<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>With an SAT score of 1620, do you think my ED application to Wes went directly into the rejection pile? </p>
<p>Congratulations to everyone who was accepted</p>
<p>It looks that way.</p>
<p>Wesleyan, in common with other SLACs applies a holistic approach to admissions, but you have to give them something they can lay their hands on; sometimes, it’s called a “hook”. A 1600/2400 on the SAT, even if you got a perfect score on one part of it, only leaves 800 points to spread between the two other parts of the test (the people at Princeton probably stake you 200 just by spelling your name correctly.) Without even knowing all your scores - it would be impossible not to surmise they were probably in the mid-500s.</p>
<p>Sorry that things didn’t work out. It’s best not to look back.</p>
<p>Unless there is something else in incredible on it, probably. There’s no cutoff but a 1600 is not very competitive. Obviously some have gotten in with that score, but the odds aren’t in your favor.</p>
<p>Thanks for responding! I have a learning disability (dyslexia) which renders me almost incapable of taking the test. It still baffles me how I could have gotten 1620 in the first place. By the time I finished reading the passage, I had ten minutes left to answer the questions. I attached a letter from my psychoeducation analyst which diagnosed me explaining my case. The SAT is simply a dyslexic’s worst nightmare. The fact that a person like me is able to earn a 4.2 GPA with amazing extracurricular achievements is the best representation of me as a student.</p>
<p>After reading some extracts from The Gatekeeper, I am beginning to wonder if they even gave my application a chance.</p>
<p>P.S I got the second best score in a calc test of my grade and I still can’t raise my math SAT above 600 :(</p>
<p>Take some deep breathes and move on. There are many great schools out there and there will be a school that recognizes your talents… a school you will be happy at. I know that sounds trite, but you just have to trust that it is true. I don’t mean to belittle your learning disability, but many students have serious issues ranging from home abuse, to lack of educational opportunity, to learning disabilities, and in the real world, fair or not, these impact where they end up. Don’t let that define you. Your are clearly a very talented student. Do what countless students do upon rejection – decide that the rejecting school does not deserve you and you are better off! Fall in love with a new school. I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>Apply to test optional schools!</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice Pickwick, I really need some right now. </p>
<p>However, what’s still driving me crazy is that their isn’t even a strong correlation between SAT scores and freshman college GPAs. It’s like asking students to run a 5km race as part of their application (which has nothing to do with academic capabilities) and then rejecting those applicants that are on crutches because it took them ten times as long to complete the race! </p>
<p>If only I could find out why I was rejected… it would finally put me at peace.</p>
<p>P.S. Anyone know of any schools similar to Wes that are test optional? I’ve applied to Bowdoin but it’s a completely different atmosphere and I’m not sure if I like it. Also does anyone have any experience in applying to Wes twice?</p>
<p>Although you’ll never know the exact reasons you were rejected, you can look at the Wes common data set to find out that standardized test scores are important to the admissions decision and that you need at least a 640-660 on each section of the SAT to be at the 25th percentile of matriculating first years for that section. No more than a quarter of the class has a score below 600 on one section of the test. Only 7% have a score below 600 in math. Only 2% have a score below 500 in any one section. Wes is not test optional and therefore, did not disregard your scores in the application process, even if you provided a good explanation for why they do not represent your potential.</p>
<p>I wonder if Wesleyan knew from the beginning that I would have never stood a chance of being accepted. When I visited Wesleyan and had my interview, info session etc., they kept egging me on to apply even after we discussed my disabilities. They gave me the same old, “We look at each candidate holistically”… bull****. After reading The Gatekeeper, it seems to me that Wesleyan simply wants to have as many students apply as possible, just so they can reject a greater number of applicants. In affect, lowering their acceptance rate, appearing more prestigious and increasing their rank on US News College Rankings. </p>
<p>I’m sorry if I appear to be bashing Wesleyan. It’s a great school and I love it. I’m just going through the phases of being rejected; shock, disappointment, immense sadness, and now anger. Hopefully acceptance will soon enough.</p>
<p>I am very sorry that you were not accepted, but it is best to move on. There are 250 other LACs out there and many are test optional. There are a number of great ones out there in the midwest that have January 15 or February 1 deadlines, so if I were you I would get busy on that. As for Wesleyan wanting to simply have the largest number of apps they can get, not! That is not and never has been the Wesleyan philosophy and I am sorry that you might imagine that was the case with you. It’s not easy for anybody to get into Wesleyan and each year about 80% who apply don’t get in.</p>
