What level LAC can student with

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also consider what your child is interested in majoring in, because some schools will have stronger departments than others.

And if your child is interested in a less popular major, that can also help them get admitted if they need to fill that niche. For example, my DC with great stats but no hook got into some elite SLACs as a geology major a couple years ago.

You don’t declare major or area of interest at SLACS. That’s the beauty of a SLAC.

You're really saying SLACs don't have majors? Are you serious?

I’m not even that poster and I can infer they meant you don’t need to name a major when applying to a SLAC (read it with the post above they are replying to).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also consider what your child is interested in majoring in, because some schools will have stronger departments than others.

And if your child is interested in a less popular major, that can also help them get admitted if they need to fill that niche. For example, my DC with great stats but no hook got into some elite SLACs as a geology major a couple years ago.

You don’t declare major or area of interest at SLACS. That’s the beauty of a SLAC.

You're really saying SLACs don't have majors? Are you serious?

I’m not even that poster and I can infer they meant you don’t need to name a major when applying to a SLAC (read it with the post above they are replying to).

You don't have to but every LAC my DD applied to did ask about potential interests for major. Colleges are concerned about having students to support a variety of departments so expressing an interest in a less in-demand major may help with admissions. This goes for national Us too that don't admit by major or college.

[Anonymous]

You need to visit. We found a big drop off in quality of LACs below a certain level. My DS had a really hard time finding a LAC he liked that wasn’t in the top 20 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you full pay?
Is the applicant male?

If so you’ll have a good chance at the higher ranked need aware LACs if you apply ED.

Please work that into a plan that includes matches and real safeties.

I think any of the need aware top LACs (and probably many of the need-blind LACS below the top 10ish range) would be hard pressed to reject ED a full pay male with 33 and a strong transcript, assuming everything else is fine. They would need a reason to reject him.

are you disagreeing with the PP? Or is that added emphasis?

Our full pay DS ended up at a T15 LAC. Had a 34 ACT, a 3.5 GPA (struggled frosh year, but no Cs) at a no AP school where he was in top English, but regular math/science. Great ECs and can imagine strong teacher recs - one teacher shared he would use the following line, "the most impressive growth from one year to another in any student I've ever had." Was interested in a T3. College counselor said, "probably a deferral, then a rejection in RD."

He ended up at a need-blind school, but probably where they want full pays whenever they can.

[Anonymous]

The T20-T30 include schools like Colby, Bates, Colorado College, Harvey Mudd (!!). Hard to imagine a big drop off from Richmond to Colby, sorry.

Anonymous wrote:You need to visit. We found a big drop off in quality of LACs below a certain level. My DS had a really hard time finding a LAC he liked that wasn’t in the top 20 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If transcript is basically as good as it can be, the only thing a little soft there is the ACT. 34 would be better if possible.

But even with 34-36, it doesn’t make it that much more likely she can get into “top 5.” But does she want to go to top 5 just because they are top 5 or because she likes those particular schools? I would visit all the top 30 schools and figure out what really appeals and then develop an ED strategy off that. You have two bullets to increase your chances of acceptance - ED1 and ED2. If you go Williams/Amherst ED1 - you will have a lower chance vs the other schools named regardless of your stats. It’s kind of just a lottery. With my DC whose grades were not as strong, we started mid pack ED1 (Colby peer for perspective) and then did ED2 towards bottom of top 30 (Bates peer). Got into Bates peer and VERY pleased because it’s going to be a great fit. While the difficulty of getting into the Bates peer is lower, in my mind the academic quality is really on par with any of them. And the student body is like marginally “worse” by 20 SAT points which is meaningless. All these schools are getting incredibly smart kids - there is not room for all of them at Williams - some portion of the super duper perfect ones get in, then it waterfalls down (not just with rejections but via self selection ED). By the time you get to the bottom of the top 30 list you get a few kids who had Bs on their transcript (oh the humanity!). So I would just think carefully about where she really would be happy and target those two ED- worst case scenario you fall into RD land and could end up at Dickinson or Gettysburg or F&M or Denison- not the end of the world but think through how much you want to risk it going for gold in early decision

NP whose kids targeted nescac schools. This is excellent advice if you are looking at LACs and is essentially what a paid consultant would suggest.

If any paid college consultant gave this advice for a fee, demand a refund.

What is wrong with the advice?

Visit all 30 top ranked schools ?

Admission is just like a lottery ?

No reasonable paid college consultant should make foolish statements like these two examples.

Then equating the educational experience to a large group of LACs because students are within a certain number of SAT points on average isbeyond silly.

