Very high stats kid - which schools should we be considering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11th grader was planning on attending our good but not great state flagship. Admissions is basically guaranteed, and it's nothing like NoVA kids fighting to get into UVA. We're a donut hole family and would need very generous aid to attend anything else, but...
In the course of 11th, kid got a 224 PSAT NMSF index, meaning they're almost guaranteed to be a NMSF. And they just recently got a 36 on the ACT. They didn't really study for either PSAT or ACT. So, which T20 or T50 schools are likely to give exceptionally generous aid or scholarships to a kid with the following stats:

Planned major: biochemistry
-GPA: 3.98 uw with one A- in 9th grade honors English
-APs: 5s in Calc, Chemistry, US Government, Euro History. 4 in English Lit. Will finish high school with 10 APs and another 5 post-APs.
-NMSF
-ACT 36
-EC: okay, but not related at all to the major. Performance in 3 school plays, with a lead role in 1. DM for school Dungeons and Dragons club. 3 years of mock trial.
-community service: okay, but nothing special.

Kid is perfectly content to do the honors college at the state flagship, but we'd like a few other options on the table. Any suggestions?

Lehigh, Pitt, W&M

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The following may seem crass. I’m sorry.

I think that most people posting missed the part about you having cancer.

Maybe that can actually be a hook and help your DC explain away any weakness in ECs.

What’s your DC’s “story”? DC is helping to take care of Mom.

My guess is that your DC writes well, tha the teachers love your DC, and that your DC may do better at T20 schools with great aid than the jerks here think because your DC is the real thing, not the product of tutoring.

Is this something you made up?

Honest opinions = being a jerk?

It is not crass. It is part of the kid's personal story and narrative. It shaped them into who they are today and will give a full picture to the admissions officers.
My kid, a slightly above average, but not exceptional student, got into a T20 school, incorporating into his essays how his father's chronic condition impacted his life. Not a sob story, just matter of fact telling of how he helped take care of his dad etc... He is a kind, empathetic individual and I believe his teachers' LORs also reflected how they appreciated him.

Except you said kid’s story is helping to care for mom. You made that up. OP never said one word about kid helping mom or mom even needing help.

Having a parent with serious illness is part of the kid’s story! Just read again.
Try being open minded and nice for a change.

Of course it. What you made up was, “DC is helping to take care of mom.” No one said that is part of the story. My spouse had cancer. It was surgery and done. My friend has cancer. It is watch and see. My other friend had thyroid cancer. It was radiation pills (one dosing) and done. You are the one who made up that kid is taking care of mom. No one ever said that occurred.

[Anonymous]

OP - look at a few top schools too.

Dartmouth loves drama club kids with high stats! All the kids we know that got in there had a heavy arts component. Multi-dimensional bc of D-plan.

Listen to Lee Coffin’s (Dartmouth AO /dean) latest podcast.

“Yeah, so if you're a high school junior and just starting to explore college options and then a few months from now, you're gonna have to tell a story about yourself to those colleges. I mean, how do you see the lessons from this drama space informing that exploration now and then the storytelling later?”

——

“Well, and it's such a great parallel to a college application, because the best ones do the same thing you just described that a student on a stage will do. Like you're telling your story, but you're bringing it forward through these different elements and not just letting it lie there as a flat document, but you're giving it some sparkle. Let's help students think about like taking that selfie, like looking at themselves.”

From Admissions Beat: Lessons from the Stage, Apr 15, 2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here once again. My mind is blown that a 99.9th percentile ACT, NMSF, 10+ APs with mostly 5s, and a nearly perfect GPA are a dime a dozen and not something that would interest T20 schools. I guess you learn something every day.

Well, they probably aren't a dime a dozen in Idaho or Wyoming or Montana, but in metro DC (or metro NYC, metro SF, etc), there are many. Sorry to enlighten you to the real world out here.

define "many"? People act like there are thousands of them in this area, there are not. There are only like thousands in the country that have a 1570+ alone, once you start adding in nmsf, ap, etc it whittles down further and further.