<p>I believe that Bard is test optional and it seems to have a similar environment.</p>
<p>Here’s my handy dandy list of good LACs which are both test optional and are still taking applications for Fall 2013 admission:</p>
<p>Clark 1/15
Denison 1/15
Dickinson 2/1
Drew Rolling
Earlham 2/1
Franklin and Marshall 2/1
Hobart Wm Smith 2/1
Knox 2/1
Lake Forest 2/15
Union 1/15</p>
<p>As a Wesleyan alum who is also a Wesleyan parent, I endorse any of the above colleges as good alternatives for you to consider at this point.</p>
<p>To add to the test-optional list of small LACs with late deadlines, you could try:</p>
<p>Wheaton – MA (1/15)
Goucher – MD (2/1)
St. Lawrence – NY (2/1)
Muhlenberg – PA (2/15)
Susquehanna – PA (3/1)
Juniata – PA (3/15)</p>
<p>I know it sounds evil, but the SAT and other standardized testing is kind of the only way colleges can get a grasp on your academic ability. I mean, how do they know if your teachers are tossing out As willy-nilly or if they are busting your butt? Don’t get me wrong, I am so much better in the classroom than on the standardized test, but there has to be some way to compare kids. </p>
<p>I trust that all these liberal arts schools evaluate your app cumulatively, but they get THOUSANDS of applications. I think they take a peak at your quantitative business, and if you don’t have a really special list of ECs and whatnot, you are probably out.</p>
<p>Firstly, I’d like to thank lovethosechips, morganhil and kelbee for suggesting all of the colleges mentioned above. I’ve looked at all of them and have decided to apply to a couple of them. </p>
<p>With regards to darcydoo’s comment about how the SAT and other standardized tests are the only… well… standardized way to compare all of the applicants, I beg to differ. </p>
<p>At the end of the 10th grade, when it was time for my fellow classmates and me to choose whether they would take the International Baccalaureate (IB), IB certificates, or the simple high school diploma, I was highly discouraged to take the IB. I was told I would not be able to complete it given my “special” situation. However, against my school’s guidance, I decided to take the IB because it promised a STANDARDIZED high quality education that will prepare me for university in any country under any educational system. Thats right; the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) has devised an educational system where every single IB student follows the exact same syllabus, is given the exact same class work and homework, and is given the exact same final exam (all 121,195 of us). An IB diploma from the International School of Luxembourg is equal to an IB diploma from Hillside High School in North Carolina, an IB diploma from Nanjing International School in China, and an IB diploma from Aga Khan Academy in Kenya. </p>
<p>Now, you may ask, “how well is IBinLux doing in this very demanding internationally standardized educational system?”. Based on my grades so far in the IB, I am predicted to score 40 out of a possible 45 points. Based on the past 45 years of IB data and statistics, this score puts me in the top 4.45% of all IB students world wide.</p>
<p>I never wanted this to become a “Chance me” thread by listing all of my stats and ECs (while I do understand the basic human need for reassurances and the desire for an outside opinion, I think they are completely absurd), but apart from the SAT I don’t know where I went wrong. By no means do I want to sound pompous, but my grades are some of the best in the world (statistically speaking), my ECs are absolutely amazing, I am a third culture kid (not living in a country of either of my nationalities), bilingual, lived in five different countries by the time I was 12 years old, my teachers love me, and my college councilor told me that I had the best recommendations she had ever seen in her 19 years of work. </p>
<p>Sorry about my rant but these thoughts have been running around in my head and I need to get them out (the internet is probably not the wisest place to do this).</p>
<p>I seriously need to learn to move on…</p>
<p>P.S. Your average just passing IB student will score on average a 1953 on the SAT. I wonder what the average top 4.55% would score…</p>
<p>Top 4.5% isn’t THAT impressive. Two thirds of people accepted have a score of 30 or above on the ACT. That’s the 95 percentile meaning top 5% in the country. You also only appear to be guessing you will get that score. “Based on my grades so far in the IB, I am predicted to score 40 out of a possible 45 points.” That post makes you sound very entitled. Being humble is good and you’ll end up somewhere good despite only above average and not outstanding SATs.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s not that you went wrong anywhere. The fact of the matter is, at selective schools like Wesleyan (and Bowdoin, to which you have also applied) and numerous other top schools, they get many more qualified applicants than spots available. There is simply no way Wesleyan can admit all of the students that are smart enough to do the work. It’s not that you aren’t good enough to get admitted, it’s that Wesleyan can’t admit everyone, and by some random, unknown, “black box,” if you will, you weren’t selected.</p>
