SAT Scores

[Anonymous]

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.

Can you list every class taken that’s on the transcript and how it was weighted? I am trying to figure out how a sophomore has a 4.7 with no AP classes. Is it a school that generously weights honors classes?

I honestly don’t know, but I’m not going to list her classes here. She and her friends were trying to figure it out and realized it’s because she takes all honors, including all of her electives. Most kids apparently take electives that are listed as standard. She is in public school. So whatever they do is what public schools are doing to weight them.

[Anonymous]

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?

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.

How is that possible? How many kids are getting over 1500 on their SAT?

They are prepping hard

Honestly, I think it’s just more DCUM bullshit. Everyone here makes over $1M and their kids all get 1500 SAT scores. Other people already posted that the scores for VT engineering average less than 1400….and that’s an average. That means kids with less than 1350 get into the school. People like to just say things like they know for sure but they don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS from NOVA had 1560 (800 math). This admissions cycle waitlisted at UVA and NEU. SAT doesn't have near the impact as we would have hoped.

This is where studying the schools common data set can offer some guidance. For example, UVA considers test scores but academic rigor is very important. They also like to see students take 4 years of a foreign language. So someone, with a high GPA, taking a dozen APs, with 4 years of Latin and a 1450 ranks better than someone with 5APs, 2 years of French and a 1560 at UVA. Their call. Don't be surprised if they offer you admission to UVA-Wise with guaranteed movement to main campus after 30 or 60 credits

[Anonymous]

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.

Can you list every class taken that’s on the transcript and how it was weighted? I am trying to figure out how a sophomore has a 4.7 with no AP classes. Is it a school that generously weights honors classes?

I honestly don’t know, but I’m not going to list her classes here. She and her friends were trying to figure it out and realized it’s because she takes all honors, including all of her electives. Most kids apparently take electives that are listed as standard. She is in public school. So whatever they do is what public schools are doing to weight them.

Does her school offer honors PE? Or is it possible to take PE just pass/fail at her school?

[Anonymous]

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.

Can you list every class taken that’s on the transcript and how it was weighted? I am trying to figure out how a sophomore has a 4.7 with no AP classes. Is it a school that generously weights honors classes?

I honestly don’t know, but I’m not going to list her classes here. She and her friends were trying to figure it out and realized it’s because she takes all honors, including all of her electives. Most kids apparently take electives that are listed as standard. She is in public school. So whatever they do is what public schools are doing to weight them.

Does her school offer honors PE? Or is it possible to take PE just pass/fail at her school?

It wasn’t PE. They have to take like a tech credit and she chose an honors level because that’s what she was interested in (some engineering class). She only needed one and she took 2. She takes more band than she is required and it’s listed as Honors. I guess if you take yearbook it’s standard? Something like that. It was somewhat accidental. Anyway, the colleges will weight it on their own scale anyway, so I don’t think it matters.

I was just confused by the high SAT scores being discussed on the boards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS from NOVA had 1560 (800 math). This admissions cycle waitlisted at UVA and NEU. SAT doesn't have near the impact as we would have hoped.

This is where studying the schools common data set can offer some guidance. For example, UVA considers test scores but academic rigor is very important. They also like to see students take 4 years of a foreign language. So someone, with a high GPA, taking a dozen APs, with 4 years of Latin and a 1450 ranks better than someone with 5APs, 2 years of French and a 1560 at UVA. Their call. Don't be surprised if they offer you admission to UVA-Wise with guaranteed movement to main campus after 30 or 60 credits

Wise? No thank you. He'll stick with the Boston U. acceptance.

[Anonymous]

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.

Can you list every class taken that’s on the transcript and how it was weighted? I am trying to figure out how a sophomore has a 4.7 with no AP classes. Is it a school that generously weights honors classes?

I honestly don’t know, but I’m not going to list her classes here. She and her friends were trying to figure it out and realized it’s because she takes all honors, including all of her electives. Most kids apparently take electives that are listed as standard. She is in public school. So whatever they do is what public schools are doing to weight them.

Does her school offer honors PE? Or is it possible to take PE just pass/fail at her school?

It wasn’t PE. They have to take like a tech credit and she chose an honors level because that’s what she was interested in (some engineering class). She only needed one and she took 2. She takes more band than she is required and it’s listed as Honors. I guess if you take yearbook it’s standard? Something like that. It was somewhat accidental. Anyway, the colleges will weight it on their own scale anyway, so I don’t think it matters.

