<p>It might not be based on 1500 vs. 1550, but one whether or not the student took the advice...</p>
<p>OR.... it might be that this particular GC, knowing the student and knowing the high school's own history of who got in where, had a good idea of what it would <em>likely</em> (not certainty, but likelihood) take to break into different schools.</p>
<p>"The ladies room on the 4th floor of the new student center has a picture window overlooking the lake--one of the nicest bathrooms I've seen anywhere!"</p>
<p>In an attempt to bring a sliver of levity to a very serious discussion, I felt I should mention the sign in the corporate bathroom in Mel Brook's "Silent Movie" which read "Our bathrooms are nicer than most people's homes."</p>
<p>He applied to the others anyway --no one stopped him. </p>
<p>The GC's point in the observation was to convince him to take the SAT again to get the extra 50 points, which he could easily have done. He had already done it many times --and even higher-- on practice tests. He dislikes taking tests, and so he refused. He said he did not care.</p>
<p>She was familiar with his history and profile and the track record of the particular high school from many years past.</p>
<p>He did not get into MIT. He did not get into Yale. I am sure plenty get into MIT and Yale with lower SATs, but for my middle-class white son, with his particular courses and grades and ECs, from this school, the GC advised the extra 50 points would make a difference. </p>
<p>We will never know if they would have made a difference as there is no control to this experiment. Even with a 1550 SAT these schools are a reach.</p>
<p>But as an aside, when he interviewed for MIT the interviewer asked him his scores and learned he had one "low" SAT-II --it was a 720 in physics. His others were near perfect. The interviewer told him that if he did not bring the 720 up at least to a 750 it would probably be counted against him.</p>
<p>He did not retake this test, either. And as I said, he did not get into MIT.</p>
<p>Rank speculation here, as someone posted on another thread. Not all 1500 SAT scores are the same.<br>
A 720 in Physics at MIT might be an obstacle to admission, whereas a 720 in Writing might not. At some other school, a 720 in Physics would be considered excellent, especially if the student did not wish to major in the sciences--as is assumed at tech schools.</p>
<p>Well, that is why I asked what the lists were; it wasn't just prurient interest.</p>
<p>I was going to say that if the lists were:</p>
<p>A: H,Y,P,S,M
B: Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth</p>
<p>that I would be inclinded to give the GC the benefit of the doubt and go with jmmom's view that the GC just had a good sense of what was needed from kids at that particular school.</p>
<p>If the lists had been:</p>
<p>A: Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth
B: Duke, JHU, Northwestern, Georgetown</p>
<p>then I was going to lean a bit more toward quiltguru's and idad's self-fulfilling prophecy hypothesis.</p>
<p>Strongly worded advice against double depositing from Carolyn:</p>
<p>I posted about Ruggs in another thread and, based on the OP's comments, she may misunderstand what it is. It is NOT a ranking of top programs in various majors! </p>
<p>All Ruggs does is ask students at a few hundred colleges which majors are considered strong at their college. I think it's a valuable took if you are interested in certain colleges. You can check Ruggs to see if the students think that the majors you are interested in are strong there. But if Grinnell lists English and Pomona doesn't, it does NOT mean Grinnell has a better English department or major than Pomona does. </p>
<p>Ruggs does ask counselors which school they consider the "best" in each field. IMO, this part of the book is nonsense, but that's presonal opinion. </p>
<p>But in any event, Ruggs is NOT based on a comparison of different colleges. The "best programs" at each school are chosen by current students, who may be knowledgeable as to the 'best' programs at the college they attend (as Ruggs claims), but are NOT in a position to compare their college's offerings with those of other colleges.</p>