<p>Both UW Oshkosh and UW Whitewater have enrollment of around 10,000. Whitewater has a good football team and both have greek organizations though I’m not sure how many participate.</p>
<p>Since Michigan participates in the Midwest Student Exchange program she may receive discounted tuition at both schools if the major she decides on is covered.</p>
<p>Do you think we could start a list of schools that look at your weighted GPA? That would certainly help some students in this range.</p>
<p>I replied to CIA on the “regular” class of '11 thread. </p>
<p>I second the smaller WI state schools - lots of great stuff going on there.</p>
<p>I had a great visit with a friend tonight, talked about having 3.X-type kids. It’s a nice feeling that my D can have a fun and fulfilling senior year, without having to maintain some kind of full-speed-ahead, no-mistakes-allowed kind of performance. Let’s be glad for that! She’ll do her best, and she’ll make her applications to her very reasonably organized list, and we’ll see what happens.</p>
<p>Our biggest mystery is how the theater auditions will turn out; prepping for those will be her priority, along with maintaining a reasonable academic performance. I think she can do that without turning her life into a nightmare.</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s hard knowing the kids who do have the great stats and seem to “have it all.” I know she still feels at those moments that she doesn’t measure up. But in our family we’ve had a top-stats kid; senior year was hard, not being allowed one tiny mis-step that would “ruin everything.” And that giant pile of awards just got put away in the closet after the grad party. Not that it’s meaningless - she’s proud of her hard work, and she’s having a tremendous experience at college. But I think D2’s senior year will be a lot more enjoyable. There are lots of ways to live a rewarding life, and I’m plenty proud of her.</p>
<p>What a marevlously sensible view of this process–I wish I had it!</p>
<p>Um, well, it was kind of hard-won sensibility, if it is indeed sensible.</p>
<p>I’m also observing some situations lately where any problems we’ve had seem pretty paltry, and it’s kept my head straight. There’s nothing like a reality check to help you “love the kid on the couch.”</p>
<p>Honestly, though, I do say hurray for these kids who know what a little failure feels like, and who know how to keep on going in spite of it. Otherwise you’re always waiting for the shoe to drop, or you even start thinking the world isn’t allowed to throw any trouble at you. Both are pretty scary places to be.</p>
<p>I wish all of us as students had that kind of thought process, it would make everything so much easier.</p>
<p>Ruman, Va Tech; James Madison; Pitt–sorry if I am wrong about driving distances. Indiana? Northern or Southern Illinois U?</p>
<p>Cia, virtually all schools look at weighted GPA, often using their own forumla</p>
<p>The weighted GPA question is an interesting one, though. University of Oregon for example looks only at the GPA listed on the transcript. So if your high school lists the weighted GPA you’re in good shape. They’ll ignore the “regular” GPA and only consider the weighted one. Are there other schools like that? I’m sure there are, but I don’t know which they are.</p>
<p>And Emmybet, thanks for the perspective. It’s important to inject the balanced view every now and again given much of this site would have us all thinking our kids are total failures. That is certainly not the case, and I firmly believe the “hard knocks life” will pay off in the long run for these kids.</p>
<p>If you have a B student, pushing them into a more competative school might not be the best solution. There are plenty of good schools where you can get a great education. And also, who asks for your GPA after you have a job? Not many people. How successful you are in life involves so much more. Happiness? Work ethic? Balancing family life?
And colleges look at the quality of the high school also. A student with a B from a HS known for academics might look better than a student with stait As from a less competative HS.
And it is kind of funny to me to see the students under pressure on this site. There is much to decide in such a short time. There are so many people with 3.7 GPA and above and all the ECs. Where did all these brainy people come from? Most of them will get into the real world and be too geeky to survive.
