| Admissions and test-prep successes [This page is being updated. See the home page for a current list of my students' college admissions.]
College acceptances for my class of 2010: Congratulations to the 8th graders in my Advanced Core Skills course, all of whom were admitted to their first-choice high schools: Payton (2), Northside (2), Lincoln Park IB (6), Jones (1), St. Ignatius (3), Lane Tech Alpha Program (1).
My students' 2009 college acceptances: Harvard, Yale (3), Stanford (2), Cornell, Duke, Columbia, Penn, Amherst, Northwestern (2), Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Emory (four-year merit scholarship), Boston College, Vanderbilt, UNC-Chapel Hill, Univ. of Southern California, and Univ. of Michigan. Three students were National Merit Semifinalists, and one was named a National Merit Scholar.
My students have been admitted to top colleges and prep schools: Harvard (early action '05, '06) - First Niles West HS student in 6 years to be accepted by Harvard (Dec. '05)
- First Libertyville HS student in 4 years to be accepted by Harvard (Dec. '06)
- Yale (early action '08)
- Princeton
- Williams
- Amherst (2 students: '07, '08)
- Dartmouth
- Cornell (2 students in '06, 1 student in '08)
- Haverford (early decision, Dec. '08)
- Swarthmore
- University of Chicago (early action, Dec. '07)
- Northwestern (3 students: '05, '06, '07)
- Washington University in St. Louis
- UIC-GPPA (pre-med) (2 students: '06, '08)
- Pomona (early decision, Dec. '07)
- Emory (3 students: 2 in '07, 1 in '09)
- Vanderbilt
- Carnegie Mellon
- Notre Dame
- University of Southern California (USC) (3 students: '07, '08, '09; one student earned a full 4-year merit scholarship -- USC Presidential Scholarship and National Merit Scholarship)
- Boston College (4 students in '07, including 1 early action)
New York University (NYU) University of Rochester (2 students: '07 and '08 (early decision, with merit scholarship)) University of Michigan (honors program) -- multiple students University of Wisconsin (Madison): 2 students in '08 University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) (College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; School of Architecture) Case Western Reserve (2 students, both of whom received $22,000/yr merit scholarships) Holy Cross
My students' spring 2008 ACT and SAT scores: These strong scores are particularly impressive, given my open-admission policy (mixed-ability classes) and the small number of juniors in my class this year. - SAT: 2,240 total (Critical Reading 730, Math 790, Writing 720) - SAT: 2,130 total (Critical Reading 730, Math 720, Writing 680, Essay 9) - SAT: 2,070 total (Critical Reading 730, Math 670, Writing 670, Essay 9) - ACT: English 36 (perfect!), Reading 35, Math 36 (perfect!), Science 34 -- composite 35 - ACT: English 36 (perfect!), Reading 36 (perfect!), Math 35, Science 34, Essay 10 -- composite 35 - ACT: English 34, Reading 35, Math 34, Science 31, Essay 10 (out of 12) -- composite 34 - ACT: English 34, Reading 35, Math 32, Science 35, Essay 10 -- composite 34 - ACT: English 35, Math 32, Essay 9 - ACT: English 31, Reading 34, Math 34, Science 33, Essay 9 -- composite 33 - SAT: Math 710 And one of my 8th graders did an excellent job on her first SAT in May 2008! - Critical Reading 600, Math 580, Writing 620 (including 66 on multiple-choice grammar) (1800 total) My students' February 2008 ACT scores: - English 36 (perfect!), Reading 35, Math 33, Science 29, Essay 10 (out of 12) -- composite 33 (junior) - English 33, Reading 33, Essay 9 (junior)
My students' fall 2007 PSAT and PLAN scores:
