<p>My daughter will be applying in the fall. She’s got three teachers who taught her as a freshman and now as a junior and have marveled at her growth. Her GPA is excellent - close to 4.0.uw, all honors, 5 APs. SATs will be above average but not great. (PSAT was 1864.) SAT IIs were dismal -510 History, 600 math.</p>
<p>Any problem with submitting three teacher recs? They will be in English, Social Studies and Spanish. (Ironically, her strongest subject is math.) </p>
<p>How important are these rec letters to admissions officers? I’m hearing that it’s important that she get a science/math rec as well as a humanities rec. Is this true for BU? </p>
<p>And does she have a shot at BU with those SAT IIs? Does she need to get over 2000 on the SAT I?
Thanks!
Momnewtothis is online now</p>
<p>Dont think the recs matter (i.e. from who)
The SAT IIs are gonna kill her
I would hope she at least matches her PSAT score</p>
<p>Um yeah in my high school the guidance counselors preached getting at least two letters of recommendation that were from different disciplines (traditionally one from an English/history teacher and one from a math/science teacher) I don't think this really matters though because it's all about showing who you are as a person through who you choose to ask for recommendation. I'm pretty sure BU requires at least two letters but I think I sent four ( math teacher, guidance counselor, employer, and my boss at the place I volunteered at) I dunno if they even bothered reading all of them since they only require two, but if you apply fairly early they may be read and can't hurt right?</p>
<p>It wouldn't hurt to raise those SAT scores a bit but as it stands you're not completely out of it or anything. Haha when I was taking my SAT IIs I chose to take physics for some reason in addition to math and I got like a 480 or somethin ridiculous on the physics exam and a 670 on math. Later on I ended up takin another SAT II in English had a 650 or somethin on there but BU still saw the 480 and I guess didn't care lol or just realized I was unprepared..</p>
<p>She's taking an SAT review course and working diligently. She took the PSAT cold. She'll have another shot at the SAT in Oct.</p>
<p>Do the SAT II scores carry that much weight? I've been getting mixed signals on that question.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Talk about mixed responses! So according to DJglover16, SATiis don't really matter that much, but loslobos71 thinks my d's scores will kill her. I guess the bottom line is just to apply and keep our fingers crossed!</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Haha yeah like I said they don't seem to carry much weight during my admissions decision cause a 480 (my physics score) on any subject is just atrocious lol and I was accepted into one of the more competetive and selective programs at BU.. but yeah I think they're used primarily to supplement applications that they may feel are borderline and I like to think that maybe I was qualified in other areas... BU receives tens of thousands of applications and while SAT I scores vary somewhat, when you're talking about 30 somethin thousand applications from generally qualified students you'll tend to see a lot of the same score and I'd speculate that the IIs along with other less important criteria help to weed out everyone with decent SAT scores and not much else going for them</p>
<p>Okay, give me a range of "decent" SAT scores.</p>
<p>And thanks for all this help.</p>
<p>I don't necessarily have facts to back this up but BU is fairly prestigious and becoming more and more competitive. If you consider the 1600 scale I'd say that the majority of applicants have scored at least 1100 and anywhere in excess of that. I think the "average" was somethin in the 1250 range which is a pretty good score. When I was preparing for the SAT and applying to BU I told myself I would be happy with anywhere in the 12s and ended up with a 1320 by the end of it. This is not to say that you NEED BU's average SAT of 1250 it just means you need to consider your qualifications and determine how heavily your SATs will play into your individual admissions decision.. If you have other things to offer, your standardized test scores may not matter as much and lower marks will be more forgiving..</p>
<p>I think she has a good shot, but no guarantee at all. The SAT score is much more important than the SAT II scores.</p>
<p>Yeah your SAT score is significantly more important than SAT IIs, so much so that BU was the only school I encountered during my college selection process that even recommended taking SAT IIs, let alone requiring multiple. On the same note, you can argue that even the SAT I has lost the interest of college admissions officers which seem to be advocating more well-rounded students than decent test takers..</p>
<p>I think BU mostly uses SATII's to make sure a kid actually took classes that mattered and prepared the kid for college.</p>
<p>actually DJglover, im in the class of 2009, and we were told that our class's average SAT was 1310 (on the 1600 scale) and that our average GPA was either a 3.5 or 3.6 unweighted. I was also told that both averages increased with this past year's freshman class (entering their sophomore year). I had a 1320 SAT and a high GPA but no extraordinary extracurriculars or recommendations, pretty average actually, and I was accepted to CAS (later transferred to Sargent). Definately try to up those scores, but just remember, college is a crapshoot. I got flat-out rejected from Tufts but waitlisted at Vanderbilt. Whatever happens, congratulations if you are accepted, and if not then it'll all work out for the best. Being rejected from Tufts was the best thing that ever happened to me; Boston U has been amazing, and I'm so happy I chose to go there. And plus, you can always transfer in. So for everyone applying, don't feel like this is the end-all. Do your best.</p>
<p>Yeah I was just throwin out conservative guesses cause I didn't wanna over shoot. But anyway, AliAngel, you're from New Jersey? I am as well and will also be a freshman at Sargent this September.</p>
<p>im also in sargent, pre med and nutritional sciences. im from south jersey and will be a jr this year.</p>
<p>Oh that's cool yeah I'll be doing the six year athletic training / physical therapy program at Sargent and I'm from central jersey along the beach (monmouth county)</p>
<p>3 rec letters are good numbers.
I did three also, but I 2 of those are come from my teachers and 1 of those is come my baseball coach which I think it helped a lot!!
My baseball coach is a former CEO in one of the fortune 500 companys.
So my suggestion will be try to get someone who know ur kid well but not in the academic area.</p>
<p>yea dj im in south jerz</p>
<p>but for the recs, mine were from a french teacher and a history teacher and an employer so i think your daughter should be fine as far as recs go</p>
<p>that's cool. so yeah you should give me some of that new jersey insight when I make it up to boston this school year lol</p>
<p>hahah oh trust me, if youre like me you will be depressed at the end of the year when you hafta go back to jersey. only thing about boston is that there's no wawa :-/</p>
<p>Haha no WaWa.. whaaattt? Is that deposit refundable? Haha I also heard you can't find a pork roll egg and cheese in Boston...</p>