Currently finishing his Junior Year
4.0 GPA, ACT Composite 30, Class Rank #1
Rather than take AP courses he chose to take general classes on campus at local State Accredited University. College credits completed. Calc 1, General Sociology, General Psych., Chemistry 1 and Lab, Chemistry 2 and Lab, English, and Statistics.
Extra Curricular: Eagle Scout, Varsity Soccer 3 years, Academic Challenge, National Honor Society, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Concert Band, 5 Years straight of Unanimous Superior rating in piano competitions via he National Federation of Music Clubs.
Volunteering: Hundreds of documented hours at local children’s Hospital and church. Also, observes surgeries via a buddy of mine who allows him to visit about once a month.
He’s a great kid but I think his ACT score is borderline low for Case. Super score is 31 if that helps.
Decent chance right now. Maybe use the summer to make a really good run at raising ACT score or even try the SAT. Maybe think about taking a couple of SAT Subject tests, a higher test score might help him get more merit aid from Case. I had essentially the same stats as your son but had a 35 ACT, standardized testing just clicks for me for some reason, and they gave me a really nice scholarship.
Tell him to apply early in the EA cycle. I think applying early helps and early in the cycle helps as it shows interest. Visit campus and have him open all the emails from CWRU. That also shows interest. Nov 1st deadline and he will know before Christmas if he got in. It is helpful to take the SAT Math 2 subject exam and either biology, chemistry or physics, whichever is his strong subjects. He should take AP exams, as they will test his knowledge. Unfortunately, many college classes are much weaker than a good high school AP class so the classes may not transfer, but you can ask CWRU about that later. Its advisable to take AP exams, in the subjects he studied, at the end of senior year. He can get the AP study guides for AP Chemistry, AP English, AP Psych and Calculus AB. Then he will discover what subjects he has mastered and which ones he may need to repeat at CWRU. AP testing is universally accepted across most US colleges. His classmates at CWRU will have taken a lot of AP exams, so he might as well do that too.
I had a 25 and got in, test scores aren’t everything.
Test scores may vary by gender and race and preparation. CWRU take that into account, but if your son has no mitigating circumstances, then the higher the test score, the better. So inner city kids may not need scores as high as kids from wealthy suburbs with A+ high school preparation available. Case Western looks for first generation college students, and wants to give students a chance to succeed , whatever their background.