Where Should My "High SAT" Son Apply?

Applying to College
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<p>This Florida Dad would appreciate your insight with respect to the question of what colleges my son should consider applying to. I am looking for both match schools, and reach schools (but reach schools that he has a reasonable chance of getting into).</p>

<p>By way of background, my son is a rising senior, who scored well on his SATs.</p>

<p>800 CR
800 writing
700 math</p>

<p>His high school gpa is 3.6 unweighted</p>

<p>4.2 or 4.3 weighted</p>

<p>While his gpa is perhaps a bit low by Ivy standards, it does put him in the top 5% of his high school class (barely--by 2 people). He takes all AP classes, and will be taking all AP classes his senior year.</p>

<p>Basically, he gets A's in all his non science/non math classes, but B's in the science and math classes.</p>

<p>His high school is a public school, but a charter type school, that received a "silver" award in US News. </p>

<p>He is much more liberal arts oriented, than science or math. He is very good in English and Political Science type subjects. To give you some insight into his personality, he reads books on linguistics and comparative mythologies of the world, for "fun". He has written 300 pages of a book, but has never finished it. </p>

<p>So far, he has received four "5" grades on AP exams, and two "4" grades.</p>

<p>All 6 of these AP exams were in non-math/non science type subjects.</p>

<p>He received a "3" grade on his AP exams in Calculus and Physics.</p>

<p>He got low 700 grades on the two SAT subject tests he took.</p>

<p>His extracurriculars are rather weak when compared to the impressive ECs that many people on this sight can point to. He IS an active member of debate, and travels to different cities where his school debate team participates. He has published some poems. But otherwise, no leadership, sports, work experience or especially impressive volunteer work. Although he is a rather handsome kid, he is not very social. In my opinion, he has kind of a University of Chicago type personality, and he will indeed be applying to that school. He has no interest in sports. He is more of a news junkie. But he has no interest in "political protest" or "green" issues. </p>

<p>He has participated in the Duke TIP program, and also goes to "debate camp" every summer. </p>

<p>He is not "foreign language" oriented, having quit Spanish. </p>

<p>He is 1/2 jewish, 1/2 WASP, so Brandeis comes to mind.</p>

<p>Obviously, I would like him to get into one of the tip top schools, but I would appreciate a realistic assessment from everyone on which of the top schools he has a reasonable chance of getting into, and which schools might fit his personality. In addition to UC and Brandeis, I have certain other schools in mind, but I don't want to prejudice your responses.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>Is he open to liberal arts colleges?</p>

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<p>He and his mother seem more focused on bigger universities, but a suitable liberal arts school that meets his personality would be worth considering. But he wouldn’t like going to one where they worry about whether the campus has good “green” policies, or where everyone is engaging in political protests. He is a liberal, but not an activist type.</p>

<p>Nor would he fit in at a Washington & Lee, where people are all driving around in BMWs.</p>

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<p>I’ll think about it and post back in an hour or so :)</p>

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<p>Aren’t LACs more suited for more outgoing personalities because of the increased attention on the fewer students? Or am I wrong?</p>

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<p>^ Is Brown willing to forgive a low GPA if you have high test scores?</p>

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<p>One additional piece of information.</p>

<p>He got a 34 on the ACT.</p>

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<p>^ I’m in the same boat!!! 35 ACT, 3.67 GPA</p>

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<p>His test scores are terrific, GPA is good … I would focus on schools that weight heavily GPA and test scores. At some top tier schools that use a whole admission process, his lack of EC’s and involvement could hurt his chances. Debate will certainly help, as you do not have to have A LOT of Ec’s, but at least some with depth. U of chicago is a great idea. What about Davidson?</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, everything I read indicates that nowadays, the schools seem to care more about gpa than sat/act.</p>

<p>You will notice a lot of posts on these pages where kids say they are #1 or #2 in their class, but then say that they only got a 29 on their ACT.</p>

<p>To me, that shows grade inflation.</p>

<p>I don’t believe that stuff about being a “bad test taker”.</p>

<p>To me, the ACT and SAT, as well as AP exams, should be the true tests, because how does one compare grades among kids who went to high school in different parts of the country.</p>

