College counselor who thinks you're painting with too broad a brush when you argue that grades and standardized test scores are the best predictors of college success.

I've seen students whose grades weren't the best, although they ranked in the top 20% of their class crack colleges admitting in the single digits. Some extremely bright and driven kids simply don't adapt well to the broad-reaching US high school curriculum (e.g mandatory math classes to the bitter end for humanities-oriented students), which hurts their GPA. They'd do better in the UK or Canada, where performance is one's strongest 3 or 4 subjects is all top universities really care about. As for standardized tests, I've seen students who earned mediocre scores on one type of standardized tests, e.g. SATs, ace a different type, e.g. International Baccalaureate Diploma and Cambridge tests which don't include multiple choice questions and emphasize writing far more than AP tests. OP, choose your standardized tests carefully.

Have you considered a gap year for your girl, involving travel, work experience, and improving standardized test performance? That worked for me out of high school. I struck out on 8 out of 9 college applications senior year, but I was admitted to an Ivy during my gap year. My family was not well-off, and I earned most of my gap year funds myself working several summer jobs.

Anonymous wrote:There’s a new path to Harvard and it’s not in a classroom

18-year-old Claire Dickson is entering into Harvard College this fall.
What got her into the most famous school in the world, one with a record-low 5.3% acceptance rate?
Homeschooling, she tells Boston Magazine.

https://www.businessinsider.com/homeschooling-is-the-new-path-to-harvard-2015-9

This article underscores several PPs points above (and yes the thread is old).

The student it focuses on took class at a community college and Harvard extension during the high school years. She went into the community and had strong recommendations from those environments.

Every homeschooled high schooler I know has taken 4-5 SAT2 subject tests and the regular SAT/ACT. With grades, a relative ranking against high school peers, and grades from teachers who are not parents, admissions officers really have to rely on the content tests.

The two beat predictors of college success are high school grades combined with standardized test scores.