3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread (2011 HS Graduation)

Parents Forum
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<p>I just signed son up for this program - [University</a> of Pittsburgh: Undergraduate Admissions & Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/oncmppgm_seasonal.aspx#wtb]University”>http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/oncmppgm_seasonal.aspx#wtb) because it’s major specific. We’re going to be visiting all schools with a real techy theme in them - FIT (Florida Institute of Technology), RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) and Pitt and maybe WIT (Wentworth Institute of Technology). Pitt’s the only different one, but they are supposed to have a great IS program. Son has convinced me that he needs to visit in July and leave August free because GF is going to be out of town in July.</p>

<p>Today is the last full day of school for Son!</p>

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<p>A friend’s son is enjoying Wentworth.
Pitt is a very good in state value</p>

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<p>btw, are we officially locking up the other 3.0-3.3 thread? may not be a bad idea…keep it as a resource but guide people over here instead (and subsequently 2012, 2013 etc…)</p>

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<p>Hi rodney!</p>

<p>I think that is the plan. But the '12s and '13s haven’t done much on their own threads yet. It’s nice that old-timers like yabe are still keeping us company. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Yep as Yabeyabe2 said transportation is easy and frequent. My S already takes the bus to and from Boston and we live two hours west of Worcester. There is the MBTA and the commuter buses. Its about an hour maybe by bus. Cars are allowed on campus but in an urban setting there really shouldn’t be much need for it. Im sure there are plenty of kids with cars.</p>

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<p>Thanks to yabeyabe and rakenjake for answers re: transportation from Clark. Encouraging. We’ll keep Clark on the list.</p>

<p>Since we live on the west coast, I’d love some other recommendations for colleges (Mass. and perhaps easily drivable states nearby) we might visit if we decide to travel to the east coast later this summer. I can probably only take five days for a college trip, so we need to hone that list. Obviously we’re looking for a university that is a social and academic fit, so 3.0-3.3 it is. Also, S is interested in a LAC that is somewhat left-ish politically. He has some neo-hippy leanings, but is also fascinated by business. (I guess those aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive…) Would like to be in or near a city. He’s not at all into the Greek system or the rah rah aspect. Is a strong critical thinker, good writer, into history and politics, struggles with math. He liked the look of Drew from its website, but the pricetag gave me heart palpitations. Honestly, I’m not expecting any significant merit aid since he is only now beginning to blossom as a student who actually enjoys learning. Grades in early HS years reflect that he was not there yet. Test scores are unremarkable. But, my gut is that the right university will bring out what he is capable of. Any suggestions will be gratefully accepted.</p>

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<p>Cav1n,
Top 3 suggestions are Clark, Goucher (Baltimore) and American (DC)–perhaps you can fly in to one and fly out of the other? You have geographic diversity in your favor in admissions and merit. Drew is a good school, but some find it more preppy than hippie (although its large theater department adds a non-preppy element).</p>

<p>The more hippie-ish schools in this category tend to be away from cities–Juniata, Ithaca, Hampshire, Bard (probably a reach). So do many of the solid LACs–Alfred (NY), Muhlenberg, Gettysburg, Ursinus, Susquehanna, Franklin & Marshal, Dickinson.
(all PA)
Costs are higher near the big cities and lowest in some of the smaller state schoools–Mary Washington (VA); Salisbury (MD); New Paltz and Binghamton (NY).
Note that East Coast schools tend to start about August 26–judging empty campuses is difficult. I think of DC-Worcester being about 5 1/2 hours of turnpike driving. Can you tack on weekends and make it a 9 day trip?</p>

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<p>We liked Muhlenberg in PA, Ithaca,you also might want to check out UMASS Amherst,UVM(solid hippie creds). Bard would be a reach and is more hipster than hippie. Hampshire definetly has the hippie vibe as does Green Mountain College and possibly Marlboro.</p>

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<p>Thanks for those suggestions. We will research them and get out a map! S’s first choice is UC Santa Cruz, but, as you know, California is bankrupt and our state schools are bearing the brunt of this in so many ways. Freshman admissions are way down and even those kids who get in can take an extra couple of years to graduate because they can’t get the classes they need. We’ll probably have a list of 5 west coast and 5 east coast colleges. Even with lots of research and preparation, these days admission seems more down to a roll of the dice than an exact science… anyway, thank you for your help!</p>

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<p>Son took his College Algebra and Physics finals today. He does not think he did that well on the Physics and may end up with a B- for the class. The pre-rec for Physics II is a B. His brother didn’t take any Science in 12th grade and his sister took Ecology. The school requires 3 years of Science as long as you take four years of math, which he will. Son could take Ecology or Introduction to Geology and Meteorology or just skip it. He doesn’t plan to go into a Science field and will be taking AP English, AP Government, Calculus, Mass Media II, Public Speaking (dual credit) and a class at PSU - entry level IT class. Should he take a Science just to have done four years of it?</p>

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<p>I would leave it up to him. None of those options seem particularly he might find one interesting</p>

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<p>I think below the tippy-top schools they will understand dropping math or science senior year if it’s clear the student doesn’t plan to major in them.</p>

<p>I’m sorry these schools create so many hoops for kids to jump through. I guess if standards get too relaxed, quality could be seen to drop. We didn’t have any requirements for taking APs at our HS, and the classes were getting ridiculous, so now they need at least a reference from a teacher, and I think some kind of decent grades. Our HS hardly ever has a second year of anything - most APs just become the harder version of a subject (kids do pretty well on the tests, though, considering), so they can’t really insist on “pre-requisites.” </p>

<p>We’ve just gone ahead and asked admissions reps what they think. At the CTCL Fair we heard from many schools that they want you to take as rigorous as you can, as far in as many subjects as you can, but within reason based on your interests and time.</p>

