I would love some recommendations for schools that would be a good admissions fit for my son with a high SAT and avg. gpa.
He has a 1550 SAT and 3.7 unweighted gpa. His grades have been on an upward trend. He is taking ECE and AP classes with the most rigorous schedule.
Will this discrepancy between SAT and gpa hurt him?
He is just one of those kids that took a little longer to mature, missed school bc of a serious concussion and does have ADHD…but he has grown so much this past year in focus and maturity.
He would like to stay East Coast and maybe go as far west as Indiana.
Are schools like Villanova, Boston College and State Flag ship honors programs out of the realm of possibility bc of this SAT/gpa mismatch?
He is interested in neuroscience and/or cognitive psychology areas of study.
One of my sons had a similar profile and got into most places he applied. Of course, I don’t know WHY he was accepted but I suspect it was because he wrote about his ADHD in the context of his summer job on a farm. Schools my son considered (and applied to some of them) were Colorado College, Davidson, Emory (Oxford campus), Macalester, Denison, Kenyon, Furman, Rhodes, Skidmore, University of Rochester, Hobart & William Smith.
I expect you know this, but nothing wrong with applying to some reach schools, but focus on some great “safeties” where he would be happy to go if admitted. Admissions is kind of a crap shoot for anyone, but especially for students who have different profiles/profiles that have some weakness.
In my experience, it all works out in the end. Your son will find a great school
Do not overestimate the 1560 score. If you look on the BC and Nova school decision threads you will find lots of people with excellent stats who were rejected. I would call those two a reach, simply because of the holistic aka randomness of admissions. The SAT will certainly help counteract the gpa, and I’m not discouraging your child from applying, just have realistic expectations. Look at Fordham and GW as safer match schools.
Exactly…I think my older son got into Nova bc he was such a solid student and his SAT score was slightly lower, yet inline with his gpa. I’m guessing they thought there was a high likelihood of him accepting his spot.
I see all those threads and think that it may actually be harder for my son with the higher SAT score.
My older son did not apply to BC bc they don’t currently have Engineering.
I had an idea for a school to recommend based on the thread title, but then I read “1550 SAT and 3.7 unweighted gpa”. Nevermind. @My5Kiddos - If you were thinking of leaving off tippy-top schools, this may be wise, but only because those schools are inundated with applications. Having said that, applying to a couple as reaches doesn’t hurt. Also these stats, the right ECs, and maybe an ED application, could be good enough to get into one of them. The other schools on your list are fine. Good luck!
I’m guessing tippy top schools wont be interested bc of the gpa/SAT gap, which is why I am looking for recommendations for schools that could work with his profile.
He is unhooked. Solid ECs…quality over quantity. Three season athlete, club soccer year round, works two small jobs, volunteers with kids, heavily involved with unified sports/best buddies programs. Various random awards like medalist in National Latin Exam.
We are legacy at ND, but he isn’t really interested in applying. He is more interested in BC bc it’s closer.
I’m thinking he is more of a wild card than my other son. My other son was accepted everywhere his stats fit in the upper tier and I’m feeling like that will not be the case with this time around.
The 3.7 does make it more of a crapshoot. But it’s a crapshoot no matter what you do. Still, lots of possibilities for 3.7UW with upward trend and 1550. Just from scrolling through US News for possibilities:
out of the top 25 or 30 schools: maybe just ND with legacy, unless another school seems a perfect fit worth a longshot try
next 25 or so: Rochester, Brandeis, BC, BU, Case Western, Northeastern, RPI, Wisconsin, UIUC, Villanova, Lehigh
next 30 or 40: Syracuse, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, WPI, GW, UConn, Maryland, Clark, Fordham, American, Indiana, Pitt, UMass, UMinn
If he applied to 3 or 4 in the BC group, it wouldn’t be stunning if he got into one or two (though getting into none wouldn’t be stunning either). And he applied to 3 or 4 in the next group you would think he’d have some options. This doesn’t even include any smaller schools, which he probably should at least consider.
