I don't think you realize how competitive its become. I went through this with my older child who didn't play a sport. 1400 SAT and 3.9 GPA and got denied from Northeastern on Early Action. The population of the country went from 240 million approx in the mid 1990s when we all went to college to 330 million today. That's a 38% increase in students without any increase in the amount of universities. More people chasing the same spots leads to inflation of entry requirements. If you think your typical lax kid would be able to get into Lehigh, let alone an Ivy, without lax you're just not getting it. The kids who are getting into those schools have exceptional board scores, high GPAs with AP classes and ridiculous extra-curriculars, not to mention killer essays. Straight A's aren't enough. Maybe a certain percentage of lax kids would meet those requirements regardless, but that's a very small percentage. Lax remains one of the few ways a normal kid from the suburbs can gain entry into an elite institution.
Not a single 2025 commit on IL, other than the 2024's that committed and reclassed maybe, have taken the SAT's or ACT or will have to submit those scores EVER. If you are IL top 50 odds are, other than IVY, you are getting into those schools with a 3.0-3.5.
True. You don’t usually take SATs until between your junior and senior year or during senior year so most if not all 2025s lax or no lax, have taken SATs as they are still taking PSATs. I would imagine with test optional most won’t need to except for schools that require it. 3.0 may be a stretch for most the top schools though with exception of a couple of slots.
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