smallish” so these schools are mostly in the small to medium category (enrollment generally under 6k, unless it was a NJ public). Some of these would be reachier than others, but the majority are probably schools likely to grant him admission. And these are all classified as residential campuses, listed in order from closest to farthest away.
Seton Hall (NJ): About 6k undergrads
New Jersey Institute of Technology: Public of about 9k undergrads
Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ): About 4k undergrads
Manhattan College (NY): About 3200 unidergrads
Ramapo (NJ): Public of about 5200 undergrads
Monmouth (NJ): About 4k undergrads
College of New Jersey: Public of about 7k undergrads
Fairfield (CT): About 4600 undergrads
Lehigh (PA ): About 5500 undergrads
Marist (NY): About 5500 undergrads
Moravian (PA ): About 1900 undergrads
SUNY New Paltz: About 6200 undergrads
Arcadia (PA ): About 1800 undergrads
Muhlenberg (PA ): About 2100 undergrads
Saint Joseph’s (PA ): About 4200 undergrads
U. of Scranton (PA ): About 3500 undergrads
Stockton (NJ): Public of about 8400 undergrads
Siena (NY): About 3500 undergrads
Elizabethtown (PA ): About 1700 undergrads
Susquehanna (PA ): About 2200 undergrads
Bucknell (PA ): About 3700 undergrads
My sympathies for the tough situation that your family is going through and my best wishes for a quick and complete recovery for your sister.
Wondering about the impact of test-optional on T20-50/100 schools and how it is raising the range of ACT/SAT scores reported and how admissions at these schools are messaging that to current prospects.
Stepping in from Class2025, but I’m also very curious about this. Ultimately, median score creep will reduce the number of reported scores to the point that it makes test scores an afterthought. Is that the intent?
This is a tricky question but I hear engineering/tech schools it’s better to submit the scores. Currently Purdue, Georgia tech, MIT all require SAT its not optional. Our counsellor (not the one at school) tells us that better to have scores if you can as they do see a difference in admissions in T30 to T70 ish schools for with and without schools. Again this is there observation not 100% sure if it is correct or not.
I am wondering about this, too. D24 just got her ACT scores back and she is disappointed in the results. She is registered to take it again in April but we are wondering how much more effort to put into it. She worked with a tutor for quite a few sessions to prepare, and although she seemingly did better on the timed practice tests, her results on the real test are low enough that she will probably go TO unless she can increase her score, even though she is not applying to the most highly rejective schools, but in the 50-ish range of LACs and hoping for more merit with good scores.
Whether to go test optional or not depends on several factors. Many schools still require tests. In those cases where neither the ACT or SAT are required, then your class rigor versus what is available at your high school is of primary importance. People tend to think it is the GPA that matters. While it does, without an ACT or SAT, the college or university is going to look at the rigor of courses to determine the readiness of any particular student. There has been preference given to IB diploma candidate students over other forms of AP and honors, primarily given the rigor and standards of the IB program. Thus, any student considering going test option really should consider doing so well before their junior or senior year (unless they have the academic rigor to support an application) as they will need to plan their high school career accordingly. This does not mean, of course, that a student with an ACT or SAT score does not need to take a rigorous schedule, but the unspoken rule is that between “similar” students one with and one without an ACT or SAT, odds are the university or college will take the one with the test score supporting that they are college ready.
Same, no tippy top ranked schools for her, but some that are about 50% acceptance rate. She wanted to take the test hoping that a good score would help her application overall. Now it seems at the schools she may apply to, less than half of students submit scores anyway. I just don’t know whether to encourage her to keep studying before April test, or just take a second time, as prepared as she is now, to see if scores improve. Her practice test scores were much higher, so the disappointment is real. We had to stay overnight at a hotel the night before the test since the closest testing site was so far from home, and she said they delayed the start by more than 30 minutes waiting for students to arrive. No excuses, but testing conditions seemed less than ideal.
