Both are very vocal this cycle about what scores should be submitted. This cycle - this fall - both would indicated not to submit this score. It is what it is. Who knows what it will be in a few years. |
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It’s weird to just be “what’s the school my kid can get into with these stats” as if the Top 20 are all the same.
Focus on fit. |
I disagree. T20 schools are actually not that different. Most kids want them bc of the peer group (engaged, ambitious, smart). While Brown and Notre Dame (probably the farthest apart in the T20) are by no means interchangeable, their student bodies probably have more in common than not, and many (though not all) of the students at one would be happier at the other than any state flagship. Unless OP's kid has a specific hook (which OP would have likely disclosed), being strategic about where the kid might get in makes a ton of sense. And it makes sense to manage expectations: an upper middle class kid with a 1490 from the DC area who has no outstanding ECs and doesn't check any boxes for institutional priorities is a long shot at every T20. Some kids with these stats are accepted, but not many. |
| What about top 25? (Not OP) |
| TCU, SMU, Baylor |
ED to Michigan |
| FWIW. My kid had 1490 in spring Junior year. She is top 1% with highest rigor and good ECs at strong private. Her CC told her: 1) Only take SAT one more time then stop and 2) not submit 1490 to Wash U. |
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Do you mean the "top 20 that's really 40 schools long" per this thread:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1300946.page If so, yes, 1480 is fine. It won't get you into all, but it will be high enough for at least 10+ of this top 40/20. |
| It's enough to be in the pile, but the pile is thick and fewer than 10% will get the nod. You won't know unless you apply. |
Yes, do not submit a 1490 (or lower) to Vanderbilt or WashU. Both have explicitly and openly told their counterparts in HS counseling offices this. They don't want that score. |
the major matters here. A kid wanting to study Middle East Studies or something should be fine, assuming all other elements of app are strong. CS and a 1490 not so much. |
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I think we are see the end of the TO phase and are in the "test kind of optional" phase for T20, T50 colleges. Look at UC San Diego and what happens when you disregard a test that is valid predictor of success.
Ironically, Vanderbilt pre-covid had one of the highest average SAT rates. I just wonder if these top colleges are addicted to the increase in applications that they receive. They should be forced to disclose to the applicant/consumer what the acceptance rate of TO students is versus those who submit. |
Historically ND cared a lot about test scores if you’re unhooked. Maybe less so today. They have lots and lots of recruited athletes in many sports and many have test scores below the school’s average and they need the unhooked kids to keep the average up. |
Ugh, this is so incredibly cynical. And so corrosive. Can’t blame the kids for playing the admissions game. Can’t blame the school for playing the rankings game. But what does intellectual integrity look like in a campus community formed via this kind of gamesmanship? |
I have a kid at Vanderbilt who submitted a 1490. |