— bates college
— bowdoin college
— connecticut college
— union college (new york)
— wesleyan university
my question: if my recalculated score is a 30 (my composite is a 29), should I send them in? i’m a white male from suburban/rural tennessee who attended a school where the average score is a 20.5 (not sure if this even matters, but i figured i would include it, i don’t know). (oh, and i’m also first generation. i figured i would include that too.)
What is your GPA, weighted/unweighted? Have you taken the most rigorous course load available at your high school? Any idea of class rank? How involved have you been in extra curricular activities? What sort of Financial Aid (if any) do you need? A 29/30 might be strong enough at some of those schools but we’d need way more information because test scores are only one piece of the holistic pie.
Generally speaking, your GPA and recommendations will be weighted more heavily going the test optional route than if you submit scores. I think you would be an attractive applicant to those schools (being a first gen male from Tennessee) if you have a strong transcript. Tell us more for further insight!
@lr4550 hi! yeah, okay. my school didn’t weight GPA (i’m a gap year student), so my GPA is/was (whatever tense, lol) a 4.0/4.0. I took the most rigorous course load I could while in high school (and am self-studying AP classes right now I didn’t get to take). I was a valedictorian of my high school. my extracurriculars include coding themes for tumblr to tutoring my little brother with ADHD/ADD to pursuing a self-published book of poetry. I would need a decent bit of financial aid, but we have run net price calculators.
I’m going to ramble a bit here… sorry it’s so long.
I guess I would probably check the Common Data sets for mid 50% ACT scores on all of those schools and definitely submit if you are close to the median. Consider submitting only if you are comfortably above the 25% even if below the median. If you have never used CDS, Google “Common Data Sets for _____ College” and go to section C where you can see data on freshman who matriculated in the fall of that year’s report. Many schools have recently posted data on current freshmen; other schools have not yet posted 2017/2018 stats.
You might still be too low at Bowdoin (definitely under median) to submit, I doubt it would help your app if you are already a 4.0 student. You’re probably very close at Bates (though still slightly under), not sure about any of the others as I haven’t checked out their common data sets.
Just FYI a friend of mine’s daughter (West Coast) was outright rejected ED at Wesleyan last night- 3.97 unweighted GPA with high rigor multiple APs (one B+ in one semester her entire high school career), 33 ACT single sitting, deep/strong theater for extra curriculars. It is absolutely impossible to predict what AOs are looking for. This kid has the stats to get into any school and she’s a great person to boot with strong recommendations. Just wasn’t the match Wesleyan was looking for. But I’m sure other schools will roll out the red carpet they will want her so much.
My point: you might be a match for some schools but remember they have to be looking at you for a match. A lot of that isn’t in your control. But the part that is in your control is your essay, how you word/order your activities list, how you construct your narrative- know ahead of time what makes a college unique and try to connect your theme with the school (show through your narrative how you can be valuable to that school’s community)- and hope that you are the applicant that fulfills the institution’s need this particular year (which you can’t control).
The fact that you are a male first gen from Tennessee puts you in a category that is underrepresented in terms of applicants to New England LACs. That’s good. Try to connect with someone who can help you build a very strong application, the AOs literally spend 10-20 minutes max reading an app so you have make it clear who you are for the AOs to get a sense of how you would fit at their school.
@lr4550 don’t apologize for rambling! all of your information was incredibly helpful and very useful! do you think I should submit my scores to Union and ConnColl and not for Bates, Bowdoin, and Wesleyan? (By the way, I’m sorry about your friend’s daughter. Competition is getting fiercer every year, unfortunately. I’ll be rooting for her even though I don’t know her!)
While Bates, Bowdoin,and Wesleyan are all test optional, I think being a First-Gen from Tenn who was Valedictorian makes you a great story. While a 30 ACT is below the bottom 25% at Bowdoin and Wesleyan, I don’t think a 30 ACT will be the the sole reason you wouldn’t be accepted as EC’s will be very important as well. I would submit your ACT to all - it it was a 28, I would say don’t.
Does your high school have Naviance? That is a useful way to compare scores/GPAs of others who have applied. Your transcript is specific to your high school, test scores of course interpreted on a more national level. Can you work with your GC? Is s/he knowledgable?
I wish I could give you sound advice on whether to submit or not but it’s so tricky. I too am from an underrepresented state (Montana) but our local high school is large and very strong academically. If you were applying from it with a 4.0 UW and maximum rigor and you were my kid (so probably pretty involved in activities that mean a lot to you) I know you would want to go test optional to Bowdoin and Wesleyan for sure, even Bates as well. Haven’t seen CDS for the others so can’t comment. Max rigor at our HS is 6+ APs especially if taken in each of the core subjects. Since you don’t have access to AP or IB it is more difficult for AOs to interpret your GPA and one could argue that a 30 looks really strong from a school without access to college level classes. Who knows.
The benefit of submitting to schools more on the boarder is that a superscore of 30 isn’t going to keep you out by itself, and at least they know you’re solidly in their 50%, but the risk is that the score might not help at all and you might get more help by weighting the 4.0 and recommendations more heavily. I have no idea what teachers think of you though!
Again, I really don’t have any sound advice for you, just thinking of the different pros/cons off the top of my head but do realize Bowdoin/Bates/Wes are super reachy for any kid even for those with really, really strong transcripts. You can’t get around the application numbers, whichever admissions pool you wind up in. So please make sure you have some great matches and likelies where your 29/30 is closer to the top 25% than the middle. Many schools don’t superscore the ACT so make sure you know which schools consider you a 30 and which a 29.
While the acceptance rate at Bates is below 20%, a 30 ACT is solidly in the mid range of the admitted student profile (2016-2017 CDS ACT mid 50% range of 27-32) so I think it helps complete one’s profile there - that said Bates is need aware, so that may factor in as well.
Realistically, Connecticut and Union are good matches, Bates is a reach, and Bowdoin and Wesleyan are super reaches - IMHO.
@lr4550 no, no, you’re totally fine! thank you for commenting and helping me! my school, unfortunately, does not use naviance. i think we’re in the same boat as to not knowing whether or not my scores will help me, hahaha. i have two safeties, and i adore them!
@Chembiodad see, i read somewhere that the range for bates was 30-32, which is why i was really iffy on sending in my scores. i think what i may do is send my scores to bates, union, conncoll, and (huge maybe here) wesleyan, and apply test-optional to bowdoin!
That’s the accepted rate, not the admitted rate - meaning there are applicants that see it as a match and they are also accepted to / decide to attend one of their reaches.
Test optional generally means you either have a socioeconomic factor, such as lack of money for test prep, or a learning issue, such as ADHD, that affected standardized scores, and that one has really strong grades and EC’s to counter - its not for someone who simply doesn’t like the chances of their score achieving a yes, as the adcoms will see through that.
I know gaming the system isn’t your intent, but leaving out scores when you don’t have any hooks and your common data set profile - address, school, etc. also doesn’t speak to someone that has the above offsetting factors will likely result in the same outcome as someone who has a 36 ACT and a 3.5 W GPA.
@Chembiodad, Bates collects testing data on students after they matriculate, so that 27 includes students who didn’t submit.
That said, @kalons, I think a 30 is quite respectable and might be helpful in helping Bates make a (positive) decision about a kid from a school from which they haven’t taken a lot of kids.
@Sue22, not certain where you are seeing that documented or why any school include that information in the CDS; agree that all test optional schools collect the data for placement purposes, but can’t see why it would be included in the CDS .
