tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post3542126717146719210..comments2024-03-08T00:21:56.482-08:00Comments on kitchen table math, the sequel: First College VisitCatherine Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-12935547314485577032012-08-18T19:27:04.393-07:002012-08-18T19:27:04.393-07:00Colorado juniors all take the test and the results...Colorado juniors all take the test and the results are published. Our charter school average was 27.5 - highest in the state. Not too shabby for our first ever junior class.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01239123267984420065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-52298512206496758992012-08-17T18:10:04.254-07:002012-08-17T18:10:04.254-07:00@Susan. Both scores and GPA are important -- it...@Susan. Both scores and GPA are important -- it's not an either/or proposition. GPA is always viewed in context of the school: a 3.3 at school x might be harder to attain than a 3.8 at school y. If someone has great grades and so-so scores but clearly has a lot to offer, they'll get taken seriously at lots of schools below the top level. Ditto if someone has ok grades and phenomenal scores. If either scores/grades are clearly there and the person presents a compelling application, they'll have plenty of options. <br /><br />Btw, a 26 is a higher score than some of the (upper middle class, attending excellent schools) ACT kids I've tutored could even dream of getting. A 26 gives you plenty of options, including places like BU, Syracuse, American, Wisconsin, and Maryland, which have been/are big reaches for some of my students.SATVerbalTutor.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14362826669168491773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-86994871459927870312012-08-16T09:12:32.102-07:002012-08-16T09:12:32.102-07:00Cassie,
We have a similar problem with my son--hi...Cassie,<br /><br />We have a similar problem with my son--high ACT, lame GPA. I'm getting the impression that GPA is more important.<br /><br />A friend's son was a mostly straight A student, but couldn't get above 26 on the ACT. He was accepted everywhere he applied (and offered money.)<br /><br />Also, those of you with Naviance, go to the colleges tab, type in a specific college, look for where the "graph" icon is and click on it. With most colleges it will tell you how many kids from your school got into that particular college over the last 6 years. You can see where the ACT and GPA cutoffs are.<br /><br />Susan SAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-54535780589867753652012-08-15T19:52:10.745-07:002012-08-15T19:52:10.745-07:00My son is just starting 11th grade, so we should b...My son is just starting 11th grade, so we should be visiting colleges, but haven't yet (other than MIT a couple of years ago when we were in Boston). We should visit Stanford, Berkeley, Harvey Mudd, and Caltech in California, and maybe University of Colorado, Boulder (we have relatives in Boulder). Other schools that might be worth a visit include Carnegie Mellon and University of Illinois. We should visit some safety schools also, but I doubt that we'll get to all the ones on this list.<br /><br />Incidentally, on the SAT vs GPA score—there is evidence that the lower of the two is the more predictive of college performance:<br />http://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/gpa-or-sat/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-57903889187274194822012-08-15T13:27:46.077-07:002012-08-15T13:27:46.077-07:00I had a friend graduate from Lawrence's Conser...I had a friend graduate from Lawrence's Conservatory (violin) in about 1990. After graduation, she played with the orchestra at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (our home town). She said that if she had known how good the musicians were at UWM, she would have seriously reconsidered her choice.Auntie Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05777983027361603449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-46097475827767930082012-08-15T13:00:57.829-07:002012-08-15T13:00:57.829-07:00We've done the local schools: CSU, CU-Boulder ...We've done the local schools: CSU, CU-Boulder and now the School of Mines in Golden. My son, a senior, indulged us by touring Mines, which he then fell in love with. We asked the recruiter to talk about admission criteria.<br /> <br />Son's GPA is pretty low. Around a 3.1. His ACT is 32 overall and 35 in Math. The average GPA admitted is 3.8, so I was wondering how much GPA counts vs. test scores. When we mentioned that he had a d on semester in Spanish, she immediately wrote that off. "We don't really care about foreign language courses, in fact, we only require 1 year in high school," she said. At Mines, there is no admissions essay, they don't expect students to take a writing portion of either SAT or ACT. It's a simple calculation of GPA + test score.<br /><br />Son was excited to get a perfect score on the ACT math and planned to retake it next month anyway. We were advised to apply September 1, as soon as they open admissions to Mines, rather than wait for any improvement at the semester of grades.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01239123267984420065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-34592896321633889442012-08-15T10:20:13.351-07:002012-08-15T10:20:13.351-07:00My sister went to Oberlin (although this is a long...My sister went to Oberlin (although this is a long time ago now). She applied to both the conservatory (in voice) and the college, but was only admitted to the college. For music students, if you aren't in the conservatory there are kind of limited opportunities. She was involved in the Gilbert and Sullivan group, and it was tricky to get enough people because the conservatory music teachers didn't like having their students sing in "amateur theatricals." <br /><br />That said, she absolutely loved Oberlin. She lived in French house for a lot of it, and enjoyed that group of people, and she did have some good opportunities to be involved in the English department groups, including being student representative on a search committee for a faculty member.ChemProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01720659176087492651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-80146598498000061602012-08-15T10:10:03.221-07:002012-08-15T10:10:03.221-07:00Darn. I forgot again about the paragraph commands....Darn. I forgot again about the paragraph commands.SteveHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03956560674752399562noreply@blogger.com