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marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
I know it's very personal, but do you mind sharing the range of scores that those schools are looking for (you don't have to list specific schools, but just that high-achievement schools are looking for XX-YY range scores).

Having just been through all this, it varies from school to school and the Ivies, in particular, have their own weird way of doing things. In most of the D3's, the coaches we talked to wanted ACT to be within a point of the average score for the school or the SAT to be within 50 or so and the schools. Info for this will be on their website or in their brochures - or even a simple Google search will give you it.

Simple advice though - get a 32+ ACT or 1400+ SAT and apart from a couple of schools where the coaches have no influence over admissions (MIT for example), and the education part of the conversation is done.

Ivies do the whole 'incoming class must average the score of the average student body' - so if the school averages a 32 on the ACT the incoming class must also average that. So if they can get a couple of 34 ACT outfielders, then they can take a 28 ACT pitcher. So if you are a pitcher, you can possibly get away with a lower score though they would rather you didn't.

While scores are still critical and the most important thing to these schools, the emphasis on other things is increasing as they realize how the ACT/SAT scores can be manipulated based on a student's access to learning resources. And they are right - I believe DD may have finally got to her goal ACT score eventually, but tutoring we paid for (and the work she put in of course) helped a whole lot.

For example, schools are considering the whole high school profile thing - they are taking into consideration the school the kid attends as part of the admission and even trying to put ACT/SAT scores into some context. They are even looking at socio-economic profiles of areas.

Also they want to see a course load that would be considered difficult for the high school you are attending. So if you are at a school that doesn't offer a lot of AP or honors classes you need to take what is on offer - on the other hand if you are at a big HS with lots of options, that kind of sucks because they want to see that you took a LOT of what was on offer. The idea is not to punish a kid for not taking AP Calculus if they didn't have access.

The other thing is demonstrated interest. Most schools say they don't take this into account but that is clearly a lie. These schools want you to want to be there. Admissions want to see that you attended their open house, went to their roadshow when they were in your area, had an interview with a local alum and applied early decision or early action.

It is a ride....
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
She has been staying hopeful and committed to what she wants while watching girls she knows in her grade verbally commit left and right.

This is often the hardest part no doubt. But it is her journey and everyone has their own.

When DD committed it was overwhelmingly congrats from everyone- however there were a few softball focused idiot parents who don't know her that well who I heard saying that DD had under-committed in terms of softball level of the school. Yeah, well DD is going to win educationally :cool: and long term that is most important.

Interestingly the non-softball people who couldn't care less about sports are often more impressed with the school DD is going to than most of the softball people.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago - she rocked a standardized test. GPA has always been very competitive but this was the piece she was struggling with. She emailed her coaches her score and now the official visit offers have been coming in!! I know, we still have a ways to go but this is sooo uplifting for her!!! This summer will be even more exciting as that’s when a few other schools she is interested in can offer official visits. I‘m just so happy for her that her dream is getting that much closer to being a reality.

Keep it up! Good things are already happening! It is exciting - and having a great test score out of the way will make it a little less stressful.
 
Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
Having just been through all this, it varies from school to school and the Ivies, in particular, have their own weird way of doing things. In most of the D3's, the coaches we talked to wanted ACT to be within a point of the average score for the school or the SAT to be within 50 or so and the schools. Info for this will be on their website or in their brochures - or even a simple Google search will give you it.

Simple advice though - get a 32+ ACT or 1400+ SAT and apart from a couple of schools where the coaches have no influence over admissions (MIT for example), and the education part of the conversation is done.

Ivies do the whole 'incoming class must average the score of the average student body' - so if the school averages a 32 on the ACT the incoming class must also average that. So if they can get a couple of 34 ACT outfielders, then they can take a 28 ACT pitcher. So if you are a pitcher, you can possibly get away with a lower score though they would rather you didn't.

While scores are still critical and the most important thing to these schools, the emphasis on other things is increasing as they realize how the ACT/SAT scores can be manipulated based on a student's access to learning resources. And they are right - I believe DD may have finally got to her goal ACT score eventually, but tutoring we paid for (and the work she put in of course) helped a whole lot.

For example, schools are considering the whole high school profile thing - they are taking into consideration the school the kid attends as part of the admission and even trying to put ACT/SAT scores into some context. They are even looking at socio-economic profiles of areas.

Also they want to see a course load that would be considered difficult for the high school you are attending. So if you are at a school that doesn't offer a lot of AP or honors classes you need to take what is on offer - on the other hand if you are at a big HS with lots of options, that kind of sucks because they want to see that you took a LOT of what was on offer. The idea is not to punish a kid for not taking AP Calculus if they didn't have access.

The other thing is demonstrated interest. Most schools say they don't take this into account but that is clearly a lie. These schools want you to want to be there. Admissions want to see that you attended their open house, went to their roadshow when they were in your area, had an interview with a local alum and applied early decision or early action.

It is a ride....

Excellent and detailed response! Thank you. My DD attends a Catholic school with an excellent reputation across the Southeast that is very academically rigorous. However, they cap the number of AP courses that students can take. The maximum number permitted is 8 over the four years of HS. She took AP World History as a 9th grader and is taking AP European History as a 10th grader (the maximum permitted for those grade levels). She's also in Honors math. I know that the Registrar sends an explanation to the colleges kids apply to explaining the system and the limitations on AP courses. I hope that is taken into consideration at Ivies or other schools that are perhaps not as familiar with our high school
 
May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
and applied early decision or early action.

After my first go-around with my son (now a MechE sophomore, and not an athletics recruit),
we learned that even with *stellar* standardized test scores (top 1%) and transcript,
not applying early decision/early action is a HUGE obstacle to overcome.

At time of applications, He didn't want to be locked-in anywhere until he knew all of his options.
But that strategy back-fired somewhat, and his "options" turned out to be lesser than he was counting on.
He ended up in a really great program, and is crushing it and loving it now,
but honestly, pre-attendance, his school was probably #4 on his list.

Live and learn...
 
May 27, 2013
2,353
113
CMMom,

Yes - the guidance office will typically send along your school profile page with your dd’s application outlining that info, as well as which colleges previous students have attended from your school. They will also explain the GPA as some schools upscale their GPA by a lot for AP/Honors while some schools don’t. It is taken into consideration by the admissions board, as well as the rigor of the actual high school.

For the very selective schools, having a “hook” (softball) can be what makes the difference of being offered admission if GPA and test scores are good - as most applicants will have outstanding grades and scores.
 

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