Here is what a lot of smart students do. Go to community college for 2 years. Get good grades and save the money, then transfer to a real college for 2 years. Save a ton of money and get the same degree.</p>
<p>yabe - your sense of geography gave me a laugh. Clearly you have never driven the length of IL. But I’d be the same way if I hadn’t gone to college in Chicago (I grew up in MA). I thought then that the distance from Chicago-Boston was equivalent to Chicago-Santa Fe (anyone who’s curious should look at a map; you’ll get a giggle out of it). </p>
<p>To amend your IL list, I’d say Northern IL, IL State and maybe Eastern (I know less about that one, but it’s the closest to MI).</p>
<p>I can’t say I had “dreams” of my D at a highly intellectual school, but it certainly was my original image. And I think she did, too. She wondered if she was going to be thrilled to get away from a provincial HS and blossom in an environment that really respected learning and hard work. A couple of schools like this are on her list. But she found others, even ones someone with these stats can get into (like Sarah Lawrence) were too intense for her. She realized she does want to feel comfortable. So off came a few intellectual reaches. I was a little sad for that, but that’s just my inside feeling, and it’s her life in the long run. I have faith that wherever she goes on her list, she will be fine. It’s what she’s taking with her that counts.</p>
<p>tractor - I respect your point of view. I will put in my opinion that spending 4 years in one school has its personal and practical benefits, in terms of growth, connections, and opportunities. Also all CCs are not the same, and these are very high-ability kids here. Not everyone wants to spend time where it could just be a continuation of HS.</p>
<p>Also, having been and having had a top student at a top university - and proud myself to be a geek! And with a total geek husband! Woohoo! - I will say that top kids can be all kinds of things, and wonderful people. My one issue is that if they’re not careful, they forget that it’s a big world out there, and their perspective can shrink. They can get intellectually the way I was geographically way back then: like that old “New Yorker’s View of the World” cartoon, where nothing exists except their own little high-powered corner. </p>
<p>I think I have benefited from living half of my life in the northeast and half my life in the midwest (urban and rural). I’ll say to the students on this thread: It’s a very big world out there, one you can’t ever get your finger on. Be open to a lot of possibilities. There are wonderful people and opportunities everywhere. And be proud of yourselves. You are very, very capable and accomplished people.</p>
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<p>I love this paragraph … and as one of mine said … “I may be able to get into one of those (highly selective) schools but if I get into a school where everyone is smarter than me I will never speak up in class; if I go to a school where I’m above average I think I’ll be a lot more confident and outgoing in class”. Hard to argue with that self-awareness … comfort and confidence are vital for learning. My modified internal measure is will the top 25% of the students at a school challenge my child … that should be enough presense to allow a student to grow intellectually … and interestingly there are A LOT of schools where the top 25% of the kids are pretty strong students!</p>
<p>Based on some browsing here on CC, I thought that Va Tech might be a school to add to the ever-morphing list of possible schools. Any feedback on kids in this catagory getting in there? Also any feedback on merit aid offered there would be helpful.
Son’s stats: ACT 30, UW GPA 2.9, W GPA 3.4</p>
<p>“and interestingly there are A LOT of schools where the top 25% of the kids are pretty strong students!”</p>
<p>great line; I think that has what has surprised me most about the process with D2…even the schools where she is a “match” as a “B” student, the top 25% are amazingly capable academically…</p>
<p>Here is some feedback: Husband went there and we still have connections there. Very manageable for kids in this catagory. Known for their business program. Not the most beautiful campus but fine. About 30-45 minutes from Madison and and hour from Milwaukee. 2-3 hours from Chicago (traffic!). Whitewater itself is a smallish town in southern Wisconsin in an area near state parks with hiking and lakes made eons ago when the glaciers moved through. Somewhat of a commuter school since it is so close to the major cities in southern Wisc. A fair amount of Chicago area kids go there too.</p>
<p>mompossible, at our HS, kids in this range and below have been accepted at Va Tech, but I do not know about aid. Huge school, with lots of parties, school spirit and big time sports.</p>
<p>Emmy, right you are that I never drove the length of Il. Of course, once Va Tech was mentioned as a possibility, I figured a LONG day’s drive might be an option.</p>
<p>Your HS has had students with a 2.9 accepted to Virginia Tech?</p>
<p>2.9-3.3 with good, but not D1 sports accomplishments and OOS fullpay</p>
<p>I can’t help but think there must be something else to it when the Collegeboard reports only 3% of admitted students have scores from 2.5 to 3.25. I’d think the vast majority of those would be D1 athletes.</p>
<p>We live in Virginia Beach, and there is no one from my daughter’s HS who has been accepted at Tech without a 3.40 and above. Most are well above the 3.40 range. </p>
<p>My niece is from out of state and was # 5 in her class with a strong GPA and test scores, Tech was her #1 choice for engineering. They offered her no merit aid. She was offered money by Drexel and A & M. She showed Tech her other offers, and they advised her that they don’t barter for aid. She was not able to go due to the prohibitive costs of OSS for Tech. A & M doesn’t guarantee housing for Freshman, so she isn’t going there either. It is August and she still hasn’t decided what to do.</p>
<p>I felt so sorry for her, as she really wanted to be a Hokie.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry! Excuse me or asking, but how hasn’t she decided what to do? The deposit to most colleges were due May 1st.</p>