- PSAT: 222 total (National Merit Semifinalist) -- 78 CR, 76 M, 68 W - PSAT: 220 total -- 76 CR, 75 M, 69 W - PSAT: 213 total (National Merit recognition) -- 65 CR, 68 M, 80 W (perfect score) - PSAT: 203 total (97%, sophomore) -- 99% CR, 91% M, 99% W - PLAN: 99% composite -- 99% English, 99% math, 99% reading, 96% science - PLAN: 99% composite -- 99% English, 96% math, 99% reading, 99% science (sophomore) - PLAN: 99% composite -- 92% English, 96% math, 99% reading, 99% science
My students' October 2007 SAT results:
- 2,240 total: 720 W, 780 M, 740 CR (junior)
- 2,230 total: 740 W, 750 M, 740 CR, including 10 on the essay (senior)
My students' June 2007 SAT results:
- 2,360 total: 790 W, 800 M, 770 CR (junior)
- 2,270 total: 730 W, 800 M, 740 CR (sophomore)
- 2,180 total: 720 W, 760 M, 700 CR, including 10 on the essay (sophomore)
- 2,160 total, including 740 CR and 9 on the essay (junior)
- 1,820 total, including 700 M and 8 on the essay (8th grader)
And a junior scored 2,330 total on the January 2007 SAT: 750 W, 800 M, 780 CR, and 11 on the essay.
My students' April 2007 ACT results:
- 35 composite: English 34, Math 36, Reading 35, Science 35 (junior)
- 34 composite: English 34, Math 34, Reading 35, Science 33, and essay 10 (sophomore)
- 32 composite, including Math 36, English 34, essay 9 (sophomore)
- An 8th grader scored 26 composite, including 28 on Reading
My students have earned top scores on all sections of the SAT, PSAT, and ACT:
SAT Writing: 780, 750, 750, 730 (sophomore); 11 of a possible 12 on the essay (2 juniors)
SAT Critical Reading: 780, 750, 750, 740 (sophomore)
SAT Math: 800, 800 (sophomore), 740, 730 (freshman), 710
SAT total: 2,330; 2,270 (sophomore); 2,240; 2,240
ACT English: 34 (7 students, including 2 sophomores)
ACT Writing Test (essay): 10 (sophomore), 9 (sophomore)
ACT Reading: 36 (perfect score), 35 (3 students, including 1 sophomore), 28 (8th grader)
ACT Reading: one student improved from 21 to 29 in only two months
ACT Math: 36 (perfect score -- sophomore), 36 (junior), 34 (sophomore), 33
ACT Science: 35, 33 (sophomore), 32
ACT Composite: 35, 34 (sophomore), 33, 32 (sophomore), 32
SAT: 2,040 (freshman taking Jan. test after attending only 14 two-hour classes)
PSAT: National Merit Semifinalists; 230 (2 juniors), 219, 216 (sophomore)
Oct 2006 PSAT: a junior earned a perfect 80 on Critical Reading, 76 on Math, and 74 on Writing; a sophomore earned a perfect 80 on Math and 77 on Writing
Starting early and working hard pays off:
- A sophomore who started taking my test-prep courses as a freshman scored 2,270 on the June 2007 SAT (800 M, 740 CR, 730 W).
- A student who started taking my courses the summer after eighth grade earned a perfect score (80) on PSAT math and a near-perfect score (77) on PSAT writing -- as a sophomore! Her PSAT scores exceeded the National Merit Semifinalist cutoff for juniors. As a sophomore, she received recruitment letters from Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, Caltech, Williams, University of Chicago, Northwestern, and NYU. And she scored 34 (composite) on the ACT in the spring of her sophomore year: English 34, Math 34, Reading 35, and Science 33, with a 10 on the essay.
- An eighth-grader who started test prep the summer before eighth grade outscored many of my juniors on all sections of the test. She earned a 28 on the ACT Reading test in eighth grade.
- A freshman scored 2,040 on the SAT after taking only 14 test-prep classes with me. As a sophomore, she earned a perfect 36 on ACT Math and a 34 on ACT English.
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