SAT Scores

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you should look on this thread instead for recs of schools she could have a realistic shot at: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1132987.page

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing about super high SAT scores. When I was in school in the late 90s a food score was over 1200 and anything over 1400 was very high. Now it seems like 1200 is typical. I had a 3.2 unweighted GPA (40th percentile of class), no APs, and a 1240 SAT score and I got easily into every school I applied and offered merit scholarships at some of them. I only applied where I thought I’d get in. The programs were equal to VA Tech, where I was accepted for Mechanical Engineering but went to another school.

My daughter is a sophomore and has a 4.7 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted), no APs, hasn’t taken the SAT yet. I feel like she’s far better positioned than I was, but realize it’s harder right now to get into many programs. What score would she need to get into UMCP or VA Tech for engineering?

She's not getting into either of those schools for engineering with no APs.

She’s a sophomore. With a 4.7 weighted, surely she’s on track for APs.

She is pretty significantly learning disabled. APs are unsupported classes so she opts to not take them. Her GPA is higher than most kids who are in them. She works very hard. Lots of extracurricular activities.

Engineering is likely not a good fit as a major, and especially not at a large state flagship.

I have a degree in computer science and have worked with engineers as my user base and coworkers for most of my career. She’s very well suited to it. She’s also going to be taking a 2 year part-time engineering program through MCPS her junior and senior year and took Engineering already in high school and was regularly asked by her teacher to help other students. I know what is good for her. I am not asking if that’s a good choice of career. I am only asking about SAT scores. You should know that many many engineers are learning disabled.

She isn’t getting into top engineering schools without AP classes.

VATech is not a top tier school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you should look on this thread instead for recs of schools she could have a realistic shot at: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1132987.page

Thank you for being actually helpful.

She’s interested in RPI and it’s on that thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you should look on this thread instead for recs of schools she could have a realistic shot at: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1132987.page

Thank you for being actually helpful.

She’s interested in RPI and it’s on that thread.

AND JMU! Great, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have renormed scores. My student had a 1490, which include a near perfect verbal score. That was 98th percentile and not even in the ballpark for top 10 schools.

But percentiles are percentiles regardless of norming. Top 2% used to be high enough for top schools, but a lot more kids are applying to a lot more schools and scores aren't as important as they used to be.

There are 2.7 million more students applying to colleges than there were in the late 90s. That is 54,000 more kids in the top 2%. And, needles to say, they have not added 54,000 seats to the top schools.

[Anonymous]

But Ivys and top schools routinely reject those with the perfect score of 1600. Among over 2 million test takers, only about 300 get 1600 in a given year. That’s about as rare as Regeneron semifinalists or USAMO campers. But students who make Regeneron semifinalists or USAMO camp are almost guaranteed admission, but students with perfect SAT scores are not. It’s a travesty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have renormed scores. My student had a 1490, which include a near perfect verbal score. That was 98th percentile and not even in the ballpark for top 10 schools.

Test optional

Crazy. With a 1490. Just sad

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing about super high SAT scores. When I was in school in the late 90s a food score was over 1200 and anything over 1400 was very high. Now it seems like 1200 is typical. I had a 3.2 unweighted GPA (40th percentile of class), no APs, and a 1240 SAT score and I got easily into every school I applied and offered merit scholarships at some of them. I only applied where I thought I’d get in. The programs were equal to VA Tech, where I was accepted for Mechanical Engineering but went to another school.

My daughter is a sophomore and has a 4.7 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted), no APs, hasn’t taken the SAT yet. I feel like she’s far better positioned than I was, but realize it’s harder right now to get into many programs. What score would she need to get into UMCP or VA Tech for engineering?

She's not getting into either of those schools for engineering with no APs.

She’s a sophomore. With a 4.7 weighted, surely she’s on track for APs.

She is pretty significantly learning disabled. APs are unsupported classes so she opts to not take them. Her GPA is higher than most kids who are in them. She works very hard. Lots of extracurricular activities.

Engineering is likely not a good fit as a major, and especially not at a large state flagship.