In my first kid’s graduating class (2024) in FCPS (Fairfax), there were 264 NMSF students. I assume MCPS, LCPS, PWPS, Arlington and DC schools, etc also have NMSFs. We have a lot of high stats kids in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The following may seem crass. I’m sorry.

I think that most people posting missed the part about you having cancer.

Maybe that can actually be a hook and help your DC explain away any weakness in ECs.

What’s your DC’s “story”? DC is helping to take care of Mom.

My guess is that your DC writes well, tha the teachers love your DC, and that your DC may do better at T20 schools with great aid than the jerks here think because your DC is the real thing, not the product of tutoring.

Is this something you made up?

Honest opinions = being a jerk?

It is not crass. It is part of the kid's personal story and narrative. It shaped them into who they are today and will give a full picture to the admissions officers.
My kid, a slightly above average, but not exceptional student, got into a T20 school, incorporating into his essays how his father's chronic condition impacted his life. Not a sob story, just matter of fact telling of how he helped take care of his dad etc... He is a kind, empathetic individual and I believe his teachers' LORs also reflected how they appreciated him.

Except you said kid’s story is helping to care for mom. You made that up. OP never said one word about kid helping mom or mom even needing help.

Having a parent with serious illness is part of the kid’s story! Just read again.
Try being open minded and nice for a change.

Of course it. What you made up was, “DC is helping to take care of mom.” No one said that is part of the story. My spouse had cancer. It was surgery and done. My friend has cancer. It is watch and see. My other friend had thyroid cancer. It was radiation pills (one dosing) and done. You are the one who made up that kid is taking care of mom. No one ever said that occurred.

OMG! Read again. I was relaying my kid's experience and his taking care of his dad and how this was part of his application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look into schools like Rochester, Case, Emory, Georgia Tech, Pitt

One of this is not like the others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The following may seem crass. I’m sorry.

I think that most people posting missed the part about you having cancer.

Maybe that can actually be a hook and help your DC explain away any weakness in ECs.

What’s your DC’s “story”? DC is helping to take care of Mom.

My guess is that your DC writes well, tha the teachers love your DC, and that your DC may do better at T20 schools with great aid than the jerks here think because your DC is the real thing, not the product of tutoring.

Is this something you made up?

Honest opinions = being a jerk?

It is not crass. It is part of the kid's personal story and narrative. It shaped them into who they are today and will give a full picture to the admissions officers.
My kid, a slightly above average, but not exceptional student, got into a T20 school, incorporating into his essays how his father's chronic condition impacted his life. Not a sob story, just matter of fact telling of how he helped take care of his dad etc... He is a kind, empathetic individual and I believe his teachers' LORs also reflected how they appreciated him.

Except you said kid’s story is helping to care for mom. You made that up. OP never said one word about kid helping mom or mom even needing help.

Having a parent with serious illness is part of the kid’s story! Just read again.
Try being open minded and nice for a change.

Of course it. What you made up was, “DC is helping to take care of mom.” No one said that is part of the story. My spouse had cancer. It was surgery and done. My friend has cancer. It is watch and see. My other friend had thyroid cancer. It was radiation pills (one dosing) and done. You are the one who made up that kid is taking care of mom. No one ever said that occurred.

OMG! Read again. I was relaying my kid's experience and his taking care of his dad and how this was part of his application.

No, you read it again. Here I’ll help:

You: “Maybe that can actually be a hook and help your DC explain away any weakness in ECs. What’s your DC’s “story”? DC is helping to take care of Mom.”

If you were doing what you only now claim, you woukd have said MY kid’s was taking care of DAD.”

