Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:40     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:The majority of NESCAC schools may be realistic for this student, particularly with the use of ED.


Need more information but Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Tufts would fall into the "possible but likely no" category. Your SAT score lowers their mean so it hurts rather than helps. But without it you might not be competitive so it's a catch 22 for that group of schools. Hamilton would be "in the hunt" with the score at the mean. Colby, Wesleyan, Bates could be options especially for ED at those schools. Conn College and Trinity you are good to go.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:38     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
"Top grades" with 15 APs or just floating by classes
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:33     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Kids are getting in with far lower scores all the time. You just need to apply TO, assuming the rest of the application is rock solid.


Terrible advice. 1490 is a fantastic score. Are there kids with higher, yes but 97% have lower. In addition to more schools being test required even the top ones that are still officially TO they increasingly prefer applicants with scores. Keep in mind that we don't have CDS for the class of '29 yet, with more test scores being submitted the medians likely have started to return to pre covid ranges and the percent of admittees submitting scores probably went up


Its not that simple. At a SLAC, if others from your school are applying with stronger scores, your app might be stronger WITHOUT it. I'd ask your CCO if at a private. Ours advised when to go TO and when not to.
For selective SLACS and schools like Michigan, WashU and Vanderbilt.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:32     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FWIW. My kid had 1490 in spring Junior year. She is top 1% with highest rigor and good ECs at strong private. Her CC told her: 1) Only take SAT one more time then stop and 2) not submit 1490 to Wash U.


Yes, do not submit a 1490 (or lower) to Vanderbilt or WashU. Both have explicitly and openly told their counterparts in HS counseling offices this. They don't want that score.


Ugh, this is so incredibly cynical. And so corrosive. Can’t blame the kids for playing the admissions game. Can’t blame the school for playing the rankings game. But what does intellectual integrity look like in a campus community formed via this kind of gamesmanship?



Huh? The kids admitted are still incredibly bright and accomplished. Schools and kids are playing the game (which you said you completely understand) and it works.


This. Figure out the game. Then play it.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:32     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:Kids are getting in with far lower scores all the time. You just need to apply TO, assuming the rest of the application is rock solid.


Terrible advice. 1490 is a fantastic score. Are there kids with higher, yes but 97% have lower. In addition to more schools being test required even the top ones that are still officially TO they increasingly prefer applicants with scores. Keep in mind that we don't have CDS for the class of '29 yet, with more test scores being submitted the medians likely have started to return to pre covid ranges and the percent of admittees submitting scores probably went up
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:28     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:This profile will not get auto-rejected, and will be up for committee review, then it's the other parts of the application determining the outcome.

1490 or 1590, really no difference. Both scores validate your academic readiness.


In practice, I agree wholeheartedly. But I think what folks are noting is that at some schools there is the added dimension of their brand. It's not that a ~1490 is a poor score (far far from it), it's that some schools don't want to have to factor it into their middle 50% which is what gets publicized and sometimes promoted. Scores that bring this range down are less desirable for image. At a certain point, it becomes brand strategy.

Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:24     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FWIW. My kid had 1490 in spring Junior year. She is top 1% with highest rigor and good ECs at strong private. Her CC told her: 1) Only take SAT one more time then stop and 2) not submit 1490 to Wash U.


Yes, do not submit a 1490 (or lower) to Vanderbilt or WashU. Both have explicitly and openly told their counterparts in HS counseling offices this. They don't want that score.


Ugh, this is so incredibly cynical. And so corrosive. Can’t blame the kids for playing the admissions game. Can’t blame the school for playing the rankings game. But what does intellectual integrity look like in a campus community formed via this kind of gamesmanship?



Huh? The kids admitted are still incredibly bright and accomplished. Schools and kids are playing the game (which you said you completely understand) and it works.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:22     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:The majority of NESCAC schools may be realistic for this student, particularly with the use of ED.

