33 ACT success stories and top 20 schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have lost our effing minds

Agree.

Ok but last year’s incoming class at UVA a 35 at the 75th percentile (meaning 25 percent were higher) a 34 at the median and a 33 for the bottom 25th percentile of the class. It is what it is.

DS applied with a 34 and retested to a 36. Also top student in high school and national ECs but white male. He went to UVA

Deferred at SCEA at Princeton, then waitlisted. Got into Purdue and GA Tech during SCEA (also got in rolling for Pitt), all for aerospace engineering.Did not get into any other Ivies via RD. Same happened to his friends. Everything happened at the SCEA/REA, ED and EA level

How many didn’t submit scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Scores are not getting your kid into any school. They can keep you from getting into the reject pile. My kid had a 33 and was rejected last year at Boulder, Auburn, Wisconsin and Florida. At a no-AP, tough grading local private (big3). 3.4 GPA

That’s because according to what I see on naviance you need above a 33 to get in with that gpa. Those schools are numbers dependent so a 3.4 is low for them. I would think a school that does a deeper dive and knows private schools would have been easier. U Chicago for example

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Scores are not getting your kid into any school. They can keep you from getting into the reject pile. My kid had a 33 and was rejected last year at Boulder, Auburn, Wisconsin and Florida. At a no-AP, tough grading local private (big3). 3.4 GPA

Don't count your chickens...

My kid had a 3.8 UW GPA and a 35 ACT score first sitting. Rejected from many schools. Most rejections were from big state schools.

Overall, don't get into the "top 20" or bust scene. My kid has met so many new friends in a big state school and is loving it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scores are not getting your kid into any school. They can keep you from getting into the reject pile. My kid had a 33 and was rejected last year at Boulder, Auburn, Wisconsin and Florida. At a no-AP, tough grading local private (big3). 3.4 GPA

Don't count your chickens...

My kid had a 3.8 UW GPA and a 35 ACT score first sitting. Rejected from many schools. Most rejections were from big state schools.

Overall, don't get into the "top 20" or bust scene. My kid has met so many new friends in a big state school and is loving it.

If a top 10 school, you need something “special” or different to stand out. Scores and gpa not enough for those schools. What’s the story or sound bite?

For the big state schools, score was likely too high.
They were yield protecting….Should have just gone TO for state schools…

[Anonymous]

Generally need a hook w/that score.

If no hook, aim lower: Emory or WashU

[Anonymous]

33 ACT usually gets past the “threshold” at certain schools (Northwestern/ Vanderbilt/ Penn).

I do think the threshold is higher, at 34 for certain other schools (Ivies and Duke and Stanford).

The big question is, do they ever go back and look at the scores after meeting the “threshold”.

I think it most schools the answer is no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:33 ACT usually gets past the “threshold” at certain schools (Northwestern/ Vanderbilt/ Penn).

I do think the threshold is higher, at 34 for certain other schools (Ivies and Duke and Stanford).

The big question is, do they ever go back and look at the scores after meeting the “threshold”.

I think it most schools the answer is no.

And so does that mean if you were below the threshold number at a certain school, it doesn’t make sense to apply if without a hook?
Or going Test optional with a 33?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have lost our effing minds

Agree.

I mean…what other option is there?
Admissions process makes it feel like it’s literally not possible to simply be an excellent student and get admitted anywhere anymore.
Now you must have the perfect score or don’t bother! At least—that’s the message we’re getting from Admissions Officers!!
I don’t think we lost our minds. I think we are being pushed over the edge!

No true. Just apply test optional.
Think that’s a viable strategy still for certain kids.

[Anonymous]

Curious if anyone has more recent success stories with this score (33) and T25 schools/T10 SLACs.

With this score, would you apply test optional to a school like WashU or Vanderbilt or Emory for ED1 or ED2?

[Anonymous]

Scores like ACT 33 or SAT (between 1450-1490) is really tough. While they will definitely help you get into schools outside of the top 30 (and get excellent merit at some of these schools), they are "maybe" scores for the schools in the top 30 - in that they don't really hurt you, but don't really help you. Unfortunately, the kids with these types of scores of the ones who really got screwed the most by test optional policies. Overall, these scores will put your kid within the realm of possibly getting admitted to a top 30 school, but won't help as much as they once did prior to test optional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have lost our effing minds

Agree.

Ok but last year’s incoming class at UVA a 35 at the 75th percentile (meaning 25 percent were higher) a 34 at the median and a 33 for the bottom 25th percentile of the class. It is what it is.

DS applied with a 34 and retested to a 36. Also top student in high school and national ECs but white male. He went to UVA

Deferred at SCEA at Princeton, then waitlisted. Got into Purdue and GA Tech during SCEA (also got in rolling for Pitt), all for aerospace engineering.Did not get into any other Ivies via RD. Same happened to his friends. Everything happened at the SCEA/REA, ED and EA level

How many didn’t submit scores?

Only 5579 people got a 36 score from over in the entire country so I doubt they all are going to UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have lost our effing minds

Agree.

Ok but last year’s incoming class at UVA a 35 at the 75th percentile (meaning 25 percent were higher) a 34 at the median and a 33 for the bottom 25th percentile of the class. It is what it is.

DS applied with a 34 and retested to a 36. Also top student in high school and national ECs but white male. He went to UVA

Deferred at SCEA at Princeton, then waitlisted. Got into Purdue and GA Tech during SCEA (also got in rolling for Pitt), all for aerospace engineering.Did not get into any other Ivies via RD. Same happened to his friends. Everything happened at the SCEA/REA, ED and EA level

Being a white male did not prevent him from these admits. Honestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck. My kid didn’t get into a top 20 and I haven’t had a good nights sleep since. It’s so embarrassing.

NP. Please say this is sarcasm. Otherwise, it's insane, and insanely entitlted, to be so invested in any magical list of what's "top" anything. If your kid got into a school that teaches the major subject he or she wants, and is happy living there for four years, that's great. If you're truly this stressed over a choice that's already made, is over and done--you need to suck it up and demonstrate to your kid how to be enthusiastic and embrace where they're actually going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have lost our effing minds

Agree.

Ok but last year’s incoming class at UVA a 35 at the 75th percentile (meaning 25 percent were higher) a 34 at the median and a 33 for the bottom 25th percentile of the class. It is what it is.

DS applied with a 34 and retested to a 36. Also top student in high school and national ECs but white male. He went to UVA

Deferred at SCEA at Princeton, then waitlisted. Got into Purdue and GA Tech during SCEA (also got in rolling for Pitt), all for aerospace engineering.Did not get into any other Ivies via RD. Same happened to his friends. Everything happened at the SCEA/REA, ED and EA level

Being a white male did not prevent him from these admits. Honestly.

Thank you. My black female also had a 34 and got rejected from UVA. It wasn’t because he was white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious if anyone has more recent success stories with this score (33) and T25 schools/T10 SLACs.

With this score, would you apply test optional to a school like WashU or Vanderbilt or Emory for ED1 or ED2?

So: Does WashU or Vanderbilt or Emory have the courses your student wants?
The majors?
Would your kid thrive in that environment?
What's the student-to-professor ratio in the classes your student would most desire?
What are the opportunities like for internships or campus jobs or fellowships or publishing, in your kid's area of interest?
In other words -- are you just tossing out "prestigious" schools or has your kid identified schools based on research into schools' academics, majors, size, "fit," etc.?

The obsession with rankings on this forum ends up making it seem as if actual academic programs are always second, and far, far below mere prestige for prestige's sake.