And what the heck is a “Bates peer?” I mean, why not just apply to Bates? Or else say the school. So weird.

You know, not necessarily. What may seem fairly ambiguous to you just may not be in certain school/social groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM advice: Because my DD didn't get into Williams / Amherst, the only way to get in from a DC private is to be actually canonized as a Saint by graduation, in addition to 1600 SAT, 19 APs, and being a recruited varsity athlete.

I don’t know what you want from me. Look if you’ve got a kid with a 33 and strong grades but nothing else crazy going on, feel free to apply ED1 to Williams and ED2 to Amherst. Maybe it will work. Or maybe you will find yourself at Gettysburg family day some time in the future and you will be thinking about me.

This is actually funny. And spot on.

Yeah, this. Kinda happened to a friend. Could not imagine school outside east coast. Kid had a slightly more reasonable ED strategy, but only slightly. It's worked out fine, but doesn't always.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to visit. We found a big drop off in quality of LACs below a certain level. My DS had a really hard time finding a LAC he liked that wasn’t in the top 20 or so.

What schools dropped off? And how did they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to visit. We found a big drop off in quality of LACs below a certain level. My DS had a really hard time finding a LAC he liked that wasn’t in the top 20 or so.

What schools dropped off? And how did they?

I think the SAT/ACT ranges as disclosed in CDS tells you everything you need to know about the “drop off”. Happens after the low 30s in US News

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM advice: Because my DD didn't get into Williams / Amherst, the only way to get in from a DC private is to be actually canonized as a Saint by graduation, in addition to 1600 SAT, 19 APs, and being a recruited varsity athlete.

I don’t know what you want from me. Look if you’ve got a kid with a 33 and strong grades but nothing else crazy going on, feel free to apply ED1 to Williams and ED2 to Amherst. Maybe it will work. Or maybe you will find yourself at Gettysburg family day some time in the future and you will be thinking about me.

+100

It is hard to imagine this happening to your hard working, high performing kid until it does. Naviance is fairly useful but only for what is not possible. You can get rejected from schools it seems a safety because the stats are all there along with demonstrated interest but if they only accept 15% that is a lot of rejections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to visit. We found a big drop off in quality of LACs below a certain level. My DS had a really hard time finding a LAC he liked that wasn’t in the top 20 or so.

What schools dropped off? And how did they?

I think the SAT/ACT ranges as disclosed in CDS tells you everything you need to know about the “drop off”. Happens after the low 30s in US News

How were their outcomes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM advice: Because my DD didn't get into Williams / Amherst, the only way to get in from a DC private is to be actually canonized as a Saint by graduation, in addition to 1600 SAT, 19 APs, and being a recruited varsity athlete.

I don’t know what you want from me. Look if you’ve got a kid with a 33 and strong grades but nothing else crazy going on, feel free to apply ED1 to Williams and ED2 to Amherst. Maybe it will work. Or maybe you will find yourself at Gettysburg family day some time in the future and you will be thinking about me.

+100

It is hard to imagine this happening to your hard working, high performing kid until it does. Naviance is fairly useful but only for what is not possible. You can get rejected from schools it seems a safety because the stats are all there along with demonstrated interest but if they only accept 15% that is a lot of rejections.

Exactly. A lot has changed over the last three cycles, but there are parents still cleaving onto their experiences when they applied to and attended HYPSMs, Ivies, top NESCACs, etc. They can't imagine this privilege will not convey to their kids, then are dumbfounded when that is the case. "Hamilton? How could they not get into Hamilton RD?!?"

[Anonymous]

I would suggest the dreaded drop off occurs around when the 75th percentile ACT score falls below 34. A 34 represents the median student at top LACs like Williams.

So the top schools tend to be 33-35, then next layer 31-34, and then the descent into mediocrity begins.

[Anonymous]

The thing about the top LACs is, there are just not that many seats. The total student body of the top 30 LACS is approximately equal to Michigan and UVA combined. So if there is an increase in demand, it doesn't take a lot for all of those seats to become a lot more competitive. Next thing you know Richmond is like Bowdoin of 5 years ago.

These schools are real gems in my opinion with great professors and campuses--and as the calibre of the student has risen relative to historical periods, they will really be hotbeds of learning and growth. All the bright talented kids squeezed out of Ivy League and the like by DEI, FGLI, the "point" fetish, will find their way to these great little schools which are set up to a large degree like Ivy League schools were 40-60 years ago.

[Anonymous]

When posters talk about an ACT score of 33 or 34, would a superscore count?