<p>So my SATs are low for Tufts.
M: 580 CR: 660 W: 650</p>
<p>However, i'm currently valedictorian.</p>
<p>I have pretty strong ECs, and included a little "package" with my application on a public service announcement I directed and filmed (and won a state-wide award for), as well as a newspaper article all about it.</p>
<p>Will my scores take me out of the running for Tufts? (It's my first-choice!) Help! :(</p>
<p>I understand your panic, worry, obsession. I even appreciate it. Still, there is absolutely nothing you can do about what you’ve sent in, how your scores were on a test or anything else. I suppose your test scores are a little low, but for what reason can be a mitigating factor or you just didnt do as well as your scores. Bottom line, it doesnt matter one wit what anyone thinks of your chances. You took a risk, you went for what you wanted and hopefully did so with some confidence. So good luck to you!</p>
<p>No joke, you and I are probably twins. I too have low SAT/ACT - similar to yours - and have a high class rank and have applied to Tufts because it’s my first choice. I’m praying that Tufts is more open-minded with admissions decisions because we are still fierce students despite slightly lower test scores! Good luck to you!</p>
<p>I’d rather be in your shoes than mine. I’m high test scores/low GPA. It’s easier to retake an SAT than it is to retake a GPA, heh.</p>
<p>Depends on host of factors: school, essays, individual background, quality of ECs, community service leadership etc…</p>
<p>Here’s a question though:</p>
<p>On the TAMS website there was a contact name and number/email for the Alumni Rep for the area with the notation to contact her if you hadn’t heard from her/or alumni interviewer in four weeks (from time of posting). Son wrote to her and she said assignments were made and she would contact that alumni to get a “status update.”</p>
<p>Question is: Do you think Tufts tells alumni interviewers to not bother if students are already in the discard pile and wont make it the admission’s table?</p>
<p>Modadunn-
If it was already assigned to an alumni interviewer, s/he would not yet know whether the applicant had been rejected.</p>
<p>Modadunn,</p>
<p>We alumni interviewers find out whether our applicants are admitted, denied, or waitlisted at the same time that they do. We receive almost no information about them beforehand beyond their names, contact info, and high school. </p>
<p>Sadly, there simply aren’t enough volunteers to interview everyone. Some kids don’t even get assigned. Your son was assigned, but the interviewer may be traveling, giving birth, or attending to a sick parent or child. Or simply running late. </p>
<p>The deadline for interview reports is March 1, so keep that in mind if he’s planning on contacting the chair again.</p>
<p>Best of luck, we on CC are routing for him and you.</p>
<p>jeremysjustfine, the SATs are just a fraction of what the admissions people consider…they don’t ultimately define who you are. I got in with pretty dismal SAT scores. If you are strong in every other aspect, don’t sweat it. Be happy you’ve survived the infamous College Application Process! You’re almost there! :)</p>
<p>I dunnnnnnooooo… “dismal” on collegeconfidential can take on a strange definition. ;)</p>
<p>I appreciate the response. It does make me feel a little better. My dilemma has been a couple-fold (rather than two fold :). I have tried to raise my son to go after what he wants while ALSO being hugely respectful of people’s time and efforts on his behalf. He has manners, stands up when adults enter the room when introduced, looks people in the eye and writes thank you notes. But this process has been brutal for him. His GC and us (parents) encourage him to follow up (not just with Tufts, but with other schools as well) when it is appropriate (and when it expressly says he should) but it just seems that every time he does it, it doesn’t work the way it should or what have you. So, when it’s suggested he follow up (and most recently this includes a possible internship for senior program at his school), he’s extremely gun shy in that he’ll be rebuffed again. He says, I sent the email so if I don’t hear back once I inquire, then I am not asking again. We try to tell him to not take it personally because these people are so busy, but even my husband – who could care less if he is rebuffed - understands why he feels that way. I know people are busy,and I am sure it’s not personal, but it surely does feel that way, especially to a reasonably shy kid of 18. It ****es me off that when a kid like him puts himself out there that 99% of the time has not been a positive experience. Seriously, I am thinking I should get him on a therapist’s waiting list before decisions come out!!</p>
<p>Modadunn, what you describe seems to me to be one of several norms. A lot of kids take the one step and then figure they’ve “done what they could” and go no further. </p>
<p>Here’s another (rarer) norm–a kid calls, emails, seems to be freaking out because he needs an interview. So, we make room. And then it turns out that he doesn’t really have anything to add to his application; in fact he’d prefer to be at swimming practice.</p>
<p>And maybe surprisingly to you, most kids don’t even take that one step.</p>
<p>In your son’s case, it’s sounding like (1) he won’t be contacted by his assigned interviewer, and (2) he might have something more or different from his written application that he’d hoped to convey during the interview. If that’s the case, I suggest that he write the committee chair again, mentioning the things he’d hoped to convey and asking whether it could be noted on the interview report form. If what he has to say is really new and different, he might consider copying his admissions officer on that email. </p>
<p>Once more time–good luck. He (and you) will survive past April…</p>
<p>I think you are right, Seashore. I don’t think he had could really have added more to his application than what was sent in originally and then again with his midterm report, which actually his AP Bio teacher wrote a short ltr of recommendation since his other two were English and Social Studies. The way I figure it, he has created a solid academic resume and has some great dedication to the school on a number of levels over the past four years. He has truly proven himself a positive leader. </p>
<p>This said, it wasn’t just the interview and certainly not specific to Tufts; it’s been a culmination of things. But absolutely right again, he’d probably prefer to be running or working out getting his team ready for lacrosse season than fretting over an interview that he’d probably have little to add beyond what he did last week! 
</p>
<p>And too… I think I just come here to vent the stress a little because I surely don’t dare show it around here! I am just trying to be that supportive parent who is confident that their kid is going to get into a dream school. Whether that’s Tufts or another school on his list, I think what we hope for most is either that winning ticket or at least the invitation to two or more parties so you ultimately feel the choice was theirs.</p>
<p>Surviving past April isn’t really the problem. It’s surviving UNTIL April that’s causing me issue these days.</p>
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<p>Dismal as in my scores in all sections were below 600 dismal. :P</p>
<p>kjcastillo1990, I have a feeling that there’s an inspiring story hiding behind those SAT scores!</p>
<p>hahahah seashore, it depends on what story you’d like to hear.</p>
<p>The first time I took them, I almost took them with a No. 3 pencil.</p>
<p>The second time I took them, I was running a fever and a sardine can fell on my foot.</p>
<p>I am a really, really bad test taker…and I have a really bad attention span.</p>
<p>But really, SAT scores don’t necessarily mean who you are or how smart you are…they may show that you’re a really good test taker and critical thinker, but they don’t show the richer side of you.</p>
<p>I wasn’t the smartest person in my school…I didn’t take all the AP exams, and I wasn’t the President of the Student Council or the star athlete…I was me. I know that sounds cheesy, but I gave them a glimpse of who I was by what I really cared about, and what I was passionate about. Admissions officers can tell who is really genuine and passionate about what they are doing, apart from those who are just polishing their perfect record.</p>
<p>How did you almost take the SAT’s with a number 3 pencil? I haven’t even HEARD of a #3 pencil…</p>
<p>There are pencils ranging from #1-6; the higher the number, the darker the pencil. It’s generally (almost exclusively) used for sketching.</p>
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<p>That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking! I honestly didn’t know how I got a hold of a number 3 pencil in the first place…talk about a nightmare come true haha</p>
<p>Jeremy: It’s always the same song: schools look at you as a whole. If you have a strong, solid case you should be fine! GL!</p>