You can be too rich if that somehow attracts unwanted attention. You can be too thin after starvation. You can have high enough test scores if you hit the maximum possible.
Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!!
I agree that it depends on your goal. My S19 is not applying to any top 20 schools for a variety of reasons so after getting the same composite after two tests and being way beyond the 75%, we are done. You might actually think that some schools might take pause with a high test scorer applying. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
The goal is to have a shot at some merit aid once this process is all done and most schools on my son’s list don’t have a hard and fast score, so hitting at or above the 75th percentile for scores sounds like a good goal (Duke and Rice’s 75th percentile is a 35C so don’t know about that but we will see). He feels like he has cleaned up some of errors he has been making on previous practice exams with his prep, so I am cautiously optimistic. He will put in about 30 minutes or so tonight just doing a quick last review and relax (playing video games). He is thinking about adding Emory to his list as well (it will depend on his final choice of a major) which we have seen take a few students in our area with very good financial aid packages even though they where not in the 75th percentile for standardized test scores.
Good luck to him!
Most top 25 schools do little to no merit money. They mostly operate on ample need-based aid. Which is great, but only if you qualify. But Emory (like Rice) is one that does. But merit at that level is VERY competitive and unpredictable.
My 35 ACT kid (white kid from the burbs) got into Emory and Rice but with zero merit money. Got a $35k regular merit award from Tulane, but was turned down for their more competitive full tuition schollies. But then hit the jackpot with a full tuition schollie to Vandy. Go figure.
As an AA male with high scores, your kid will get into many many schools. But I have no idea how the URM hook factors into the competitive merit decisions. Don’t be shy about calling the schools and asking that question.
@northwesty Full Tuition Scholarship to Vandy!!! Congratulations on such an awesome result. If my son gets accepted and that kind of money from even one of the elites on his list, that would be a great application season.
One of my Ds with a 35 ACT (also white from the burbs) was admitted to ND and Cornell and WL at Vandy RD. So go figures is right.
One other data point to throw into the mix.
You can have much lower scores at some of these schools if you apply ED. Emory, for example, fills 53% of its seats through ED. So applying ED is basically another hook for getting admitted.
As a URM, your kid may not need the ED hook. And applying binding ED isn’t really consistent with shopping around for merit money.
@ChangeTheGame
You son is top 1% at morehouse, When reading test SAT statistics. One has to realize that its actually 2 tests. If 2% scored a 700+ on the RW, and 1.5% scored a 700+ on Math, then that most likely results in students whom scored a 700+ on BOTH to be in the top 1%. As most of those top scoring students will score a 700+ on only one exam and not both. So if your son does get a 1400+ on the SAT he is surely in the running for the top scholarship at Morehouse. He’s also a Low Match/ Safety for UGA and Gtech since he’s instate and URM.
That’s a great way to put it–I’ve tried to explain this over and over: combined score isn’t what matters; it’s the individual scores for RW and M that matter (so, for example, not all 1500s are the same–800/700 isn’t as good as 750/750). I like how you put it better!
@emorynavy My son may get to the top 1% of standardized test scores at Morehouse, but that may be the only part of his resume to do so. GPA is up there but not top 1%. He would have to interview if he made it as a finalist for Stamps and that may be a struggle for him as an introvert who speaks very little even around his friends. He could be going up against students who are already active in changing the world as we know it. He would definitely not be a shoo-in for receiving anything from Morehouse, but I would hopeful with my own connection to Morehouse and his growth over the next 18 months. Georgia Tech and UGA would be affordable for us with Zell Miller so we will just have to wait and see how the actual testing and the next couple of semesters go towards his long term goals.
My son just finished taking the ACT. He thought the Math and Science sections were easier than the 2 practice tests and thought that the Reading section may have been the hardest. He doesn’t think he missed any on the math section (only struggled with 1 question which he thinks he got right) but we will see how things turned out in 2 weeks along with how the test is curved. He is thinking about going ahead and taking the 10/6 SAT right before 10/10 PSAT date (registration deadline ended yesterday so would have to pay the late fee) so that he has the qualifying score in hand if he reached NMSF next fall and would get some last practice in for the PSAT.
I would let him take it! It’s wonderful to have the testing completed before senior year, and it’s good practice for the PSAT (according to my kids). If he doesn’t do as well as expected, he has plenty of time to retest.
My younger son’s scores were 790/690 on the SAT - twice. That put him into the top 25% of every college he applied to and the bottom 25% of all the selective colleges. It was fun trying to figure out what his chances would be, but in the end I think he did a bit better than expected - I think especially since the high score was in the verbal section.
I’m glad to hear OP’s son feels reasonably good about the test. I think it would be fine for him to take the SAT in October.
@chercheur Thanks for the tidbit. Even though it has been my son’s idea to take the SAT, I have been slightly worried about testing prep “burnout” along with his school workload, but your own experiences with your children made me feel a little better. I have asked him to take the next week off from test prep before really honing in on SAT/PSAT prep. My son is excited because he believes that this part of college admissions process (test scores) will be over after Oct. 10th of his junior year.
@mathmom Wow, I like your current name more than verbalmom. Seriously, I haven’t heard of many boys haven’t that combo, but I like it and congratulations to your son on the many options that he ended up with. My son will go ahead and take the Oct 6. SAT. Since my son’s number’s are basically reverse of your younger son’s, he will spend a lot more time working on getting the Reading and Writing/Language sections higher since they are 2/3’s of the index needed for NMSF scores. His goal is to get between 740-760 on EBRW on SAT which may be a hard jump, but will be needed to have a shot at getting a score on PSAT needed to reach NMSF.
Just when I thought I was out with yesterday’s SAT Subject scores release … this morning’s test pull me back in to waiting for ACT score release.
@SculptorDad A generation from now, our kid’s kids will get their test scores in 24 hours. And they will still have the same complaint:)
Even my mathy kid did better on the verbal section - they inhale books. Mostly sci-fi and fantasy - but they read fast and have big vocabularies thanks to being avid readers.
When I was taking the architecture licensing exam I had the option of taking the version where you get the score right away - if you get a question right they give you a harder question, if you get it wrong you get a similar or easier question. Apparently if you did well from the start you could be finished very quickly. Or something like that, I decided I wasn’t comfortable with that format and stayed with the usual answer every question and wait for your score version. I don’t know how it would work with my kids who when we got the question and answer services had always made some really stupid mistake on one of the easiest questions.
My D (black) took the SAT once (minimal prep), got a 1520, and stopped. She is naturally a great test-taker, and I’m sure she would have done better with a second attempt, but with applying to 17 schools, and more than 17 competitive merit scholarships, she needed to focus more on apps than standardized testing. She later regretted not retesting as she thinks she could have gotten a 1600. But I don’t think a higher score would have changed her outcomes, as they were fantastic, and any missed merit was due to other factors.
Good luck to your son! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.