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<p>So I do have to say that my D did really well this semester, and holliesue said on the '11 thread that she hopes we’ll stick around here - and we will! My D really doesn’t intend to gravitate upwards in her college choices; she’s no more attracted to the highly selective schools than she ever was. I do think she’s mastering some general skills and learning to accommodate a bit more, but she’s really not all that different. And unless she massively raises her scores, her tests don’t bump her into another category, either. </p>

<p>I can’t imagine giving up this group. I’ve tried to revive the slightly higher GPA thread, but there just doesn’t seem to be the interest. So I’ll stick with the “3.X” crowd, if you’ll still have me!</p>

<p>Have I ever recommended this book here? I don’t think so. The best book we were ever given, to deal with her style of thinking and behaving, is “The Edison Trait: Saving the Spirit of Your Free-Thinking Child in a Conforming World,” by Lucy Jo Palladino. My D’s 3rd grade teacher gave it to us. I pick it up whenever I see it used or remaindered - later editions are titled “Dreamers, Discoverers and Dynamos: How to Help the Child Who Is Bright, Bored and Having Problems in School” - and give it out like candy.</p>

<p>It’s been a life-saver for our D - the main premise is that kids who can’t succeed conventionally, and whose unconventional qualities aren’t valued, see themselves doubly as failures. We’ve taken the long, long road with her toward learning how to master more of the conventional skills while nurturing her unconventional qualities, and helping her teachers to do the same. </p>

<p>Sometimes it worked, others not. I think today she can stand up and say “I am who I am, whatever people say, however they react.” She still gets roughed up and needs bolstering, but she inches forward all the time. For the kids who just can’t bring themselves to “play the game nicely” for the usual pats on the head, I say, “Be yourself! You will have a great life, and you’ll know you valued what you did, no matter what people say.” It’s nice to know how to cut the mustard (or whatever the expression is), and I’m thrilled my D shoots herself in the foot less and less all the time - she’s just happier when she’s in less pain - but I don’t think she’s sacrificed all of those wonderful unconventional qualities in doing so.</p>

<p>There’s the old joke - </p>

<p>Why do you keep banging your head against the wall? </p>

<p>Because it feels so good when I stop!</p>

<p>For many kids, and I think the 3.X kids very often, getting out of HS will be a very nice time to stop banging.</p>

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<p>Yabeyabe2, We’ll certainly explore Goucher in more detail. Clark is firmly on S’s east coast list. I looked up American and unless I’m interpreting it incorrectly, it’s beyond a reach, with the middle 50% admitted with 3.6 -4.1 GPAs. Rakenjake, UMass Amherst looks like a social (hippie-esque) fit and may also be an acaemic match. We’ll keep looking into all the other suggestions that were made. </p>

<p>Report card for second semester junior year was posted online yesterday and we are so proud that this particular GPA was a 3.86 weighted --BUT–with a rocky start to high school, the cumulative GPA picture is pretty bleak (see above!)
Are admissions officers in any way impressed by an upward trajectory from a 2.57 end of first semester freshman year to a 3.86 end of junior year? S’s UC GPA, if we calculated it right, is a 3.3 and he is still holding out hope for Santa Cruz, but must explore other options.</p>

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<p>i think admissions people are definitely impresed by an upward trajectory and that the junior year grades and geographic diversity will make AU not a distant reach–although Clark and Goucher have more laid-back, socially concious vibes. The AU social conciusness is tied to interest in government.</p>

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<p>It’s worth checking which schools take out freshman grades completely. Since there are schools that do, I’d say it’s justifiable to assume that colleges are interested in an upward trend in general. And all 3 of those schools are pretty holistic, none of the cut-offs as in the UC system.</p>

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<p>calv1n, I believe UCSC gives an extra point for improving GPA by one point. I’m not sure what two dates they use.</p>

<p>“Improvement in Academic Performance
The faculty will award up to 100 points for recent improvement in academic performance. Students showing improvement in grades from their sophomore year to their junior year by at least one full grade point will be given consideration in this area. Only courses in the “a–g” subject areas will be calculated for this purpose.”</p>

<p>My son went from a 2.1 or so UC GPA end of 1st semester sophomore year, to an UC 4.0 end of junior. (He has no AP’s or Honors in there.) Cumulative UC GPA is maybe 3.1.</p>

<p><a href=“https://admissions.sa.ucsc.edu/apply/freshman_guide.cfm[/url]”>https://admissions.sa.ucsc.edu/apply/freshman_guide.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>^^^this is encouraging information. Thank you all so much. So there may still be a chance at UCSC.</p>

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<p>Apparently Carnegie Mellon U doesn’t look at freshman grades, but that school is out of range of most of our kids. (Unless they had a horrible freshman year and stellar soph-junior years.) I also heard that Michigan doesn’t look at freshman year, but maybe that’s just rumor. Mainly I just hear about UCs.</p>

<p>There don’t seem to be any East Coast schools that don’t care about freshman year. I wish some of them would follow the UC mold. In any case, I think an upward projectory is of utmost importance for the lower stats kids applying to any good schools. “Holistic” schools will hopefully look at everything, not just numbers.</p>

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<p>What I’ve found from looking at quite a lot of schools is that just because a College admits students with lower stats does not mean that they aren’t good schools and don’t challenge the students. Both of my older kids went to small lower tier colleges where they worked very hard, and I think came out with very good educations. They, and many of their friends chose the smaller, less known colleges in large part because they received good merit offers. My kids took the honors and some AP classes, they weren’t slackers my any means, but they still got B’s. There should be no shame in being a B student and (Yay!) there are still plenty of great schools to choose from.</p>