<p>His SAT scores are far too low for his reaches (mid-tier and low-tier Ivies, Duke, Hopkins, and more)...</p>
<p>no, unless he has no safety schools.</p>
<p>I’m talking no chance.</p>
<p>~30th percentile and hookless. No chance.</p>
<p>I mean 30th percentile for an entering class at a low-tier Ivy. Not 30th percentile scores on the SAT itself.</p>
<p>Well, is he just shooting high for just his reaches, or is he overestimating his chances at his matches and safeties too? The first doesn’t really matter; that’s the point of a reach, a school you hope you’ll get in, but don’t really expect to. However, if he doesn’t have any true safeties, that’s a problem.</p>
<p>EDIT: Wrote this before your second post. You can tell him if you want, as long as you know that it’s none of your business, and he might be offended.</p>
<p>): that’s awkward. well don’t break it to him cold turkey… maybe drop hints that he should focus on more realistic schools and maybe apply to only 1 or 2 ivies?</p>
<p>these are the kinds of kids HYP admissions officers love…auto-deny and a nice $75</p>
<p>He has safeties but he’s so concentrated on producing good apps for schools he’ll never get into. It worries me.</p>
<p>It’s hard because who really wants to be the guy that has to tell him? I agree with what was posted above, drop some hints. Mainly, I’d be sure to remind him that very few people get into these top schools, even with killer apps.</p>
<p>It’s one thing to have a reach or two, but you should have realistic expectations so you don’t get surprised when results come back.</p>
<p>Does he have only these schools and bad safeties? In that case, nicely encourage him to apply to a reasonable match. Otherwise, back off. You’ll sound snobby.</p>
<p>Can you send an anonymous letter to his GC?</p>
<p>Don’t tell him. You’re not an expert. Perhaps he does have a chance. Anyway, lots of people get rejected from their reach schools particularly if their reaches are places like Ivies. They survive and go on to their other choices. </p>
<p>What you can do now is help him select match and safety schools that he can afford and would enjoy attending. If he ends up being rejected by his reach schools, you can be a good friend and tell him that it’s their loss, not his.</p>
<p>the last thing he wants to hear right now is that he has no chance. </p>
<p>Those who win are whose who believe they can win.</p>
<p>If he has the time/energy/money to apply, then why not?</p>
<p>At least he has a chance (however slim) by applying. He has no chance of getting in if he doesn’t.</p>
<p>I’d probably suggest to him great safeties/matches, and then tell him that if he has such brilliant essays for his reaches, he only has to edit them a little to match to his safety/matches apps. It’s good that he has a friend like you around.</p>
<p>OP you’re a good friend. I wish you were my D’s friend. She is spending time on apps for schools she won’t get into or get aid from, not spending time on the ones she should, and doesn’t listen to me (the nag). Maybe she would have listened to you!</p>
<p>Just tell him all of the other things he could do instead of college applications.</p>
<p>If he doesn’t have the money to waste, i’d say yes. If his parents are okay and supportive in paying money for him to apply and send test scores to all of the top colleges, then let him do it. I’ll admit, I know how you feel. I have a friend who wants to do the same thing against all logic and common sense. I’d also do what others said and given subtle hints.</p>
<p>Is it possible that your friend has something else going for him that might make him appealing to colleges? Phenomenal musician/artist/poet? Amazing community service in which he’s shown impressive leadership? Learned English three years ago? The best goalie on the Eastern seaboard? Great Uncle Biff longing to donate an attractive, marble library building? Outstanding personal traits displayed when he overcame terrible adversity?</p>
<p>Are his SAT’s out of keeping with his otherwise stellar GPA and stats in rigorous courses at a tough high school? </p>
<p>I don’t know. It sounds as if you have your friend’s best interests at heart, but the reaches to which he’s applying really are reaches for everyone. (OK, more so for some than for others.) And just as if this kid had perfect SAT’s, he still needs excellent matches and safeties that he loves or at least likes a lot. My concern is that if he’s completely focused on top ten super-reaches and is spending all of his time taking video tours of the Harvard campus, he might not be looking at appropriate match schools, and he could end up at a safety school when he could have been attending a more suitable match school if he’d bothered to apply. </p>
<p>If he can afford it and has time to do the applications to reach schools where his chance of acceptance is tiny, what the heck. But someone – Where is the GC in all this? – should be looking at his list and making sure that it is balanced in the middle and lower ranges, not just a bunch of (probably unrealistic) super-reaches and some random safety.</p>
<p>He does have a chance.</p>
<p>Let him be.</p>
<p>If he gets in , you will probably poop your pants.</p>
<p>And that is certainly a possibility. 30th%? That means that people like him and people who score worse than him comprise of 30% of the entire school…that is pretty much 1 in 3. </p>
<p>College Adcoms will amaze you in who they decide to pick to go to their school. I wouldn’t say so just yet…</p>
<p>Everyone needs a safety college </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/493318-dont-forget-apply-safety-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/493318-dont-forget-apply-safety-college.html</a> </p>
<p>but once an applicant has a safety college, let the applicant apply where the applicant wants. It’s not really your business if you are sure your friend has lined up a safety.</p>