<p>My S has high SAT's relative to his grades. Nothing special in EC's, recs, essay, etc.</p>
<p>GPA
UW 3.7
W 4.0
*SAT: *
CR 800
W 780
M 690
Composite: 1270</p>
<p>He is going to apply to UC's, and Stanford and Duke, where his is a legacy. In addition, he is going to apply to about half of the following 14 schools (listed in order of his preference if accepted):</p>
<p>University of Pennsylvania
Northwestern University
Georgetown University
Cornell University
Amherst College
University of Chicago
Rice University
Pomona College
Claremont McKenna College
University of Southern California
Johns Hopkins University
Emory University
Vanderbilt University
Wesleyan University </p>
<p>Since these are mostly stretches, he must choose carefully for likelihood of acceptance. Do any of these listed have a particular reputation for being favorably disposed towards high SAT's (especially CR and W) relative to grades?</p>
<p>Those are all extremely prestigious schools, but your sons GPA and SAT scores arn't bad at all. I'm sure he has a shot, the problem is the fact that you say theres nothing special in the rest of his app. This will have trouble in admissions decisions, but nontheless I think he has a good shot at cornell and the legacy schools you posted.</p>
<p>Dont forget to give him some matches and safetys as well! Competitive schools are always unpredictable.</p>
<p>I don't think so -- most colleges prefer to look at long-term performance than performance on one day. People may give you anecdotal evidence saying otherwise -- for example, I had a 800 CR, 660 M, and 770 W, but a 3.64 GPA, and got into emory -- but in general, I think your S has better chances at the latter half of his list -- Rice, Chicago, Pomona, USC, emory, Vanderbilt, and possibly Claremont McKenna, Northwestern, and Cornell. The others I would say are more reachy.</p>
<p>Most of these are reaches, though. Does your S have any match and safety schools? A 3.7 is a good GPA.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that many of his schools do not count writing, so he has a 1490 at these schools, very good but not much above average.</p>
<p>We would need to know rank to really assess the situation. If he's top 5%, he has a fine chance at any of the schools on the list. If he's elow top 10% chances go down markedly.</p>
<p>As long as he's top 10% I think he'll have no problem at Duke as a legacy from what I've seen.</p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind is what he's planning to study. For example, if he's interested in science or engineering, more attention will be paid to his math scores than if he's interested in other fields.</p>
<p>Yeah, the composite is 2270. My math SAT scores were also low. ;-)</p>
<p>The safety consists largely in the UC's. If not UCLA and UC Berkeley, then he'll get into UC Davis, and UCSB. He may also apply to Santa Clara.</p>
<p>From the vantage of California, any private school >1000 miles away needs to be decidedly preferable to the UC's. Thus the reachiness of list. No sense applying to an expensive, distant school that no one here has heard of. My other S, for example, is a freshman in UCSB's honor program, and quite satisfied. So, we are inclined to take our chances on the private reaches, hoping that at least one might want to accept an applicant who would raise the 25-75% SAT range of their entering class.</p>
<p>I'd be shocked if he didn't get into Duke (as long as it's a real legacy-parent, not sure if grandparent works for Duke) and the UC's seem probable as those scores are very high for all UCs.</p>
<p>As far as Duke is concerned, he is a bona fide maternal legacy. That didn't suffice, however, for his rejected 3.5 UW, 2240 brother. So, a rejection from Duke would not shock us. I think it depends on his grades this semester, if he can get all A's his UW and W GPA would be boosted, and he would be well within the top 10% of his class. </p>
<p>According to UC Stats, a student with an UW GPA of 3.60 - 3.79, weighted of 3.80 - 3.99, and with a SAT cumulative of 2100-2400, has chances of 26.5% at Berkeley, 41.6% at UCLA, and 96.6% at Davis. </p>
<p>My S's UW GPA and SAT are at the upper ends of these ranges, so the odds are somewhat better, perhaps considerably so. My other S's 2240 SAT, however, garnered only rejections from UCLA, Berkeley and USC. Our experience with first S was chastening, and colors our view of our second S, though his GPA and SAT's are both a tick higher.</p>
<p>What kind of courses were the children mentioned in this thread taking in high school? Courses make all the difference in evaluating grade averages.</p>
<p>First S's rank was in the top 25%. This was due mainly to very bad grades his Freshman year (when he was in the throes of a developmental ADHD). As he emerged from this his grades improved every Semester, his Jr and 1/2 Sr GPA was about a 3.8. Too late for him [bitter bile alert].</p>
<p>Is the SAT for your friend's daughter exact, or an approximation? If the former, that is heartening, as S#2 is on the cusp of Top 10%. The legacy effect is such that a Duke acceptance is more likely than all but a few of the schools on the above list, however, to rely on legacy is to bank on caprice. Thus we are applying as if there were no legacies.</p>
<p>The score is exact. But I do think the top 10% thing is important, that's what Duke told them. Top 25% was just too low even with high SATs, so it sounds like son 2 is much better positioned. Stanford on the other hand I'd forget. I can't believe the legacies I've seen them turn down, really doesn't seem to mean much there but Duke, according to friend, really does want legacies. Her daughter is friends with many of their colleges friend's children there.</p>
<p>Tokenadult has a good point, this young woman took toughest classes.</p>
<p>Stanford on the other hand I'd forget. I can't believe the legacies I've seen them turn down, really doesn't seem to mean much there...</p>
<p>It is reported that, like Duke, the acceptance rate for Stanford legacies is doubled. But that has Duke going from 20 to 40%, whereas Stanford rises from 10% to only 20%. That 80% would still allow for a lot of disbelieving disappointment from alumni whose progeny they thought were a match. </p>
<p>I don't think Stanford is out of the question, however. There are examples below of non otherworldly legacies being admitted. </p>
<p>I checked in with friend and she did enter into this the caveat that in DD's case, grandparent's gave generously to Duke. They did get the assistance of development, so who knows. She does, however believe that with your son's high scores he has a great chance.</p>
<p>My S was able to get into USC with his rank in the top 1/2 of his class & excellent test scores (800, 780 & ?). They do seem to really like kids who have great test scores -- if they also are NMFs, they get generous merit awards as well.</p>