For almost all colleges the most important part of your application are your grades and the classes you take to get those grades. Test scores are typically second in importance. Private colleges tend to look at more issues than grades and test scores while public colleges like the ones you mention rely more on just grades and test scores. Your grades and test scores put you in the range for acceptance into the colleges you mention but of course there are no guarantees. Just make sure you apply to some other colleges that are a more likely acceptance.

The most selective colleges are generally looking for students who are strong across the board including grades, test scores and extracurricular activities. It is difficult to answer your question without more information but very often admitted students have a passion for one or two areas that set themselves apart from other applicants. If you have some passion that you can demonstrate that will help. However, while there are technically no minimum test scores for these colleges, if you are much below a 2,100 composite SAT or 30 ACT you are not likely to be a strong candidate.

Some very bright students just don’t do well with standardized tests which is why many colleges no longer require them for admissions. You can find a list of such colleges at http://www.fairtest.org. But, both Brown and Vanderbilt still do consider test scores in the admissions process.

I’m a junior in a private high school(very well known)and I’m getting a bit nervous because I’ve only had help for my SATs, that didn’t last too long and even after I got the results back from my PSATS and P-ACTS, there wasn’t much improvement (although I didn’t get ACT prep). My overall score for the PSAT was a 1550 and my PACT was a 22 (my math brought me down).
I have a really good GPA though; it’s a 4.0, I’m in Honors classes and next year, probably a few AP’s, and I’m involved in many extra curricular activities (French Honor Society, Chorus, sports, Model UN, yearbook editor, community service, Art Club, piano etc.)
I did a summer program at Brown University already and I’m doing a study abroad program this summer.
My main goal is Brown University or Vanderbilt, which I know are very high expectations (I have back-ups), but I’m so worried my standardized test scores won’t be enough to get me in, and I won’t have enough time to prepare for them seeing as they’re in 2 months. Is there anything else I can do to sell myself to some really good colleges?

There are two types of money called scholarships. Most of the money comes from the colleges themselves. Some of this money is in the form of need based aid. Need based aid is provided based on the families need as determined through a standard formula. The other type of aid is merit based aid.

For merit based aid, different colleges will have different criteria for determining what amount of money they will award and to whom. There is no consistency in this. So one suggestion is to try to figure out which colleges might be looking for something that your son has. If a college is looking for somebody to play football or run track he may be attractive to that college. For aid based on academic ability he will most likely be looking at colleges that are somewhat weaker academically than we would otherwise look at. Let me explain.

If a college doesn’t normally get students near the top of their class, they may be more likely to give that student money. On the other hand, if many students applying to the college are in the top 10% of their high school class, then your son will not be usually and might not get any merit based scholarship.

The stronger he is in various activities, the more likely that he will be an attractive candidate for merit money at a particular college.

My son is a junior in Texas and he just received a 198 on his PSAT. His SAT scores are Reading- 630, Math 670 and Writing 760.
He is currently Junior Class President and is involved in many extra-curricular activities such as one-act, Varsity football and track. He is currently ranked #3 in his class. Any suggestions on what we need to focus on to possibly receive scholarships?

Since the application deadlines for the colleges you mention have all passed I assume you are asking if there is any further to do to increase your admission chances. There really isn’t unless you have something significant occur after submitting the application that may increase your chance of acceptance. In general terms, very selective colleges like those you mention are looking for students that have a particular passion that is expressed in their activities. Typically these students will also have some amount of national level accomplishments related to their passion.

Good luck with admissions.

I was hoping to apply to Princeton, Yale, and Columbia, with a bunch of other schools as my safeties.

I have a 101.4 weighted GPA and my schools valedictorian, while taking all APs, honors, and college credit courses since 9th grade.

The first time I took the SAT as a junior I received a 2120 (720 CR, 680 Math, 720 Writing, Essay 10) and then I took it again as a senior this year and earned a 2300 (790 CR, 750 Math, and 760 Writing). I also am a National Merit Semifinalist.

I took 5 Aps so far and received 4 5s and 1 4, and am taking 3 more this year in the hopes of achieving national ap scholar.

I am the president of my band, chorus, key club, and student council. My centralized passion is music and I have made the all state chorus and all eastern choruses, and have had countless accomplishments on clarinet as well. I am also in National Honor Society, Jazz Choir, Theatre Guild, and Student government.

I have displayed my leadership abilities by attending Boys State, summer leadership programs in Washington Dc.

Is there anything that I could improve to increase the likelihood of attending one of these schools? If something is lacking that I didnt include just mention it and I will tell you.

I think there are ways to find the average score for 10th grades but I don’t have a source handy. In general terms, the middle range of all test takers is around 500 on each section. So your reading score is about average, your math is much higher and your writing is above average. Whether it is good depends on the type of colleges you might be considering and their mid range of test scores.

It is up to you on whether to retake the SAT. If you feel you can do better on the Math score then you might want to do so. However, at this point it is too late to submit new SAT scores for many colleges. Check with the colleges you have an interest in to see if you can submit test scores that have not yet been taken.

Most colleges will superscore the SAT which means they will take your high score from each part of the test even if it is from different test dates. That way, if you retake the test and get a higher math score but lower reading, they would take the two high scores and put them together to give a new total score.