College Admission Reality Check for Connecticut Shoreline Students

“I have good grades. I’m in a bunch of clubs. But I don’t have anything special.” Avery, a junior from Essex, said this during our meeting. “What can I do to help with admission?”

Avery’s grades were strong, but we had to confront a reality that many families from the Connecticut Shoreline—Essex, Old Saybrook, Madison, Guilford, East Lyme, and surrounding towns—are now facing: grade inflation has become so widespread that an A– average is no longer uncommon. In fact, it is increasingly close to average.

My wife, a college professor who sits on an admissions committee, recently reviewed a transcript where a student with a 98 average was ranked around the 50th percentile of his class. How is that possible? Weighted courses added ten extra points at his high school, pushing many students above 100. I see the same pattern in our local Shoreline schools, where GPAs above 3.7 are extremely common.

Avery’s extracurricular involvement was solid, but like most students, she had not done anything that stood out as exceptional. She also did not have what colleges often call “hooks”—athletic recruiting potential, VIP connections, significant adversity, or demographic diversity. She was a great kid who had done everything right, yet she was competing in an admissions landscape where roughly half of each incoming class is filled through categories she cannot access.

So what could she do as a junior at a strong Connecticut high school?

She could take the SAT.

Students from high-performing schools such as Valley Regional, Old Saybrook High School, Daniel Hand in Madison, Guilford High School, and East Lyme High School often perform very well on standardized testing. And in an era where grades are inflated across the country, a strong SAT score is one of the few remaining ways for Shoreline students to differentiate themselves—for both admission and merit scholarships.

For motivated juniors like Avery, the SAT may be the most effective lever they still control.

If your child needs guidance on maximizing this advantage, contact us to begin SAT planning.