<p>My wife was a Calculus teacher for one year a couple years back, and the principal put heavy pressure on her not to give bad grades out, even though the kids were getting 57s on their tests. So while she might have been forced to give them a B or an A, when they later took their AP exam in Calculus, such leniency would be exposed.</p>

<p>I am 55 years old, and “in my day”, a good SAT score was the most important factor.</p>

<p>Now, the schools seem to want to ignore standardized tests, because the people they WANT to admit don’t do well on such tests.</p>

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<p>Did everyone just miss the fact that OP’s son is in the top 5% of his class?</p>

<p>Learn to read people, GPA is all relative.</p>

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<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>Davidson is one of the schools that I already have in mind for him.</p>

<p>So again, thanks, because that serves to confirm putting Davidson on “his list”.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your comment about gpa being relative, but I am not sure that is what most admission officers think.</p>

<p>I see people on these pages that are #1 in their class, but then they say they have a 29 ACT, when you would expect someone who is #1 to have a much higher ACT.</p>

<p>I think that some high schools hand out A’s like candy.</p>

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<p>Unless I’ve heard the wrong thing at the 15 or so info sessions I’ve been to, schools look at your son’s grades in the context of his school, which is what the school profile is for. A 4.0 at some school doesn’t exactly translate to the same grade point average at another institution.</p>

<p>And anyways, being ranked at the top 5% in your class while taking all APs is impressive wherever you go.</p>

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<p>JHU, WUSTL, Dartmouth, DUKE…</p>

<p>He will be fine with high SAT and top 5% in a good HS. Do you know which colleges did the students like your son in his HS get in?</p>

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<p>Thanks for the suggestion about Johns Hopkins.</p>

<p>That one is already on “his list”, and in fact, we recently visited there and loved it.</p>

<p>As for Wash U, my brother’s kid went there, majored in business, and three years later is making $200,000. For some reason, however, I am not that excited about Wash U, because I am 55 years old, and back when I was applying to college, Wash U was not as highly ranked.</p>

<p>Duke is also on our radar screen.</p>

<p>I am curious—why specifically did you suggest Dartmouth, as opposed to the other Ivies???</p>

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<p>I have to disagree with you. The ACT tests what you remember, even if its 3 years ago. If one were to rememorize everything before the test [somehow have time to…], then he’d be fine. I think SAT does test more smarts. The ACT is an achievement test/SAT is an aptidude test. The first time I took it [ACT], there was no way I remembered how to do matrices [2 years ago for 1 day using calculator], geometry formulas, etc. I don’t know what school your son went to or wife taught at, but there’s no way a selective enrollment school here would give out only As and Bs. 1/2 my teachers were known for barely ever giving As and rarely Bs in classes where 80% of the class is exams and the grading is scale is a 5 point one (school policy).</p>

<p>That being said, your son has a good chance at many top schools.</p>

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<p>My wife taught Calculus in a good charter school in Florida.</p>

<p>The kids who were taking Calculus were the top students at the school.</p>

<p>When my wife started handing out C’s and D’s on quizzes, the parents rioted, and the principal put continuous pressure on her to raise the grades. It seems their little darlings never received such bad grades before. My wife said that the kids would goof off in class.
When they were given a second chance to take the quiz, and they were face to face with the reality of getting a bad grade, then they would buckle down, and do rather well on the make up test.</p>

<p>That is when I realized that a lot of kids with good grade point averages might not really deserve their grades, especially in the more subjective liberal arts type courses.</p>

<p>Now, I am a big believer in standardized tests (SAT/ACT/SAT subject tests) and AP tests,
because it is simply too difficult to compare the high school grades from kids from different size schools and from different areas of the country, some with lenient teachers, and some with tough teachers.</p>

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<p>Oh I see. Wish my teachers did that, but no good teachers [like your wife] want to. It just sucks because I need to relearn so much before I take it again. I guess I just have short term-forget right before the test-memory.(:</p>

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<p>I know an "University of Chicago type " guy went to D.</p>