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[quote=Anonymous]Parent of four recent college applicants here again.

Based on my experience, at smaller LACs and selective colleges high grades in rigorous courses will trump high SATs every time.  Extracurriculars are critically important to small school admissions as well, because small schools think they need a disproportionate number of involved students to keep the campus active.  The OP's student has the exact opposite profile, so he/she is right for thinking that a medium sized school is a better fit.

Might also be worth noting (although not really on topic) that we had two kids go to U-Va from Arlington Public Schools who were both admitted with SATs considerably below U-Va's average.  The youngest barely made the 25th percentile of the reported range.  And we are not in any way "disadvantaged."  Both kids had 8 or 9 AP classes, though, and both were reasonably active.  There is no doubt in my mind that U-Va means what they say when they say grades/courses are more important to them than really high SATs.

In fact, my general observation from lurking on these boards is that many, many parents attach much more weight to the SAT than most selective colleges actually give it.  I'm not saying you can bomb the test without consequence, but it's clearly the case with most selective colleges that high grades in demanding courses are more likely to cancel out less than stellar SATs than vice-versa.

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