So I guess the question is how smart do you have to be?

Applying to College
41

Just under a 2000 on the SAT is not low. It’s well above the national average. I got a 1970 and that is in the 92nd percentile overall and the 93 percentile for women. Above everything else, you need to appreciate your daughter and the hard work she has done. A rejection does not mean she is any less smart just as an acceptance doesn’t make anyone smarter.

I, myself, was just accepted to Northwestern and Northeastern regular decision. Based on the result so far, one can make the argument of saying “smarter” kids got rejected, but that isn’t true. It’s about fit. If Northeastern and Emerson don’t think she is a fit, that doesn’t mean she isn’t smart. Someone who is a fit for Harvard may not be a fit for Michigan and this may be accepted to Harvard and rejected by Michigan.

One of the biggest problems on CC is the overwhelming notion that test scores are the biggest indicator of how smart a person is. That simply isn’t true. Appreciate her. Go up to her and tell her that you are proud of her. She will appreciate it.

42

GPA is not perceived as the best indicator of intelligence, standardized test scores are weighted more at many schools.

However, there are also schools where the essays matter a LOT, not just hours of community service but how that is leveraged into a great essay. I and my spouse reviewed my son’s essays, after begging him to use his English teacher as a reviewer. I hope your daughter used her teachers to review her essays.

The reality is that there are kids who do the work, get the A’s, and either don’t take the SAT enough or take it unprepared, or even worse (in this day and age of standardized testing), just are not good test takers. Some people go on about “it’s not fair, it’s teaching rote” but there are many standardized tests associated with not only graduate and professional schools, but also licensing for various professions. It is something that should be practiced; people complain that our state does so much standardized testing, but it pays off with a consistent top three ranking among the states in education.

My next-up son is taking the PSAT as a sophomore, and will take the PSAT as a junior then the SAT at least once, possibly twice during junior year. My oldest did that and had a great improvement from sophomore to junior year on the PSAT, and also a great improvement between his two SATs. He also has a senior year free of standardized tests except for his APs.

I think one of the biggest tragedies I have seen is GCs not recommending testing early and often. So many kids, even those in AP and Honors classes with my son, will wait until fall of senior year to take the SAT, and by then, there is no time to study for a second try. Or take it for the first time in May or June of junior year, and then have to worry about studying for the SAT while they are getting college applications together.

And yes, as others said, high GPA + disparate SAT score = grade inflation in most people’s minds. Any student with a weighted GPA over 4.0 but SAT scores in the 1900s is looked at with high suspicion. It is possible that a lower GPA and the same test score would not be looked at as negatively.

My advice is that if your daughter is still focused on schools she did not get into, she could reach out to their admissions and ask if they can give any feedback. I even know college students who retook the SATs during college to get a higher score. If she really wants one of the other schools, she should focus on preparing to transfer.

43

HOLD ON, @CaliCash‌ I never once said I don’t appreciate my daughter. That was never the question, I feel personally attacked as a parent and I feel you are way out of line telling me that I need to “Go up to her and tell her that you are proud of her…”

44

OP did call the admissions office at Emerson (top choice) and received feedback that makes sense. For a school like Emerson with a highly-specialized, tightly-focused curriculum in communications and the performing arts, it is important for an applicant to demonstrate their specific interest and expertise (either through EC or academic record) in a relevant area of study to be a top applicant. At other colleges and universities she applied to this wouldn’t be an issue, and it might instead be a matter of SAT scores or a mismatch between GPA and SATs, or some other less quantifiable factors. What seems particularly unfortunate, if there is indeed an area of specialization she is particularly interested in and which was guiding her choice of Emerson, is that this information about what was prioritized in their admissions decisions wasn’t communicated by her GC or in any college visits.

45

If I was your daughter and I heard you saying that, I would feel under appreciated. You basically judged her intellect based on the decisions of 11 people. Is it that hard to tell her you’re proud of her? Nothing bad comes from it.

46

As an outside observer, sometimes the way you say things @CaliCash‌ can come off inflammatory.

Anyways, I really don’t think you and your daughter did anything wrong. Tougher admissions each year makes it tough for everybody. Who knows if schools are starting to sort apps based on test scores!

47

@ccheennaa‌ I apologize.

48

For example at Northeastern dipping between 2000/30ACT really put you at danger for rejection even if qualified.

49

@CaliCash it’s fine. But you don’t owe me an apology anyhow.

50

I didn’t take it that way, Calicash. I took it you meant for OP to let her D know that she is loved and appreciated no matter where she goes to college or what she scored on the SAT. In a different thread there was an example of a letter a parent wrote to his child before decisions came out in which he told the kid how great he was.

OP, I am sorry. Your D sounds great and I bet she does well wherever she winds up. I have lived through this process once, almost twice. Surprises good and bad both times. Older son ended up where I never would have pictured him, and now I can see him nowhere else. Younger son has several good choices. Younger son learned about expectations and about packaging watching his brother go through college application time.

Scores do seem awfully important. I was lucky in that both of my kids scored high initially, but then unlucky in that they didn’t want to take the test twice or prep. I suspect they would have had more choices if they had put more effort into the SAT.

51

Too many qualified students applying to too many schools. She actually sounds overqualified for NU. They probably were worried she would decline an offer.

52

@calicash ridiculous, This is a college thread and once again you are attacking. Are there no moderators to dissuade this sort of thing?

53

@jventola don’t be weak, he was not attacking. Plus he apologized.

54

@jventola, Calicash is a 17-year-old who (I think) interpreted your title and your comment that your daughter’s SAT score was “low” to mean either that you think your daughter isn’t smart enough or that you may give off that impression to your daughter. I don’t think she meant it as an attack on you.

55

It’s good to have the 17 year olds reflect back to us older folks how we might sound to our kids. I’m often not as careful about that as I need to be.

56

I think the answer is roughly 6, maybe 7.

57

I thought @calicash was trying to be supportive. Empathizing with the daughter like a 17 year old would. It is sometimes difficult to capture intent of the written without the human aspect.