D20’s stats are as follows: 3.6UW, 20th%ile rank, 1200 SAT. Live in Texas. Fairly rigorous schedule with a couple APs every year. Puts most of her free time into band… Made all-state as a sophomore (hopefully will make it 10th-12th grade), plays 4 instruments, is in numerous ensembles, leadership roles. Is also a strong swimmer and has been on varsity swimming since freshman year.
Preferences… D recently opened up geographical parameters to anywhere in the country. (Initially she was saying nothing more than a couple hour flight or in-state.) She does not like heavy Greek presence and prefers a smaller school. No super-religious or conservative schools. No in the middle of nowhere schools. She wants to continue with music in some capacity, so most of the schools on our list (although not all) have strong music departments. Other areas of interest include psychology, sociology, and Spanish. Her SAT was pretty disappointing, and I think not a great reflection of her intellect, so I have thrown some test optional schools on the list. Last but not least, cost is not a consideration thanks to family inheritance earmarked for college.
Ideally, I’d like the list whittled down to eight or so, but I’ve got to have more matches and safeties for D to choose from. She’d love to go ED somewhere to increase her admission chances, but I don’t know if we can narrow it down to one school by this fall.
Southwestern - reach
St. Edward’s - safety
University of Denver - match
University of Tulsa - reach
Lawrence - reach
Puget Sound - high match
North Texas - safety (too big, but location + music)
Loyola New Orleans - match
Sarah Lawrence - reach
Clark - reach
Agnes Scott - reach
And a general question… If D were to apply ED someplace like Lawrence, can we count on this being a near guaranteed admission with her stats? I thought I saw someplace ED acceptance rate was in the upper 90 percents.
Was the 1200 SAT after test prep? If not, I would recommend getting a tutor.
I feel like you are being pretty conservative in your classification of safety/match/reach in some cases. I might put Agnes Scott, Lawrence, Puget Sound and Southwestern all as matches or maybe high matches. I know 1200 SAT puts your D below the 25th percentile at Lawrence, but they also admit 61% and your D has great EC’s. 1200 SAT is right in the middle for Southwestern, and they are not need blind as far as I know, which could help you. prepscholar (not the most accurate, but…) puts admission chance at over 40% for all four schools.
If you have Puget Sound, maybe Skidmore as a high match as well? There’s the Filenes Music Scholarship of $15K/year and ED increases her chances as well. Median SAT I think is 1300/ACT 30? Have her take the ACT and maybe SAT again and see if she can get it a bit higher. There’s also a swimming team. Its fairly easy to reach via Albany Int’l, about 30 minutes or $50 cab ride away. But, because nearly everyone who drives goes through that area, getting a ride to the airport isn’t too hard.
Maybe I’m missing something, but your list seems appropriately conservative to me as well. Even Sarah Lawrence, which you classify as a reach, is test optional, so her SAT score won’t be a liability. SL definitely evaluates the applicants holistically. Since cost is not a consideration, that might be a great ED school, provided she has visited and really likes it. Definitely not for everyone, but a lot of positives there for the right kid.
1200 is after prep. Not sure it can go up much more, but we’ll see. Taking ACT in February and she says her practice tests have been at a 24. Ugh. Thanks for the tip on SW, I’ve been reluctant to show her because she really liked Trinity and Tulane and after first semester junior year grades and her SAT I think both are a Hail Mary. Neither has a great music reputation, either.
How bad were first semester Junior year grades? That could be a problem, if there is a major downward trend.
How about Xavier (OH)? I think that would be a low match or safety. Or any of the Jesuit universities. I don’t think they would come across as overly religious.
She might not produce her highest potential SAT score for several more months. Look at her section scores especially; math would be likely to increase after the end of algebra 2 and ebrw may go up naturally if she is taking APs with heavy reading this year. Most colleges superscore. I would plan some late summer prep and a retake in Aug and/or Oct, as a significant increase may be possible, an increase that might change her list a bit - or at least which of her schools are reach/match/safety - even at the last minute.
If the Jesuit schools are a possibility, you’ve probably seen that there are lots of options in different geographic areas.
–First of all, while a 1200 SAT may be disappointing, it is not a bad score. It is in the 74th- 81st percentile, not too far off from her class ranking.
–I think you are a bit cautious in terms of your ranking of colleges. I see Sarah Lawrence, Clark more as matches (not familiar enough with all of the school to opine).
–When you consider distance be sure to look at the entire trip, not just the flight. Some of the colleges on your list are way closer to major airports than others.
Have you visited Lawrence? It sounds like a great fit, and we really, really liked it when we visited; but a proof-of-concept visit would be important before ED’ing. If she’s a strong enough swimmer for their D3 team, that could also contribute to nailing down an ED acceptance. They’re test-optional too, although any improvement in your d’s scores could put her into that gray area where sending vs. withholding could be a wash. According to CollegeData, there’s an 86% Early Action admit rate, so you don’t even have to do a binding application to get the boost. (Add to that the fact that it isn’t a need-blind school, so they’ll be aware of your willingness to go full-pay minus any merit offered, and I think your d’s odds in the EA cycle are excellent.) We found both the admissions folks and the student hosts to be among the most welcoming and genuine of any we met in far-too-many college visits for two kids. My d’s only criticism was that while it replicated everything she loved about her performing arts high school (as far as music being central to the social life, people being friendly and supportive, etc), the fact that she’d already had that experience made it feel almost too familiar and comfortable. But not everybody gets to have a high school that feels like that!
Bard is another LAC+conservatory school with a similar stat profile to Lawrence, but a lower acceptance rate (presumably attributable mostly to geography). I haven’t ever visited there but my impression is that the vibe/culture is quite different from Lawrence, probably largely due to the different geographic mix (similar concentration of NY/Northeast students at Bard to WI/Midwest students at Lawrence). I would think most people would have a clear preference, personality-wise, between the two. Bard is test-optional as well, and also has D3 swimming. Not a big ED/EA boost there, though.
On the other coast, Chapman is another you might look at. She’s right in there stat-wise and it’s another great school for combining music with an academic major. The Southern California vibe (a stone’s throw from Disneyland) is yet again very different from both Lawrence and Bard; I’ve known a number of young musicians who have been very happy there.
If you think your d is a D3 swim candidate, have her start filling out prospective student forms on the athletic department websites. There’s no harm in getting on radar - it’s another way of showing interest in the school, which can only help.
Agree with Ithaca as a good match, and I too would consider Lawrence to be a high match.
Also, have her take a look at St. Olaf College one of the strongest music programs among liberal arts colleges, with excellent academics in other subjects as well. Location is in a cute college town, 45 minutes south of Minneapolis, with regular bus service to the Minn. airport and other stops in the Twin Cities. It is primarily liberal-leaning and informed by its Lutheran values— students of all faiths and no faith attend. Your D is right at their average GPA, and not too far below their average SAT. Her extensive music background would likely be a plus in admissions, as would her being full-pay, so I would consider St Olaf as a potential high match/low reach for her. The school offers some great music scholarships as well (via audition), and the ED acceptance rate is quite high, I believe.
Thanks everyone for your helpful advice. I was a D3 swimmer myself, D would be competitive in a D3 program, but I’m pretty sure she has no intention of swimming beyond high school. Is it disingenuous to fill out prospect forms if she likely won’t swim? I actually went to a college in the same athletic conference as Lawrence, even swam in their pool, but I know very little about it. Great to hear it sounds like a good fit! We will be up in the Cities this summer and plan to visit. We may sneak in a visit to St. Olaf, but I’ve heard it’s getting really competitive. I will look into Chapman as well, I have heard good things about it. Thanks again.