I know this is off topic from what is currently being discussed, but am I the only one that is mourning the schools I do not think my dd will select? I am of course keeping my thoughts to myself. We were really worried how admissions would play out for our dd. She doesn’t go to a well known school, she wasn’t overly involved, moved to the school midway through HS, heard horror stories about last years cycle of admission (a few kids did not get accepted anywhere…and they weren’t applying to all elite schools) so we really delved into researching ‘safety’ schools…all the while not sure if there really are true safety schools anymore. But, we all wanted to make sure she would be thrilled to attend the ‘safety’ and ‘match’ schools. I really fell in love with many of them. We didn’t spend nearly as much time with the few reach schools. She is over the moon with how it has worked out and I am happy for her but I know I will be truly sad when she responds to some of the schools.
For example, 1 of the schools on ‘the list’ is Centre College in Danville, KY. It’s small and is a Colleges That Change Lives school. But it seems to have a really vibrant campus community, a cute downtown area that’s easily walkable from campus, and over 90% of the students live on campus all 4 years. And they appear to have good advising and support for their students. AND it’s probably in the ‘affordable’ realm given how much auto-merit I think D24 would get. AND they have some really great pre-health programs available, like internships with the local hospital which is about a 10-15 min walk from campus. They also guarantee that you’ll graduate in 4 yr and will have an internship opportunity, research opportunity, and can study abroad also.
Plus, there’s a decent number of OOS and/or international students, and D24 would fit in well with all of that.
But…it violates the “not cold in the winter” rule that D24 has. I’m gonna torture my kid and make her do some of the virtual online tours, attend an online info session this spring or fall, and maybe do an in person visit next March and we’ll see what happens.
I hope my kid considers it. I could see her being pretty happy there. But that will depend on if she’s willing to put aside the “I don’t have to wear anything more than a sweatshirt in the winter” delicate desert flower rule.
This is a tricky question but I hear engineering/tech schools it’s better to submit the scores.
That makes sense, especially in light of MIT’s research of their admissions results (Caltech’s decision to keep TO not withstanding). It makes for some rationale for keeping testing “in the mix” for admissions.
Now the research from Bates/Hess is often referenced when supporting TO. But even there, there is apparently some correlation with SAT/ACT and GRE/MCAT/LSAT results.
I suspect that most top institutions would want some influence on the success rate of their engineering/tech majors, as well as the success rate of their other majors of getting into law/med/graduate school. TO policies seem to run counter to this (potential but probable) institutional desire.
My wandering mind keeps reaching a conclusion that these schools actually do want to see scores even if it is less than their unnaturally high median. I don’t know how they can encourage score submission and yet still maintain equal consideration of TO and non-TO applications. However, I have not heard any admission officer give any advice other than “your choice” or “submit if median or above”.
True most AO’s say it’s your choice. Our counsellor says to for sure submit if around 50% or higher. Depending on the school/major she says even submitting even if closer to 25% also. For example if you are applying to Engineering and your math score is 780 and english is 700 and school lange is 1470-1540 she sees value in submitting as they may value the math score more than the english. So we have to decide based on major and school.
True. My daughter scored lower on her SAT than she expected considering her PSAT score. She decided to take the Feb ACT and got a 35 composite.
We’re thinking of having her retake it since it was a rounded up score and based on how you report the score, it would seem obvious that they would consider the lower range so probably around a 1530 SAT equivalent. We think she probably needs a 1550 equivalent which means she needs to score 2 points higher (at least 1 from Math).
Since most schools super score the ACT individual sections, she can just focus on Math and Science next time.
Yes, she tried both sophomore year and did better on ACT. Maybe she should try the SAT again though, it’s been a year and she’s caught up a bit in math after COVID learning loss. Thank you!
Wow. That is a great list. Thank you so very much. This is very helpful.
My nephew and I are having a meeting tomorrow to talk and to start planning some tours so that he has a better idea re:size of school, urban vs suburban etc.