WPI is a STEM University where the focus is on undergraduate research through three different undergraduate projects. They have a small, impressively credentialed researching faculty and no graduate students in psychology. There is a high level of crossover in the areas of CS, robotics and neuroscience where they do have graduate programs through the PhD.
The average GPA of entering freshman is 3.89 unweighted. As 4.0 is a perfect score on the unweighted system, I suspect that you may have been looking at weighted system numbers from other universities. As many different weighting systems exist, comparison of them between secondary schools is not practical. Let the universities do that guesswork.
They have a very highly developed Biomedical Engineering program which is currently developing a multidisciplinary approach in the Neurosciences areas.
It depends for BC on where the 3.7 lands him in his school a bit. If he’s top 10 percent and has all the rest he’s a great candidate. About 70 percent of the incoming class falls in that group and avg gpa is a bit higher. But he has the improvement curve and other factors. If you are a high ses family that will make it more challenging.
Villanova Fordham and Holy Cross would be great. And ND legacy hook is a big benefit.
So I would say ignore the artificial rankings stuff listed above. It depends on so many things. Geography ethnicity. Ecs and recommendations. Admit rates and average profiles are your friend when looking at reaches matches and safeties. Look at the bc threads here on cc and get a sense of profiles on ea and rd admissions announcement days. Top Students like your son have acceptances denials and Wl type of answers.
And he sounds like a great candidate for sure. But that can come across as a likely.
The BC and ND students are razor thin in differences. I would use the new ed options at bc next year you your advantage.
He sounds like a great kid and you will have plenty of great schools to choose from next year.
@privatebanker
He is right at the top 10% mark…literally movement from him or another student can move him to the 11%.
@retiredfarmer
My older son looked at WPI and quite a few kids from our high school have gone over the years.
Have heard great things.
I’ll have to take a closer look at gpa weights. His weighted gpa is 5.3ish but we have a bit of a strange scale.
@Wilson98
UCONN is actually the honors program he is interested in as they have an excellent psychology department. My older son is there now as a STEM honors student and doing well.
I think he is competitive with that GPA and test score combo for those schools. Maybe ask the GC to mention the concussion in their recommendation. Personally, I would not reveal the ADHD in additional info or essays.
If he keeps the 3.7, he should be eligible for merit. Top merit at Hobart and William Smith. Maybe at St. Lawrence? (they don’t publish set numbers for merit aid)
I agree with others, average GPA is 3.0-3.1, so 3.7 is not even close to average. The discrepancy is that kids who get 1550 on their SATs generally have GPAs of at least 3.8-3.9, while kids with GPAs of 3.7 generally have SATs of 1500 and lower. However, if with a 3.7, your kid is at the top 10% or so in his school, they possibly have grade deflation, and that 3.7 may be equivalent to a higher grade at other High Schools. For example, the top 10% at my kid’s HS have GPAs that are around 3.85 at graduation, and the average GPA is about 3.1. If the average GPA of your kid’s HS is lower than 3.0 you may have grade deflation. Moreover, if your kid had a concussion and ADHD, and an upward trend in his grades, he might have a decent chance at colleges at which students in which his GPA is relatively low, compared to other accepted students.
However, it is unlikely that he would get good merit aid from them. Moreover, don’t depend on his concussion and ADHD being factored into decisions when looking at likelies and safeties. Determine those based on his present stats. On the other hand, it would not hurt to add a couple more low reaches to your list.
Good luck, he sounds like a great kid. I was active in advocacy for gifted kids in our school district, and I know that having a twice-exceptional child can be extremely challenging for parents. A GPA of 3.7 after a concussion is pretty good for a 2E child, so both he and you have done very well.
Chances will vary greatly depending on if you are full pay or requesting financial aid. If full pay, i think the scores and grades will make the student competitive for most of the schools that are not need blind.