I was just confused by the high SAT scores being discussed on the boards.

Your honors must be weighted heavily. In FCPS, they are weighted .5 only so it would be impossible to have that GPA as a sophomore with no APs and the required other classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS from NOVA had 1560 (800 math). This admissions cycle waitlisted at UVA and NEU. SAT doesn't have near the impact as we would have hoped.

This is where studying the schools common data set can offer some guidance. For example, UVA considers test scores but academic rigor is very important. They also like to see students take 4 years of a foreign language. So someone, with a high GPA, taking a dozen APs, with 4 years of Latin and a 1450 ranks better than someone with 5APs, 2 years of French and a 1560 at UVA. Their call. Don't be surprised if they offer you admission to UVA-Wise with guaranteed movement to main campus after 30 or 60 credits

Wise? No thank you. He'll stick with the Boston U. acceptance.

Crazy. UVA instate is literally half the price & you’d rather him go to Boston U all four years than spend a year at Wise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My magnet DS with a 1580 sat score (800 on math), 5s on AP BC Calc, AP physics, highest level math courses (MVC), straight As, 4.0 unwgpa, 4.8 wgpa (at time of application) was rejected from GATech.

Maybe being a girl will give her a bump but without AP courses/exams, being female isn't even a speed bump sized bumped.

Unfortunately, oos to top tier publics for engineering is really really hard to get into. You might as well try for privates like Harvey Mudd, CMU at that point. The admit rate is about the same.

Without the most rigorous coursework, she should look into lower tiered universities. You mentioned RPI, and that's a good one. Stick to that thread. It lists some really good lowered tiered eng schools.

[Anonymous]

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?

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.

How is that possible? How many kids are getting over 1500 on their SAT?

They are prepping hard

some are just taking a few practice tests for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My magnet DS with a 1580 sat score (800 on math), 5s on AP BC Calc, AP physics, highest level math courses (MVC), straight As, 4.0 unwgpa, 4.8 wgpa (at time of application) was rejected from GATech.

Maybe being a girl will give her a bump but without AP courses/exams, being female isn't even a speed bump sized bumped.

Unfortunately, oos to top tier publics for engineering is really really hard to get into. You might as well try for privates like Harvey Mudd, CMU at that point. The admit rate is about the same.

Without the most rigorous coursework, she should look into lower tiered universities. You mentioned RPI, and that's a good one. Stick to that thread. It lists some really good lowered tiered eng schools.

In what you bolded I already stated that I didn’t think that was a reasonable application so I’m not sure why you wanted to drill home the point I had already made myself.

[Anonymous]

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?

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.

How is that possible? How many kids are getting over 1500 on their SAT?

They are prepping hard

Not really. The SAT is pretty easy if you’re taking it spring of junior year & are almost done with precalc or calc by that point (with A’s). Same goes if you’ve been an avid reader your whole life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS from NOVA had 1560 (800 math). This admissions cycle waitlisted at UVA and NEU. SAT doesn't have near the impact as we would have hoped.

This is where studying the schools common data set can offer some guidance. For example, UVA considers test scores but academic rigor is very important. They also like to see students take 4 years of a foreign language. So someone, with a high GPA, taking a dozen APs, with 4 years of Latin and a 1450 ranks better than someone with 5APs, 2 years of French and a 1560 at UVA. Their call. Don't be surprised if they offer you admission to UVA-Wise with guaranteed movement to main campus after 30 or 60 credits

Wise? No thank you. He'll stick with the Boston U. acceptance.

Crazy. UVA instate is literally half the price & you’d rather him go to Boston U all four years than spend a year at Wise.

Speaking out of your a$$. After merit, BU is $7k more per year than UVA. Thank you for your concern.

[Anonymous]

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.

Yes, but they’re taking AP math & science classes and on-level or honors humanities/social science classes.

No. They are not all doing that.

When I went to school I was told the same thing, because I’d never taken them. I graduated with 25 people and 200+ who took the APs dropped out after a year.

[Anonymous]

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.

Yes, but they’re taking AP math & science classes and on-level or honors humanities/social science classes.

No. They are not all doing that.

When I went to school I was told the same thing, because I’d never taken them. I graduated with 25 people and 200+ who took the APs dropped out after a year.

Times have changed a lot since you went to school.