Sigh 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11th grader was planning on attending our good but not great state flagship. Admissions is basically guaranteed, and it's nothing like NoVA kids fighting to get into UVA. We're a donut hole family and would need very generous aid to attend anything else, but...
In the course of 11th, kid got a 224 PSAT NMSF index, meaning they're almost guaranteed to be a NMSF. And they just recently got a 36 on the ACT. They didn't really study for either PSAT or ACT. So, which T20 or T50 schools are likely to give exceptionally generous aid or scholarships to a kid with the following stats:

Planned major: biochemistry
-GPA: 3.98 uw with one A- in 9th grade honors English
-APs: 5s in Calc, Chemistry, US Government, Euro History. 4 in English Lit. Will finish high school with 10 APs and another 5 post-APs.
-NMSF
-ACT 36
-EC: okay, but not related at all to the major. Performance in 3 school plays, with a lead role in 1. DM for school Dungeons and Dragons club. 3 years of mock trial.
-community service: okay, but nothing special.

Kid is perfectly content to do the honors college at the state flagship, but we'd like a few other options on the table. Any suggestions?

Ivies and T15 privates, OP. Apply to as many that have a theater/drama scene, which is likely all but MIT and Dartmouth unless that has changed. All will be an excellent academic fit with the majority of (non-athlete) students on par with yours, meaning yours is likely to be "average". Some students cannot deal with that: if so, aim lower like T21-35. Other students truly thrive on the vitality that comes from being surrounded by high-achieving go-getters where it is common to be intense about art or EC and also intense about studying.
Ivy/T15 private will give you the best financial aid, most give some aid for families up to around 250k HHI.
Northwestern, Brown in particular love theater kids though that also means they get a lot of them applying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11th grader was planning on attending our good but not great state flagship. Admissions is basically guaranteed, and it's nothing like NoVA kids fighting to get into UVA. We're a donut hole family and would need very generous aid to attend anything else, but...
In the course of 11th, kid got a 224 PSAT NMSF index, meaning they're almost guaranteed to be a NMSF. And they just recently got a 36 on the ACT. They didn't really study for either PSAT or ACT. So, which T20 or T50 schools are likely to give exceptionally generous aid or scholarships to a kid with the following stats:

Planned major: biochemistry
-GPA: 3.98 uw with one A- in 9th grade honors English
-APs: 5s in Calc, Chemistry, US Government, Euro History. 4 in English Lit. Will finish high school with 10 APs and another 5 post-APs.
-NMSF
-ACT 36
-EC: okay, but not related at all to the major. Performance in 3 school plays, with a lead role in 1. DM for school Dungeons and Dragons club. 3 years of mock trial.
-community service: okay, but nothing special.

Kid is perfectly content to do the honors college at the state flagship, but we'd like a few other options on the table. Any suggestions?

Ivies and T15 privates, OP. Apply to as many that have a theater/drama scene, which is likely all but MIT and Dartmouth unless that has changed. All will be an excellent academic fit with the majority of (non-athlete) students on par with yours, meaning yours is likely to be "average". Some students cannot deal with that: if so, aim lower like T21-35. Other students truly thrive on the vitality that comes from being surrounded by high-achieving go-getters where it is common to be intense about art or EC and also intense about studying.
Ivy/T15 private will give you the best financial aid, most give some aid for families up to around 250k HHI.
Northwestern, Brown in particular love theater kids though that also means they get a lot of them applying.

This is wildly unrealistic. Little to no chance at T25 without more impressive ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11th grader was planning on attending our good but not great state flagship. Admissions is basically guaranteed, and it's nothing like NoVA kids fighting to get into UVA. We're a donut hole family and would need very generous aid to attend anything else, but...
In the course of 11th, kid got a 224 PSAT NMSF index, meaning they're almost guaranteed to be a NMSF. And they just recently got a 36 on the ACT. They didn't really study for either PSAT or ACT. So, which T20 or T50 schools are likely to give exceptionally generous aid or scholarships to a kid with the following stats:

Planned major: biochemistry
-GPA: 3.98 uw with one A- in 9th grade honors English
-APs: 5s in Calc, Chemistry, US Government, Euro History. 4 in English Lit. Will finish high school with 10 APs and another 5 post-APs.
-NMSF
-ACT 36
-EC: okay, but not related at all to the major. Performance in 3 school plays, with a lead role in 1. DM for school Dungeons and Dragons club. 3 years of mock trial.
-community service: okay, but nothing special.

