So today, I sat with a Senior whose high school guidance counselor recently explained that her SAT scores were not high enough to be admitted to good colleges. However, she has a strong GPA with rigorous classes. To her credit, the student was honest when confessing she didn’t take recent test prep seriously. Gasp– really? A student who doesn’t put in hours of test prep until under the gun is so unusual!
I asked her if she was willing to let go of what other people think and perfectionism in the college planning process.
I explained to her how we build college lists based on data – outcomes, academic resources, student engagement, and environment.
I asked if she would be willing to consider a new path – great test-optional schools (as defined by data) in new exciting areas of the country to explore.
She said yes and then asked, “could you customize the list, so the rankings have more weight towards academic resources?” Music to my ears – no request to filter the list based on the weather or SEC football.
I showed her this trailer from Moneyball – I am Jonah Hill, not Brad Pitt – we both teared up a bit.
Below is the list of schools that she is now researching. The student walked away with a skip in her step, a new outlook, and resources to research schools. Also, she has a determination to work harder on SAT prep but without the feeling of desperation that would ultimately harm her performance.

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