I have a degree in computer science and have worked with engineers as my user base and coworkers for most of my career. She’s very well suited to it. She’s also going to be taking a 2 year part-time engineering program through MCPS her junior and senior year and took Engineering already in high school and was regularly asked by her teacher to help other students. I know what is good for her. I am not asking if that’s a good choice of career. I am only asking about SAT scores. You should know that many many engineers are learning disabled.

She isn’t getting into top engineering schools without AP classes.

VATech is not a top tier school.

It’s ranked 16th in the country for undergraduate engineering. So in that discipline, it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing about super high SAT scores. When I was in school in the late 90s a food score was over 1200 and anything over 1400 was very high. Now it seems like 1200 is typical. I had a 3.2 unweighted GPA (40th percentile of class), no APs, and a 1240 SAT score and I got easily into every school I applied and offered merit scholarships at some of them. I only applied where I thought I’d get in. The programs were equal to VA Tech, where I was accepted for Mechanical Engineering but went to another school.

My daughter is a sophomore and has a 4.7 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted), no APs, hasn’t taken the SAT yet. I feel like she’s far better positioned than I was, but realize it’s harder right now to get into many programs. What score would she need to get into UMCP or VA Tech for engineering?

She's not getting into either of those schools for engineering with no APs.

She’s a sophomore. With a 4.7 weighted, surely she’s on track for APs.

She is pretty significantly learning disabled. APs are unsupported classes so she opts to not take them. Her GPA is higher than most kids who are in them. She works very hard. Lots of extracurricular activities.

Engineering is likely not a good fit as a major, and especially not at a large state flagship.

I have a degree in computer science and have worked with engineers as my user base and coworkers for most of my career. She’s very well suited to it. She’s also going to be taking a 2 year part-time engineering program through MCPS her junior and senior year and took Engineering already in high school and was regularly asked by her teacher to help other students. I know what is good for her. I am not asking if that’s a good choice of career. I am only asking about SAT scores. You should know that many many engineers are learning disabled.

She isn’t getting into top engineering schools without AP classes.

VATech is not a top tier school.

It’s ranked 16th in the country for undergraduate engineering. So in that discipline, it is.

It’s a good school, but no one considers it when you say “Top School”. Again. I worked 20 years in this field. UMCP maybe. Not VA Tech. It’s a great program and very well respected but it’s not top tier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing about super high SAT scores. When I was in school in the late 90s a food score was over 1200 and anything over 1400 was very high. Now it seems like 1200 is typical. I had a 3.2 unweighted GPA (40th percentile of class), no APs, and a 1240 SAT score and I got easily into every school I applied and offered merit scholarships at some of them. I only applied where I thought I’d get in. The programs were equal to VA Tech, where I was accepted for Mechanical Engineering but went to another school.

My daughter is a sophomore and has a 4.7 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted), no APs, hasn’t taken the SAT yet. I feel like she’s far better positioned than I was, but realize it’s harder right now to get into many programs. What score would she need to get into UMCP or VA Tech for engineering?

Those schools want to see, if your school offers them, at least AP Calc BC (preferably post AP math), AP Physics C & AP Chem by 12th grade at minimum for direct admit to engineering.

Most kids getting into engineering for freshman year at VT or UMCP nowadays have 1500+ SAt, those courses at absolute minimum and “most rigorous courseload” designation from their high school counselor.

This is not true. You don't need a 1500 to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing about super high SAT scores. When I was in school in the late 90s a food score was over 1200 and anything over 1400 was very high. Now it seems like 1200 is typical. I had a 3.2 unweighted GPA (40th percentile of class), no APs, and a 1240 SAT score and I got easily into every school I applied and offered merit scholarships at some of them. I only applied where I thought I’d get in. The programs were equal to VA Tech, where I was accepted for Mechanical Engineering but went to another school.

My daughter is a sophomore and has a 4.7 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted), no APs, hasn’t taken the SAT yet. I feel like she’s far better positioned than I was, but realize it’s harder right now to get into many programs. What score would she need to get into UMCP or VA Tech for engineering?

She's not getting into either of those schools for engineering with no APs.

She’s a sophomore. With a 4.7 weighted, surely she’s on track for APs.