Kid is perfectly content to do the honors college at the state flagship, but we'd like a few other options on the table. Any suggestions?

Ivies and T15 privates, OP. Apply to as many that have a theater/drama scene, which is likely all but MIT and Dartmouth unless that has changed. All will be an excellent academic fit with the majority of (non-athlete) students on par with yours, meaning yours is likely to be "average". Some students cannot deal with that: if so, aim lower like T21-35. Other students truly thrive on the vitality that comes from being surrounded by high-achieving go-getters where it is common to be intense about art or EC and also intense about studying.
Ivy/T15 private will give you the best financial aid, most give some aid for families up to around 250k HHI.
Northwestern, Brown in particular love theater kids though that also means they get a lot of them applying.

This is wildly unrealistic. Little to no chance at T25 without more impressive ECs.

There is no reason whatsoever that OP's kid shouldn't apply to T25.

Please. You all would laugh at my kid's ECs. He's at a T10. It is not about DCUM "impressiveness."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11th grader was planning on attending our good but not great state flagship. Admissions is basically guaranteed, and it's nothing like NoVA kids fighting to get into UVA. We're a donut hole family and would need very generous aid to attend anything else, but...
In the course of 11th, kid got a 224 PSAT NMSF index, meaning they're almost guaranteed to be a NMSF. And they just recently got a 36 on the ACT. They didn't really study for either PSAT or ACT. So, which T20 or T50 schools are likely to give exceptionally generous aid or scholarships to a kid with the following stats:

Planned major: biochemistry
-GPA: 3.98 uw with one A- in 9th grade honors English
-APs: 5s in Calc, Chemistry, US Government, Euro History. 4 in English Lit. Will finish high school with 10 APs and another 5 post-APs.
-NMSF
-ACT 36
-EC: okay, but not related at all to the major. Performance in 3 school plays, with a lead role in 1. DM for school Dungeons and Dragons club. 3 years of mock trial.
-community service: okay, but nothing special.

Kid is perfectly content to do the honors college at the state flagship, but we'd like a few other options on the table. Any suggestions?

Ivies and T15 privates, OP. Apply to as many that have a theater/drama scene, which is likely all but MIT and Dartmouth unless that has changed. All will be an excellent academic fit with the majority of (non-athlete) students on par with yours, meaning yours is likely to be "average". Some students cannot deal with that: if so, aim lower like T21-35. Other students truly thrive on the vitality that comes from being surrounded by high-achieving go-getters where it is common to be intense about art or EC and also intense about studying.
Ivy/T15 private will give you the best financial aid, most give some aid for families up to around 250k HHI.
Northwestern, Brown in particular love theater kids though that also means they get a lot of them applying.

This is wildly unrealistic. Little to no chance at T25 without more impressive ECs.

There is no reason whatsoever that OP's kid shouldn't apply to T25.

Please. You all would laugh at my kid's ECs. He's at a T10. It is not about DCUM "impressiveness."

Agree. Mine too.

[Anonymous]

I’ve found that JHU seems more lenient on ECs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11th grader was planning on attending our good but not great state flagship. Admissions is basically guaranteed, and it's nothing like NoVA kids fighting to get into UVA. We're a donut hole family and would need very generous aid to attend anything else, but...
In the course of 11th, kid got a 224 PSAT NMSF index, meaning they're almost guaranteed to be a NMSF. And they just recently got a 36 on the ACT. They didn't really study for either PSAT or ACT. So, which T20 or T50 schools are likely to give exceptionally generous aid or scholarships to a kid with the following stats:

Planned major: biochemistry
-GPA: 3.98 uw with one A- in 9th grade honors English
-APs: 5s in Calc, Chemistry, US Government, Euro History. 4 in English Lit. Will finish high school with 10 APs and another 5 post-APs.
-NMSF
-ACT 36
-EC: okay, but not related at all to the major. Performance in 3 school plays, with a lead role in 1. DM for school Dungeons and Dragons club. 3 years of mock trial.
-community service: okay, but nothing special.

