@meriks your theory is great, but it isn’t backed up by facts(where they are available anyway). Why on earth isn’t every ivy accepting even 50% of 2400s? They’re accepting around 20% or less. No top school wants a kid whose talent is test taking. Not to say it won’t help or doesn’t show some skill but its obviously not getting people to the top schools. The reason the acceptance rates are high(er) for 2400 students generally isn’t just because they got a 2400, it is because the type of students that get those scores generally have other stellar things. Look at this for a good explaination of it http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/the-difficulty-with-data
Some of the facts show that scores alone aren’t getting people in. Maybe a second look but without anything else they aren’t setting people at top universities. Heck, look at Brown(http://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/explore/admission-facts) a noticibly more selective institution(about a third of the acceptance rate but about the same SAT average. I picked it because it is one of the few that releases a “just perfect scores” number). Less than one of every 4 perfect ACT students is accepted. Say you raise that to 45-55 or even 65 since UMich isn’t quiet a Brown caliber school… that’s still a reach, and he isnt exactly a “standout” top scorer in my opinion.
Why on earth do they bother having you list all your ECs if all they really want is a broad ramge of classes…? ECs and passions outside of school help tons of kids to get in o college. A story about your goals? Good essay. Showing commitment and working towards the goals? Even better.
If you’re too ignorant to realize that being a captain on team or starting a club DOES build leadership skills that are useful in just about everything, I don’t know how you convince you otherwise. Sorry for being condescending but being the captain of a team or starting clubs is a pretty obvious and good way to show team buiding and skills working with people as well as commitment.
A passion doesn’t mean curing Ebola or even something related to college. If your passion is animals… working at a vet. if it is computers writing software and releasing it. There are tons of ways to how what youre interested in/care about without making some ungodly discovery. Look at the current posts, there is a guy who does tons for veganism. Its his passion and even if you argue it isn’t a passion at least he is doing SOMETHING. A generic EC list is better than the current state of almost nothing at all.
Do you really think that the test scores prove how smart someone is…? Someone with a 2300 is undoubtedly smarter than a 2000? That is what… 10 questions? Why is he getting B’s when he is “clearly” one of the best students around? Heck, look at the highest IQs in the world… quite a few are either farmers or security guys. Being able to study and do well on the SAT doesn’t make you any smarter than studying and doing well on something like an algebra exam… the big difference is that one helps with college.
Heck, I spent about two weeks studying for it in 7th grade and ended up with quite a few points over the national average. Does that make me some sort of genius? Not at all. It makes me someone willing to put time in. Obviously it comes easier to some but the real difference between a 2000 and a 2300 is just the level of effort put in. That is why places like MENSA don’t accept it anymore because it doesn’t measure raw intelligent. It measures a few very narrow fields and if you’re good at those you’ll do good. There isn’t a better way but you’re wrong if you think that those tests directly correlate with intelligence.
Depending on what you consider a match, I guess you could say he has a 60% chance or so. (I always heard 50 or so is a reach, 75 is a match and 95+ is a safety).
Just re read it and I sound bit condescending… Sorry about that.I hope you don’t think I’m too in to it. I guess I just think there is more to an app than scores even at a non top 10 school.
P.S. I do hope you get in and think you have a good shot. I just don’t think it is an 80%+ shot.
P.S. P.S. On a phone so my spelling and grammar might be bad, sorry.