<p>That’s why people applying to top schools typically apply to many - there is no guarantee, no matter how strong your application is. I can tell you that wasn’t your SAT score that prevented your admission. It was that, for whatever reason, the Wesleyan admission officers who read your application had recently read other applications that were similar, or felt they had, at that point, admitted people with similar strengths, what have you, that resulted in you not being admitted.</p>
<p>Wesleyan does indeed practice holistic admissions, and that you weren’t admitted does not say anything about your abilities or your potential. You simply, for whatever reason, did not fit into admissions’ plans to craft a class of 745 students of different types of people. This is why people get into Amherst and not Williams, or Brown and not Penn, or Bowdoin and not Middlebury. You rarely see people get into every top school to which they apply. There are simply too many applicants for the spots, and many people are good enough to do the work. Wesleyan only admits 40-50%, at most, of ED candidates, and I’m sure most of the rejected ones will get into other good schools. At the end of the day, it is silly to suggest it was one thing that resulted in your rejection. It is probably more due to chance and luck of the draw than any one thing about your application.</p>
<p>@ IBinLux</p>
<p>IB is not a way to balance all students. The IB program is offered at less than 3,500 high schools WORLDWIDE. Kids in a school like my school, where most of us have never even heard of IB, cannot be compared evenly to those who have the option of the program. SAT is nationwide, save the few schools that are test optional. </p>
<p>And like smartalic34 said, these schools have to get picky. So if the Wes admissions committee had a handful of other IBs with similar ECs and what not to you, than your SAT would probably rule you out.</p>
<p>@thirrdplanet
You cannot compare the ACT with the IB. Firstly, any high school student who is planning on attending college can take the ACT (am I right?). Only the most academically talented students are allowed to enter the IB program. Therefore, the top 4.5% of all IB students is MUCH more academically challenging than the top 4.5% on the ACT (same goes for the SAT). Secondly, the actual IB exams are in May. This means that colleges use predicted IB scores (which are based on trimester grades) in the application and not the actual IB score. Most students will receive ± 2 points on the actual IB and my school has a very good tradition of students reaching their predicted score. </p>
<p>@smartalic34
I agree with everything that you said in your post except for one remark, “I can tell you that it wasn’t your SAT score that prevented your admission”. Recently at a dinner party, I met an admission councilor from Georgetown and discussed my college application situation with him. He told me and I quote, “The admission councilor that reviewed your application probably didn’t spend more than 30 seconds on it. He can reduce his 2 feet high pile of applications to just one and half by simply removing all of those applicants with less than 1800 on their SAT. With your 1600, he wouldn’t think twice about it”. Now I don’t know if whether the SAT were not part of the application process I would have been accepted, but I do think that my score killed it before it could have a chance. </p>
<p>@darcydoo
Firstly, I do agree with you that I, an IB student, cannot be directly compared to every single other student who is applying to Wesleyan who has APs, Honors classes etc. However, most american colleges are now familiar with the IB and know of its academic excellence. Why would it matter if you and the “kids in a school like” yours have never even heard of the IB? All that matters is that Wesleyan knows that a successful IB student is just as good as a successful student taking AP classes (and this is what they claim, I even asked them, “We LOOOVE IB students” one admissions councilor said during my info session).</p>
<p>@IBinLux…I’m going to throw my 2 cents in here. There are a ton of schools that would love to have you. You’re obviously smart and have a couple of hooks – academic success with dyslexia and being multi-cultural. However, Wesleyan said, “No.” Maybe it was your low SAT scores, maybe not. However, either way, they didn’t take the time to get to know you and to realize you would have made an awesome contribution to their school. There are plenty of candidates who have a variety of issues – learning challenges, personal challenges, etc. The school you want is the school who “gets” you. Obviously Wesleyan isn’t that school…you need to simply move on. You’re not the only qualified student who was rejected from a great college. There are TONS of students who are way over qualified but rejected from their dream school. Maybe Wesleyan DID look through your entire file and chose someone else over you. Maybe your application was the last one after a long day and you just didn’t make it. Maybe they looked for SAT scores first and immediately tossed your file. Either way, I kind of agree with thirdplanet…“Being humble is good…” Learn from this and try to be less “entitled” sounding.</p>