Kid is perfectly content to do the honors college at the state flagship, but we'd like a few other options on the table. Any suggestions?

Ivies and T15 privates, OP. Apply to as many that have a theater/drama scene, which is likely all but MIT and Dartmouth unless that has changed. All will be an excellent academic fit with the majority of (non-athlete) students on par with yours, meaning yours is likely to be "average". Some students cannot deal with that: if so, aim lower like T21-35. Other students truly thrive on the vitality that comes from being surrounded by high-achieving go-getters where it is common to be intense about art or EC and also intense about studying.
Ivy/T15 private will give you the best financial aid, most give some aid for families up to around 250k HHI.
Northwestern, Brown in particular love theater kids though that also means they get a lot of them applying.

This is wildly unrealistic. Little to no chance at T25 without more impressive ECs.

There is no reason whatsoever that OP's kid shouldn't apply to T25.

Please. You all would laugh at my kid's ECs. He's at a T10. It is not about DCUM "impressiveness."

But OP is not going to pay more than $30,000 per year. What is the point of applying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11th grader was planning on attending our good but not great state flagship. Admissions is basically guaranteed, and it's nothing like NoVA kids fighting to get into UVA. We're a donut hole family and would need very generous aid to attend anything else, but...
In the course of 11th, kid got a 224 PSAT NMSF index, meaning they're almost guaranteed to be a NMSF. And they just recently got a 36 on the ACT. They didn't really study for either PSAT or ACT. So, which T20 or T50 schools are likely to give exceptionally generous aid or scholarships to a kid with the following stats:

Planned major: biochemistry
-GPA: 3.98 uw with one A- in 9th grade honors English
-APs: 5s in Calc, Chemistry, US Government, Euro History. 4 in English Lit. Will finish high school with 10 APs and another 5 post-APs.
-NMSF
-ACT 36
-EC: okay, but not related at all to the major. Performance in 3 school plays, with a lead role in 1. DM for school Dungeons and Dragons club. 3 years of mock trial.
-community service: okay, but nothing special.

Kid is perfectly content to do the honors college at the state flagship, but we'd like a few other options on the table. Any suggestions?

Ivies and T15 privates, OP. Apply to as many that have a theater/drama scene, which is likely all but MIT and Dartmouth unless that has changed. All will be an excellent academic fit with the majority of (non-athlete) students on par with yours, meaning yours is likely to be "average". Some students cannot deal with that: if so, aim lower like T21-35. Other students truly thrive on the vitality that comes from being surrounded by high-achieving go-getters where it is common to be intense about art or EC and also intense about studying.
Ivy/T15 private will give you the best financial aid, most give some aid for families up to around 250k HHI.
Northwestern, Brown in particular love theater kids though that also means they get a lot of them applying.

This is wildly unrealistic. Little to no chance at T25 without more impressive ECs.

There is no reason whatsoever that OP's kid shouldn't apply to T25.

Please. You all would laugh at my kid's ECs. He's at a T10. It is not about DCUM "impressiveness."

But OP is not going to pay more than $30,000 per year. What is the point of applying?

First, OP needs to use specific college Net Price Calculators before deciding whether top schools are affordable or not. OP's income level is low enough that I think the aid will vary school to school.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you are at a BASIS or another high performing charter school in Arizona. If you really want your kid to go to a top 20 college the fact that he or she is in a school where 25 percent of students are NMSF is the biggest issue. The the best thing you could do is have him move schools and do senior year a non magnet, non high performing, high poverty school. Maybe that is your neighborhood school.

The next issue is he is the oldest sibling and you only make 150K. Fafsa has eliminated the sibling discount so it is rough out there for middle class families with multiple kids. Full pay is definitely a hook. Look at mid tier school for a full ride with those scores.