It’s easier for average kids

[Anonymous]

My son did neuropsych testing recently. His FSIQ was 131. His junior year PSAT score was 1050 which is dead average. People seem to think that kids who score lower on tests are dumb or shouldn't even bother going to college. What a shame. I'm glad that test-optional exists because these scores are pretty meaningless out of context. My brother scored in the 1400s when he was in HS. That was a high score back then. He failed out of college because he didn't do the work. He was so used to coasting along in public school and then he went to a real college and failed out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS!! 1350 is not average!! It’s above average. DCUM-land can be very out of touch.

IN DCUM LAND 1600 IS GIFTED, 1500 IS TALENTED, 1400 IS AVERAGE, 1300 IS MARGINAL, 1200 IS STRUGGLING, 1100 IS COMMUNITY COLLEGE WAIT LIST MATERIAL, AND 1000 OR BELOW IS RETARDED!

I laughed because it's accurate.

Yep, which just reinforces the point that the SAT more closely correlates to high HHI than anything else.

[Anonymous]

I assure you OP, that it is NOT easy for an average Asian/South Asian male.

It’s basically the worst possible position for an applicant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son did neuropsych testing recently. His FSIQ was 131. His junior year PSAT score was 1050 which is dead average. People seem to think that kids who score lower on tests are dumb or shouldn't even bother going to college. What a shame. I'm glad that test-optional exists because these scores are pretty meaningless out of context. My brother scored in the 1400s when he was in HS. That was a high score back then. He failed out of college because he didn't do the work. He was so used to coasting along in public school and then he went to a real college and failed out.

My dd, hs class of 2020, went from a 1010 on the sophomore PSAT to a 1310 on the Spring of junior year SAT. Only took SAT twice and PSAT twice.

But that’s probably because she didn’t take algebra II until junior year.

[Anonymous]

I'm sick to death of the expectation that every kid should get a 1550+. Real life ain't like that. Fwiw, my 1300 SAT "average" kid just got a full ride to her reach school, so OP, you can just go suck it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assure you OP, that it is NOT easy for an average Asian/South Asian male.

It’s basically the worst possible position for an applicant.

This. To be an average student who is a "model minority" is a really tough thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sick to death of the expectation that every kid should get a 1550+. Real life ain't like that. Fwiw, my 1300 SAT "average" kid just got a full ride to her reach school, so OP, you can just go suck it.

PP here with the 1310 kid. Granted, it was accompanied by excellent grades, but dd got merit scholarships at decent schools. Got $15k/yr for UDel OOS and $10k/year for SUNY Binghamton OOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think having reasonable expectations makes for happier children. Also, 1350 is far from “average”. I see kids talking about their 15 rejections, but only applied to schools with <30% acceptance rates. Kids need to find a school with a 75+% acceptance rate that they could actually see themselves thriving. Then they’ll be happier.

This!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assure you OP, that it is NOT easy for an average Asian/South Asian male.

It’s basically the worst possible position for an applicant.

This. To be an average student who is a "model minority" is a really tough thing.

Blame this on groups like SFFA using the "model minority" stereotype for Asains as a wedge issue in college admissions. All Asains aren't academic stats superstars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son did neuropsych testing recently. His FSIQ was 131. His junior year PSAT score was 1050 which is dead average. People seem to think that kids who score lower on tests are dumb or shouldn't even bother going to college. What a shame. I'm glad that test-optional exists because these scores are pretty meaningless out of context. My brother scored in the 1400s when he was in HS. That was a high score back then. He failed out of college because he didn't do the work. He was so used [/b]to coasting along in public school[b] and then he went to a real college and failed out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sick to death of the expectation that every kid should get a 1550+. Real life ain't like that. Fwiw, my 1300 SAT "average" kid just got a full ride to her reach school, so OP, you can just go suck it.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the piece of OP’s post that people are ignoring is that kids with very high stats are not getting into schools that you would expect they would because of yield protection. Schools assume the stats are high, the kid will have other options, so the kid does not get into the school where they are at or above the 75% level. Meanwhile, the same kid is also rejected from all the “lottery” schools, so is left with few options. A different kid with stats at the 50% level for the school May actually be in a better position, because the school won’t yield protect that kid. With respect to that point, OP makes sense.