She is pretty significantly learning disabled. APs are unsupported classes so she opts to not take them. Her GPA is higher than most kids who are in them. She works very hard. Lots of extracurricular activities.

Engineering is likely not a good fit as a major, and especially not at a large state flagship.

I have a degree in computer science and have worked with engineers as my user base and coworkers for most of my career. She’s very well suited to it. She’s also going to be taking a 2 year part-time engineering program through MCPS her junior and senior year and took Engineering already in high school and was regularly asked by her teacher to help other students. I know what is good for her. I am not asking if that’s a good choice of career. I am only asking about SAT scores. You should know that many many engineers are learning disabled.

She isn’t getting into top engineering schools without AP classes.

VATech is not a top tier school.

It’s ranked 16th in the country for undergraduate engineering. So in that discipline, it is.

It’s a good school, but no one considers it when you say “Top School”. Again. I worked 20 years in this field. UMCP maybe. Not VA Tech. It’s a great program and very well respected but it’s not top tier.

Point is that it’s selective & you need STEM AP classes with As to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing about super high SAT scores. When I was in school in the late 90s a food score was over 1200 and anything over 1400 was very high. Now it seems like 1200 is typical. I had a 3.2 unweighted GPA (40th percentile of class), no APs, and a 1240 SAT score and I got easily into every school I applied and offered merit scholarships at some of them. I only applied where I thought I’d get in. The programs were equal to VA Tech, where I was accepted for Mechanical Engineering but went to another school.

My daughter is a sophomore and has a 4.7 weighted GPA (4.0 unweighted), no APs, hasn’t taken the SAT yet. I feel like she’s far better positioned than I was, but realize it’s harder right now to get into many programs. What score would she need to get into UMCP or VA Tech for engineering?

She's not getting into either of those schools for engineering with no APs.

She’s a sophomore. With a 4.7 weighted, surely she’s on track for APs.

She is pretty significantly learning disabled. APs are unsupported classes so she opts to not take them. Her GPA is higher than most kids who are in them. She works very hard. Lots of extracurricular activities.

Engineering is likely not a good fit as a major, and especially not at a large state flagship.

I have a degree in computer science and have worked with engineers as my user base and coworkers for most of my career. She’s very well suited to it. She’s also going to be taking a 2 year part-time engineering program through MCPS her junior and senior year and took Engineering already in high school and was regularly asked by her teacher to help other students. I know what is good for her. I am not asking if that’s a good choice of career. I am only asking about SAT scores. You should know that many many engineers are learning disabled.

She isn’t getting into top engineering schools without AP classes.

VATech is not a top tier school.

It’s ranked 16th in the country for undergraduate engineering. So in that discipline, it is.

It’s a good school, but no one considers it when you say “Top School”. Again. I worked 20 years in this field. UMCP maybe. Not VA Tech. It’s a great program and very well respected but it’s not top tier.

Point is that it’s selective & you need STEM AP classes with As to get in.

Well, she will apply and I’ll just tell her not to get her hopes up. I had thought VATech may be easier to get in than UMCP but knew it would be more difficult than some other schools she’s interested in applying. She wants to apply to GATech and I think that’s just not a realistic possibility but she wants to anyway. I’m hoping the engineering program will help since she will be able to show aptitude in the field in a way that APs don’t measure. She probably prefers JMU or RPI anyway, so maybe it doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But Ivys and top schools routinely reject those with the perfect score of 1600. Among over 2 million test takers, only about 300 get 1600 in a given year. That’s about as rare as Regeneron semifinalists or USAMO campers. But students who make Regeneron semifinalists or USAMO camp are almost guaranteed admission, but students with perfect SAT scores are not. It’s a travesty.

Not really, because doing perfect on a test that tops out on HS geometry and HS verbal skills just isn't as important to merit as other things. A threshold is enough.

[Anonymous]

For Purdue engineering, per their webpage, the average ACT was 32 and the average SAT was 1444 for the Fall 2022 class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For Purdue engineering, per their webpage, the average ACT was 32 and the average SAT was 1444 for the Fall 2022 class.

I posted the above. I also meant to mention that your daughter may be more competitive at a school away from this area. The competition here in the DMV is very tough and aggressive, and colleges only take a few kids from each school for each program.