3.65 unweighted GPA and a 1580 SAT from a BIG 3 - What should realistically be on the list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he or she going to the one match he or she got in to?

Yes. Waiting on one WL which will likely be accepted if it comes through.

[Anonymous]

I have to say the responses from many posters on this thread are bizarre and indicative of either poor reading comprehension and/or plain old mean-spiritedness.

That said, my oldest graduated 2 years ago from a Big 3 with similar stats and was accepted EA at a USNWR top 5; then applied RD to two other schools, a top 10 USNWR university and a top 5 USNWR LAC. DC chose the third option and is very happy.

No hooks, but tipping factors for DC were:

courseload included most rigorous STEM courses offered by DC's school with A's in those courses;

upward trend in GPA after 9th grade;

excellent recommendations (as in, teachers offered to write DC's recommendations and college counselor told us they were among the best in the class);

excellent essay (again, per counselor and per admissions officer at 1 of the schools admitted);

national prize winner in STEM competition;

not a lot of ECs, but a three-season athlete and team captain (though not a recruited athlete);

community service in a particular area with hours well beyond the school requirement;

DC is personable and interviews well; also made an effort to seek out regional admissions rep at events here in DMV;

plain old good luck.

Oh, just want to add that Naviance is pretty inconclusive -- and thus, useless -- for smaller schools.

HTH. Good luck, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard from one admissions person (not an elite school) that they are very cautious with kids who have strong test scores but lower grades. She said it means the kid can do better than they are. She said they try to find out what is holding the kid back (lack of motivation? effort? distractions?) I am not accusing your child of any of those things. Just saying this person said they considered that combination riskier than the alternative (i.e. high grades, low test scores). Because the latter kids has figured out some formula for succeeding academically.

I thought this kid was in the top 25% of his/her private school class. And the top 15% are probably going to Ivies, so this is just a notch below. Seems like this is hardly cause for concern and colleges should be familiar with the grading profile of the Big 3 schools.

OP you just need to listen to the college counselor.

I like this approach. Figure out his class rank or infer it. Take all of the matriculations from the past few years. Rank order them (use USNWR for simplicity). Take the schools that bracket his rank. That would be a conservative list, with the strong SAT for the rank.

That works to a point, but it doesn't account for the fact that some (maybe half?) of the top 15% or top 25% in admissions are kids with hooks--athletes, URMS or legacies. So the top x% in admissions does not necessarily correspond with the x% of kids in terms of GPA and test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to say the responses from many posters on this thread are bizarre and indicative of either poor reading comprehension and/or plain old mean-spiritedness.

That said, my oldest graduated 2 years ago from a Big 3 with similar stats and was accepted EA at a USNWR top 5; then applied RD to two other schools, a top 10 USNWR university and a top 5 USNWR LAC. DC chose the third option and is very happy.

No hooks, but tipping factors for DC were:

courseload included most rigorous STEM courses offered by DC's school with A's in those courses;

upward trend in GPA after 9th grade;

excellent recommendations (as in, teachers offered to write DC's recommendations and college counselor told us they were among the best in the class);

excellent essay (again, per counselor and per admissions officer at 1 of the schools admitted);

national prize winner in STEM competition;

not a lot of ECs, but a three-season athlete and team captain (though not a recruited athlete);

community service in a particular area with hours well beyond the school requirement;

DC is personable and interviews well; also made an effort to seek out regional admissions rep at events here in DMV;

plain old good luck.

Oh, just want to add that Naviance is pretty inconclusive -- and thus, useless -- for smaller schools.

HTH. Good luck, OP.

That made the difference.