Should my daughter even apply? Any chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
1

<p>Here are her stats:</p>

<p>White Female from the Northeast - Competitive School</p>

<p>GPA 3.9 (uw)
4.28 (w)</p>

<p>ACT Composite 30
Math 35
English 30
Reading 29
Science 26</p>

<p>Freshman Year</p>

<p>Algebra II H - B+
Bio H - B
English I H - B
Global History H- B
Spanish II - A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year</p>

<p>Pre-Calc H - A
Global Hist II H - A
Chem H - B
English II H - A
Spanish III (no honors course given) A+</p>

<p>Junior Year</p>

<p>Physics H - A
Spanish IV H - A+
AP Calc AB - A (5 on AP Test)
Latin I - A+
US History H - A
English III H - A</p>

<p>Senior Year
AP Gov
AP Spanish
AP Stats
AP Psych
Latin II
Rhetoric & Comp H
Political Issues in Lit H</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>NHS
University of Maryland Book Award
Excellence in Latin
High Honors Grades 10 and 11</p>

<p>ECs
Youth Softball Coach - Grades 11 and 12
12 Year Girl Scout
Appalachian Service Project - Grades 10 and 11 (one week each summer in West VA)
Spanish Language Immersion Institute - (Spanish Enrichment Summer classes including trip to Puerto Rico)
Team Captain - American Cancer Society Relay for Life- Grades 10, 11
Diversity Club - Grades 10, 11, 12
Key Club, Grades 9, 10, 11, 12
[There will be some extras in connection with NHS in grade 12]</p>

<p>Work </p>

<p>15-20 hours per week - Blockbuster - grade 11 (and will in grade 12)</p>

<p>Grades 7-12 - Temple Teaching Assistant- 6+hours/wk. Classroom teaching assistant and private Hebrew language tutor to Bar and Bar Mitzvah students.</p>

<p>Summer Day Camp Counselor - Local YMCA day camp - Full time - Summers grades 10 and 11.</p>

<p>This summer working at both camp and Blockbuster
Will have outstanding teacher and GC recs</p>

2

<p>Of course she has a chance. If it's not a hardship to pay the application fee, why shouldn't she go for it?</p>

3

<p>I think she has a chance, her grades are good and show a strong upward trend. ACT scores are o.k. Actually, I'm not that familiar with the ACT, so it's a little tough for me to judge that. If she is interested in Tufts, she should apply. Don't second guess the admissions committee.</p>

4

<p>Definitely apply, she has as good a chance as most people, based on stats.</p>

5

<p>Thanks. The reason I asked the question is that others on the forum who seem to have so many more Awards, ECs and AP courses. </p>

<p>Maybe it's just CC-syndrome, but the kids here seem to be extreme overachievers, making a kid like my daughter seem kind of average.</p>

6

<p>Apply where?</p>

7

<p>Uh, Tufts?</p>

8

<p>Lol.</p>

<p>Here at CC, you're seeing less than 1% of the population; they're the ones with the entourage of awards/grades/activities. Don't worry, your daughter seems a great kid, and she sure has a chance!</p>

9

<p>I know a kid from a competitive NE high school admitted with very similar stats (maybe a slightly higher ACT) and some similar EC's but no work experience. She got into Tufts. Your d is definitely in the ballpark.</p>

10

<p>I appreciate these responses. I guess I didn't realize that the CC posters comprise such a small percentage of the population of kids applying to colleges. It does get quite intimidating. I honestly felt that even with what we thought were her wonderful accomplishments, she had no chance at all at some of these wonderful schools.
Thanks again.</p>

11

<p>I know how you feel, momnewtothis. I come on here and feel like my son is some yokel who's thinking about schools that are completely out of his range. But he's a straight A student! The thing is, where we live --small town, rural area-- there is no such thing as Honors classes, and only a few APs, and his SAT scores are pretty good (ranging between 92% and 97% nationally)... but, you know, they're not nearly as high as the kids posting here. He has been taking a lot of classes at the local univ. (all A's), but not so many APs. And he doesn't belong to clubs or societies or volunteer in hospitals. He works at a job and he swims with a team all year round. Those are his EC's. Just those two things. Where is there time to do anything else? He's already the busiest kid I've ever met.</p>

<p>Anyway... as people advised you here, he's just going to apply to some schools he's interested in (including Tufts!) and see how it all works out. He has a couple safety schools which are great places too. I advise him not to get too attached to any one place, but just to apply to places he'd love to be. We probably can't take advantage of the better odds with ED anywhere because we need to see what we're getting into financially before making a final decision. :-( </p>

<p>I hope he gets into a school of his dreams, but there isn't much we can do about it at this point so we'll just see how it all shakes down. Good luck to your daughter!</p>

12

<p>Tufts students are smart, involved and generous individuals and like the applicants you describe, there are many ways to be this kind of kid. Be sure that they understand that their essays and application are thoroughly read in the admissions office. Students can write so they come alive and 3D in their essays and that may help. It's sometimes hard for HS seniors to envision real people reading their essays-- the book by Harold Bauld on writing the app essay can help.</p>

13

<p>I would say, have her re-take the ACT and just study for the science part. Order the practice book when you sign up. I'll bet she can bring the science score up a lot just by practicing, because it's all about graphs and charts.</p>

14

<p>^^ Taking the ACT again and only studying the science section can be dangerous. As far as I know, Tufts takes the best score from one sitting for the ACT, and does not recalculate the score based on sections (otherwise known as "superscoring"). </p>

<p>If she were to take the ACT again, she should review all the sections so that her good sections don't go down.</p>

15

<p>Tufts takes the top scores from each section of the ACT and SAT, not from one sitting. (I called them before about it, and that is what the admissions person said.)</p>

16

<p>According to the Tufts website:

[quote]
The Admissions Committee will use the highest individual scores for each section of the SAT Reasoning Test.

[/quote]

Since they don't mention it for the ACT, and it's on the same page as the ACT information, I assume that they don't superscore the ACT.</p>

<p>This may be a good question to ask the Tufts admissions counselors who just joined these boards.</p>

17

<p>Good idea. I just did. So look for answers on the "Welcome New College Reps from Tufts" if you need to know.....</p>

18

<p>Unlike the SAT, where the composite is just the total of the sections, the ACT composite score isn't calculated in an entirely simple manner. Also, the SAT sections are much more akin to discrete tests. Although we look at the subscores for the ACT, we do not mix and match the subscores. </p>

<p>We do however, only pay attention to the highest composite score (and it's relevant subscores). So if you sit for the test three times, we're only going to use your best result.</p>

19

<p>Thanks, Dan. I appreciate the response.</p>

20

<p>On ACT superscoring, Dan - I understand the rationale for not superscoring the basic test, but what about the separate writing score? As an example, my daughter got a 10 on the writing part in her lower-scoring ACT test but only an 8 when her composite score was higher. In such a case, would the fact that she had scored a 10 on the writing portion in one instance be considered or not?</p>