I think the “yield protection” happens because the kids do not demonstrate interest to the schools and probably write supplemental essays that are wel because they aren’t really interested. It’s just a safety. I have a high stats kid that got into the more “safety” LACs because they picked all schools where they felt they could be happy and showed the same love to the safeties as the reaches.

+10000

I am so tired of people griping about the "highest stats" kids at my kids school being "yield protected" because they were deferred at their "safeties". Do you know what their safeties were? University of Michigan, Northeastern, UVA. These schools are extremely difficult to get into (acceptance <20 percent last year and probably much lower this year) and these kids treated the schools like safeties--did not visit, did not attend the sessions when the regional reps came to the school, etc. Now they are pissed off because other kids--who are also high achievers but "lower ranked" got in. However, these kids showed put in the time to learn about the school and demonstrated that they actually want to go there.

I hate a lot of the factors that colleges use in admissions (athletics, legacy in particular) and everyone should realize that there is a lot of randomness in who ultimately gets in. But the fact that colleges care that kids demonstrate interest? That is 100 percent appropriate.

Agree. Schools are sick of the “box checker” types who think they are entitled to admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son did neuropsych testing recently. His FSIQ was 131. His junior year PSAT score was 1050 which is dead average. People seem to think that kids who score lower on tests are dumb or shouldn't even bother going to college. What a shame. I'm glad that test-optional exists because these scores are pretty meaningless out of context. My brother scored in the 1400s when he was in HS. That was a high score back then. He failed out of college because he didn't do the work. He was so used to coasting along in public school and then he went to a real college and failed out.

My dd, hs class of 2020, went from a 1010 on the sophomore PSAT to a 1310 on the Spring of junior year SAT. Only took SAT twice and PSAT twice.

But that’s probably because she didn’t take algebra II until junior year.

OP here. He just took the SATs a few weeks ago and got a 1100. No magic happened between October and March. He's in algebra 2 this year and he did improve in math but only by 40 points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son did neuropsych testing recently. His FSIQ was 131. His junior year PSAT score was 1050 which is dead average. People seem to think that kids who score lower on tests are dumb or shouldn't even bother going to college. What a shame. I'm glad that test-optional exists because these scores are pretty meaningless out of context. My brother scored in the 1400s when he was in HS. That was a high score back then. He failed out of college because he didn't do the work. He was so used to coasting along in public school and then he went to a real college and failed out.

My dd, hs class of 2020, went from a 1010 on the sophomore PSAT to a 1310 on the Spring of junior year SAT. Only took SAT twice and PSAT twice.

But that’s probably because she didn’t take algebra II until junior year.

OP here. He just took the SATs a few weeks ago and got a 1100. No magic happened between October and March. He's in algebra 2 this year and he did improve in math but only by 40 points.

PP here. I would encourage your child to keep practicing. The math and grammar are much easier to improve on than the verbal section. Get Erika Meltzer’s grammar book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son did neuropsych testing recently. His FSIQ was 131. His junior year PSAT score was 1050 which is dead average. People seem to think that kids who score lower on tests are dumb or shouldn't even bother going to college. What a shame. I'm glad that test-optional exists because these scores are pretty meaningless out of context. My brother scored in the 1400s when he was in HS. That was a high score back then. He failed out of college because he didn't do the work. He was so used to coasting along in public school and then he went to a real college and failed out.

My dd, hs class of 2020, went from a 1010 on the sophomore PSAT to a 1310 on the Spring of junior year SAT. Only took SAT twice and PSAT twice.

But that’s probably because she didn’t take algebra II until junior year.

OP here. He just took the SATs a few weeks ago and got a 1100. No magic happened between October and March. He's in algebra 2 this year and he did improve in math but only by 40 points.

PP here. I would encourage your child to keep practicing. The math and grammar are much easier to improve on than the verbal section. Get Erika Meltzer’s grammar book.

No thanks. I'd rather save the money from test prep for tuition. He can apply pretty much anywhere as TO. It's not worth the stress to a kid who already has mental health issues.