Anonymous wrote:I just went back and read the whole thread, I was the one who posted the clueless comment as well as the tulane comment. What clearly is the discrepancy here is she is only talking about small LA colleges. I still think it would be a stretch to think this profile student is going to somewhere like conn college, trinity, or sewanee but there could always be a miracle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the person who say schools 50-150. Are you nuts? Schools around 50 are not even remotely a chance.[/quote

Just to back up this comment with facts:

US News #51, National Liberal Arts Colleges
Bard College, 1330-1420 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 64% top 10% of high school graduating class

US News #50, National Universities
Tulane University, 1230-1400 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 60% top 10% of high school graduating class

"Clueless" poster here. Since my curiousity with piqued I looked up a couple of the schools I suggested. Beloit, which is #60, has a 70.5% acceptance rate. Wheaton, which is #62, has a 61.5% acceptance rate. Those are pretty good odds. Many schools in that group are test optional so SAT scores become less relevant. My DC happened to have very good ACTs (less good SATS, but still in the zone cited by Tulane) so we submitted them but I think all but one or two of the schools DC applied to were test optional. The admission rates for the schools DC was admitted to in the top 50 LAC group ranged from 39-45%.

One factor we found helpful is that the LACs tend to focus more on the whole application than just the stats. That can be helpful for some LD kids. Mine, for example, is smart (well above average intelligence) but despite hard work the grades do not reflect that. The OP mentioned that her DD had trouble with testing. My DC was similar - would be doing okay in a class and then do much worse on the final, thus bringing down the grade. If DC had applied to a big state school that does a first cut on GPA it would have been the end. But luckily the LACs look at extracurrics (very strong), interviews (very strong), essays (all but one had fairly lengthy supplements to the common app), recommendations (which we expect were strong). That's why we focused on LACs and why I suggested that to the OP, combined with her DDs interest in living in dorms, etc, which is less common at big universities after the first year.

To the person who posted the stats above, what colleges did you focus on for your kid? What was your experience?

I'm the person who posted the stats. BTW I don't think USNews stats are the most useful but I had them handy. (We liked using the Common Data Set info from each school). My D applied to a range of LACs (more selective to most selective) and a few smaller size public universities. She was top 10-15% of her graduating class with a half dozen APs and a rigorous course load, decent but not outstanding extra-currics, no really strong demonstration of leadership beyond NHS, varsity athlete (but not star), a so-so essay IMHO and probably very good recommendations. She got into colleges where her SAT score placed her very near the 75%ile of scores or above. She got merit aid from colleges where she was well above the 75%ile (her safety schools). She didn't get into any of the schools where her score was below the 75%ile. She is currently attending a school that is rated top 25 by USNews. I also believe that this was the school where she interviewed best. She is very happy and flourishing at this college so maybe the excellent interview was a function of a great match.

I do think that admissions officers evaluate candidates with LDs somewhat differently. If I were in your position I would discuss test optional with your child's college counselor/guidance counselor. I also think that great interviews (not offered at big state schools but almost required at many LACs), great essays and real demonstration of leadership can make a huge difference.