Standardized Testing
Private versus Public High School
Many parents ask us if for college admissions purposes it’s better to attend a well known private school versus a public school. The key to this question is, “for college admissions purposes.” The truth is, parents should not make ANY decisions based purely on college admissions odds - that’s the wrong way to address a crucial choice that involves far more variables than simply college admissions. One valid reason to send your son or daughter to private school is if you want him or her to have smaller classes, specific classes not offered at your particular public school, a different social environment, athletic opportunities not found at your local school, etc. The worst reason to send a student is in the vain hope of bettering college admissions odds. Most of the Ivies admit roughly 25% of their populations from private schools and roughly 65-70% from public (the rest from parochial or home-schooled), but that merely reflects the fact that more kids from publ ic school apply — again, the acceptance rates are usually about equal.
Calculate your Academic Index
The Academic Index is a formula the Ivies use predominately for recruited athletes (not to be confused with applicants who happen to have played sports in high school; if you’re being recruited, you know who you are!). It combines SAT scores, SAT Subject Tests and a student’s class rank. Even for non-recruits, it can be a helpful guideline to show students how they stack up among Ivy applicants.
Admissions Blogs
Many colleges are beginning to create blogs written by admissions officers. These blogs are helpful resources no matter what grade you are in because often some interesting insight is shared. Take some time to check websites of colleges that interest you and read their admissions blog, if they have one, if not, read the school newspaper online.
Get Some Testing Done Early
Unfortunately, many students only start their standardized testing in junior year and as a result have no SAT Subject tests. The last thing you ever want to do is wait until spring of junior year and then take all three Subject Tests (most top colleges require three Subject Test scores) on the same test date!
Stay on Top of Testing!
Did you know that the November 1st Subject Tests are the only time to take language tests with the listening component? It’s not too late to sign up — the late registration deadline is around October 10th. Subject tests are a key part of the selective admissions process and most top colleges require three strong SAT Subject Test scores. You know you are ready for the language listening tests if you’ve had three years of language study, are a native level speaker or have spent time abroad studying the target language.
Standardized Test Scores and Applications
Now that most students are finishing up both their early and regular applications, we have some more general points to keep in mind. One of our students just complained that you can’t send official AP scores online — you have to call! Isn’t that odd since both AP’s and SAT I/Subject Tests are brought to you by the same company, the College Board. In any case, that means that when you send your official scores (which you HAVE to do — they will NOT take your word for it!), you have to send your SAT I’s and Subject Tests online, but then use the phone to send your AP scores. They must just want to hit you up twice for $! Thanks, College Board. The CollegeBoard.com site says: To request that your score reports be sent to colleges, call (888) 308-0013 or (609) 771-7366 (outside the United States, U.S. territories, or Canada) on or after July 4.
ACT Testing
After the transcript, colleges give most weight to test scores. At schools like Dartmouth and Columbia, the average verbal SAT score is about 730, and the average math is 735. That’s typical at all the top schools although, Cornell and Brown can be a bit lower, Harvard, Yale, Princeton a bit higher. Clearly in order to get into this top category of schools, you MUST have strong test scores. Typically on SAT Subject Tests, most students aiming for top colleges earn over 740 on three SAT II tests. All the unhooked students we have worked with who have gotten into Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Yale have tended to have 740 and up critical reading, 730 and up in math and 730 and up in writing.
Some schools, however, will accept the ACT in lieu of SAT Subject Tests.
Ivy League Admissions Statistics
Our exclusive data on the Class of 2014 Ivy League Admissions statistics, now updated for Early Action and Early Admissions for the class entering 2010. See exactly how many students applied and how many were accepted to different schools.
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