As examples, Wesleyan reported a median SAT score of 1430 on its most recent CDS and Hamilton reported a median of 1500. For this student, either of these colleges may be accessible.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:15     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
This profile will not get auto-rejected, and will be up for committee review, then it's the other parts of the application determining the outcome.

1490 or 1590, really no difference. Both scores validate your academic readiness.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 11:10     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Kids are getting in with far lower scores all the time. You just need to apply TO, assuming the rest of the application is rock solid.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 10:59     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FWIW. My kid had 1490 in spring Junior year. She is top 1% with highest rigor and good ECs at strong private. Her CC told her: 1) Only take SAT one more time then stop and 2) not submit 1490 to Wash U.


Yes, do not submit a 1490 (or lower) to Vanderbilt or WashU. Both have explicitly and openly told their counterparts in HS counseling offices this. They don't want that score.


I have a kid at Vanderbilt who submitted a 1490.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 10:59     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FWIW. My kid had 1490 in spring Junior year. She is top 1% with highest rigor and good ECs at strong private. Her CC told her: 1) Only take SAT one more time then stop and 2) not submit 1490 to Wash U.


Yes, do not submit a 1490 (or lower) to Vanderbilt or WashU. Both have explicitly and openly told their counterparts in HS counseling offices this. They don't want that score.


Ugh, this is so incredibly cynical. And so corrosive. Can’t blame the kids for playing the admissions game. Can’t blame the school for playing the rankings game. But what does intellectual integrity look like in a campus community formed via this kind of gamesmanship?
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 10:59     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s weird to just be “what’s the school my kid can get into with these stats” as if the Top 20 are all the same.

Focus on fit.


I disagree. T20 schools are actually not that different. Most kids want them bc of the peer group (engaged, ambitious, smart). While Brown and Notre Dame (probably the farthest apart in the T20) are by no means interchangeable, their student bodies probably have more in common than not, and many (though not all) of the students at one would be happier at the other than any state flagship.

Unless OP's kid has a specific hook (which OP would have likely disclosed), being strategic about where the kid might get in makes a ton of sense. And it makes sense to manage expectations: an upper middle class kid with a 1490 from the DC area who has no outstanding ECs and doesn't check any boxes for institutional priorities is a long shot at every T20. Some kids with these stats are accepted, but not many.


Historically ND cared a lot about test scores if you’re unhooked. Maybe less so today. They have lots and lots of recruited athletes in many sports and many have test scores below the school’s average and they need the unhooked kids to keep the average up.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 10:54     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
I think we are see the end of the TO phase and are in the "test kind of optional" phase for T20, T50 colleges. Look at UC San Diego and what happens when you disregard a test that is valid predictor of success.

Ironically, Vanderbilt pre-covid had one of the highest average SAT rates. I just wonder if these top colleges are addicted to the increase in applications that they receive.

They should be forced to disclose to the applicant/consumer what the acceptance rate of TO students is versus those who submit.
Anonymous
Post 11/18/2025 10:47     Subject: what schools can a kid with a 1490.....
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s weird to just be “what’s the school my kid can get into with these stats” as if the Top 20 are all the same.

Focus on fit.


I disagree. T20 schools are actually not that different. Most kids want them bc of the peer group (engaged, ambitious, smart). While Brown and Notre Dame (probably the farthest apart in the T20) are by no means interchangeable, their student bodies probably have more in common than not, and many (though not all) of the students at one would be happier at the other than any state flagship.

Unless OP's kid has a specific hook (which OP would have likely disclosed), being strategic about where the kid might get in makes a ton of sense. And it makes sense to manage expectations: an upper middle class kid with a 1490 from the DC area who has no outstanding ECs and doesn't check any boxes for institutional priorities is a long shot at every T20. Some kids with these stats are accepted, but not many.


the major matters here. A kid wanting to study Middle East Studies or something should be fine, assuming all other elements of app are strong. CS and a 1490 not so much.