If an LAC in a small, picturesque, historic town isn’t out of the question Washington College in Chesterstown, MD is test optional as long as minimum GPA and/or class rank are met.
@NJFabFour, thought of your daughter’s situation this morning when I saw this story about Hampshire College:
FWIW, my son had a middle-school classmate who actually attended a private high school for bright kids with learning disabilities, and she’s a happy sophomore at Hampshire now. They are a full-pay family, however, so I’m not sure about the school’s FA, but perhaps worth investigating.
MYOS1634, she is also applying to Duquesne and Susquehanna; she liked Duquesne but not as much as the others on her list. And yes, Syracuse will offer an estimate of the financial award and has said we can decline an acceptance if the financial aid does not meet our need.
I have been a special educator for over 20 years and am confident that her scores do not reflect an issue with her learning abilities. (FWIW, she tends to score well over 550 on the practice tests). I think like 2collegewego noted, it is a reflection of a curriculum that has not been very rigorous or pushed the students to excel, as well as some challenge with enduring through the long hours of testing (she actually says she gets bored and stops paying attention to what she’s reading, sigh!). I am also confident that we have some well-matched schools, I was curious, though, where others with similar scores have been accepted.
@LucieTheLakie Hampshire offers up to 10K in merit-based aid according to a rep I spoke with at a college fair.
What state do you live in? Is there a target cost you would like to pay? and what is the major (if you know)?
Thanks, @mamaedefamilia. I suppose $10,000 could be helpful to someone!
Regarding post #17 - I wouldn’t count on Sonoma State (a California State University/public) for any merit $.
I would say my D16 is in a very similar situation with mediocre test scores. I too began to worry when I read that thread and saw many kids with similar or lower GPA but 32 ACT or SATs in the 2000 range.
D16’s ACT (2x, did worse across the board 2nd time) was slightly better than SAT (2x, did better across the board 2nd time) and she just retook the ACT (3rd time. Anxiously awaiting the scores, but I don’t think it will really be that different). (PM me if you want the exact details) Her uw GPA is 3.4/ 4.6 weighted. In her favor, she does have a lot of honors/AP classes but really mostly B’s on her transcript. Good ECs but nothing spectacular, some leadership.
Have you thought about Ohio University? Their out of state tuition is around $20K. Bowling Green - ? Baldwin Wallace - Berea Ohio is test optional. Lebanon Valley - St Annes, PA? Goucher & Towson have a good reputation for admitting those with not stellar test scores. Arcadia or University of West Chester - Outside Philly? Slippery Rock - PA? But agree with everyone else you may to concentrate on the Test Optional Schools?
Don’t panic! My D16 has already received 2 acceptances one from her “reach” (University of Pittsburgh) and one from her “safety” (Ohio University). Don’t be afraid to try you never know what a school is looking for a good essay can make all the difference, they might just want to have a “______” (oboe player, field hockey player) to round out their class. If you can find a school with a rolling admissions policy that would possible accommodate her scores, apply, that first acceptance is a HUGE boost of confidence.
labegg, it’s so funny you mentioned Ohio University - it’s my alma mater!! I’ve had mixed feelings about it, I think she would like the school but not the location. It’s costs are comparable to ECU which I think she would be much more happy with. At this point, she is so tired of looking that I don’t think I could even try to persuade her! Towson is also on her list - we debated about taking it off the list simply because she has more desirable but equally matched schools but I think it’s worth keeping (We have twins and are currently at 16 schools so we are trying to keep costs as low as we can!). (My dad is an alum of Bowling Green, btw, and was not happy that I never considered it myself, lol!) Looked at the Philly area schools too. I thought we were early in the game, but sounds like you’ve got a great head start! Congrats to your D! We are awaiting the second ACT score and will take the third SAT next week - her last practice test had her CR at 650! (But this has been the history since we started test prep in Jan. She scores well on the practice but much lower on the test. I truly believe though that her second SAT in June was severely hindered by the scoring mishap. She came out of there swearing up and down that the two discounted sections were the ones she felt really strong about and felt she did great on, but alas, discounted! UUUGGHH!)
Depends on what your kids are looking for I guess… we found a college, though it’s a christian college that cares more about the GPA… anything over 3.0 you automatically get a Alumni Scholarship… they didn’t take the SAT or ACT’s into account …like most of the others he applied to … son didn’t qualify for their scholarship…
We have been incredibly pleased (so far) with how the process went for 2nd son… but it’s not a KNOWN college that stands out… but for what he wanted to take (Engineering), it has that ABET accreditation …this is what we felt was the most important thing… plus it was very affordable…
I agree with the group saying that test optional schools seem the best bet. See fairtest website.
2collegewego, you mentioned that " For example, in our school system, students in non-honors English and math are unlikely to score above a 550 in any one section of the SAT. Why? Because those courses here are not very rigorous."
Might it be the other way around. That the students who are not as strong in English tend to be placed in the non-honors class and they tend to score low on the SAT because they are not as strong. The SAT isn’t really content oriented. Students with strong aptitude can still do well on the English part of the SAT without taking specific classes. Low scores but high grades does not suggest a disability if there has been no obvious disruption in learning and especially if the scores show no unusual pattern. Apparently this student did poorly across the board. I’m mentioning this because I discourage students from getting tested for disability when there is nothing about their history that suggests a learning disability and if the scores are relatively flat.
Lostaccount, I disagree. The non-honors level of English does not have the same level of vocabulary, literature selections, analysis nor writing as the honors classes. Although the SAT is not closely tied to curriculum, it is influenced by it. A student who is tackling challenging literary books is better prepared than a student who only reads excerpts or easy books.
I think if a student has high grades in a challenging curriculum and low scores on standardized tests, the parents should consider whether they believe the student has a disability.
A lot really depends on what you do outside school. My kids took regular English senior year, but read 50 to 100 novels in their spare time - mostly scif-fi and fantasy which tend to be written with a fairly sophisticated vocabulary. It’s the vocabulary and speed that they developed from years and years for reading that got them the 800 and 790 on the CR portion of the SAT, not what happened in English classes which they despised.
That said, I do know some very smart people who have difficulty with standardized tests. I don’t know if they overthink the questions or just read too slowly, but many do very well in college despite scores that don’t reflect their grades.
TCNJ is an excellent value…that is where my DD’15 is going.
I’d like to add a couple things: Many moons ago I did terribly on the SAT. I ended up graduating Magna Cum Laude and then went on to get a graduate degree. I think I may have been too anxious taking that “all-important” test and froze. Rather than focusing on learning disabilities think about the anxiety angle. When she said she got bored and lost focus it could be her shutting down from the stress of the test. I don’t buy the “I got bored” excuse. I bet she was extremely nervous.
I agree citymama9, I think there is some test anxiety there but I also think it’s a test of endurance and stamina/concentration, not particular strong suits for her. I personally would never think that someone who does poorly on a standardized test has a learning disability (and this is coming from someone with a MA degree who like you, did not score well on standardized tests but was accepted to Northwestern and George Washington for grad school, and has 20 years working in special education with students who have learning disabilities!) For what it’s worth, her second ACT score came yesterday and it came up from a 20 to a 24! We were very pleased! No, it’s not an ivy league score, but she’s not an ivy league student. However, it definitely puts her in a more competitive range with her target schools. Cross your fingers for possibly an even better result on Saturday (3rd SAT!)