I dont think Top 25% holds true at select universities when you have only top scorers submitting.
The top 25% ACT at Rice University is 36. If only the Top 25% submitted, you would only get scores that were almost perfect.
I doubt if you scored a 35, that would negatively impact you at Rice.
Rice is also a school where 79% of kids submitted their test scores.
And they have a pretty tight range.
25-75%
1500-1560 SAT
34-36 ACT
Yes, he is going to take the AP Calc AB exam in two weeks, but they donât practice for it or ever look at the format of the exam. He needs to take Calculus again next year, in both his and my opinion, so I am not too worried that he is going in to take it blind. The worst that can happen is a 1!
The humanities AP exams and especially the history ones are now just so obsessed with the new rubrics that it is more difficult to walk in and take them without the class practice of DBQs and ultra-specific short answer components than it was when his sister took them like that five-six years ago as a homeschooler. You really do have to practice AP free-form answers in the way they want them written because it all comes down to the rubric now. Heâs going to take two humanities exams with no prep at all (too busy with track, and it doesnât really matter with the college program he is going to, but they made us pay for the exams back in the fall when we werenât sure if his chosen might need that credit!) I foresee some 2s/3s, but again, thatâs okay.
To keep this on-topic, I will note that in our family, it is the AP exams that require so much practice and preparation while the ACT/PSAT were just a few practice tests and go.
When I took AP calculus BC decades ago (my non-elite high school only offered BC, not AB, at the time), the course did not do any âtest prepâ type of activity. We just learned calculus, and that was enough preparation for the AP test.
Why would he need to take calculus again, unless you are referring to the next level in the sequence?
He is going into a math heavy field and was pretty low-key about applying himself this year in Calculus. He is required to take Calculus for his program, and if he doesnât get a 4 on the AP, he has to retake Calculus for his course. He wonât get a 4 (most likely), and I have no desire to try to push him to cram for it.
If the high school calculus course was good quality, and he did well in it, he may surprise himself and you with a high AP score. Just because it may seem to be the norm to do lots of test prep or cramming does not mean that not doing so means that one will do poorly.
D24 is going to be applying test optional to all of her schools except for 2 colleges in a neighboring state (where sheâll get in-state tuition rates if she applies w/test scores). I asked our schoolâs senior counselor about this topic and she said definitely apply test optional. Both of the LACâs we toured week before last said that theyâre test optional and both remarked that âwe really ARE test optionalâŠweâre not like other schools where they SAY theyâre TO but they really pressure you to submit scores anyway.â
And for those 2 schools, you submit a copy of a graded english or history paper from 11th grade and do an interview instead of submitting test scores.
However, D24 is not a âtop 50-ranked schoolâ sort of applicant, nor will she be applying to any highly ranked schools.
Iâve been on CC for about a year and a half. When I first started browsing the threads it seemed like everyoneâs kid had 14 APs, played three club sports, and was the youngest member of the cityâs symphony orchestra. I didnât even realize there were schools out there that offered 20 AP classes.
So yeah, I guess I think that the TO world, in a way, puts even more pressure on kids from rural schools to do well on those exams. Many of them wonât have a bunch of APs and terrific ECs to supplement their academic transcripts, so they need good scores to get noticed. Itâs not such a big deal to omit a mediocre SAT score when your application shines in every other respect. In rural areas, though, good grades and standardized test scores might be about all they have to offer.
I remember our very first college visit. We toured Kenyon the summer before S23âs junior year. An AO spoke to us briefly before the tour. About fifteen seconds into the conversation she asked about S23âs ECs. I mentioned that school, soccer and swimming took up most of his time, and she looked at us and said, âAnything else?â. He and I looked at each other for a second and then back to her. Sensing our growing discomfort, she quickly added, âItâs OK if thereâs not.â. In retrospect, itâs pretty clear she was looking for the laundry list she normally got from the affluent, suburban private/charter/magnet school applicants schools such as Kenyon typically get. As it turned out, Kenyon wasnât my S23âs cup of tea so he didnât apply, but it did make him realize how important the SAT was going to be in his circumstances.
All the coaches have told my kid that they want to see SAT/ACT scores before submitting for pre reads. Some coaches have told her that she needs to hit a certain SAT or ACT score before they will give her support. Others have said they donât care. She is coming from a CA public HS that mostly sends kids to UCâs and CSUâs so I think that is a factor and some coaches worry about recruits not being able to the academic standards at some of these highly rejective colleges when they donât know the school well.