<p>Remember, too, that the equation is so complex. My D has graduated a bit from the 3.0-3.3 group, overall. BUT if you pull only academic grades, she has about a 3.3 UW. Depending on how she does next year, with all of her academic classes APs and Honors, she could end up with a lot of Bs, only saved by the arts classes which pull her up.</p>
<p>And people here have kids with wildly varying test scores, too. So yes, we’re looking for schools that look holistically at applications, but also at schools where these are the kinds of stats they are comfortable with, or see as standard. </p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon is on our list, because of its theater program, for which it claims it only counts academics 10%. Our D manages to squeak into their middle 50%, but she’d have a hard time getting in just academically - a big reach (it’s an ultra-reach in theater, since they only take about 3% of their applicants). Yet it is a nice thing that a school like that is considerable as a reach for the B+ student. I think that speaks highly of them. Yet I do hear that their financial aid is abysmal.</p>
<p>^^^ CMU is not known for very good aid either merit or need based. They are one of the schools that openly say that paying their high sticker price should be considered as an investment in the future as their education is better than others. NYU is another such one.</p>
<p>Just joing the thread. My D has a uw 3.1 GPA w - 3.2098 this includes honors and three AP courses. She has three varsity sports, and yes cheerleading is a sport, tons of EC’s and thousands of community service hours. The weighting system for her school is very low - An A - is .0488, B- .0366 and a C - .0244. She attends a rigourous Legal Studies program at our well known public school. She has a 28 ACT score and a 1190/1600 SAT score. She just re-took both tests. When she first took the SAT she had a broken arm and we are hoping she does much better this time around. She is so stressed and nervous about getting admitted to any school with the statisctics we heard on our recent visits. Example, while at Clemson the admissions counselor stated the average GPA for admittied students was a 4.0. She even turned to me and said “we might as well skip this tour.”
I am just wondering if they recalcuate the GPA to their standards, for example since her school does weight the grades, will they not recalculate, or if they add a point will she be given the full point. We are just so confused at this whole process of grade recalculation.
She is vey birght, just the true procrastinator, turning in assignments late, studying for exams last minute, and let’s not even discuss the tornado that makes up her room.</p>
<p>Her list so far:
College of Charleston - Currently her favorite pick
University of South Carolina<br>
Winthrop
George Mason
University of Alabama
Auburn
Roanoke College - Her sister transfered last year and it has been a great fit for her.
Ohio University - hasn’t visited yet it was suggested for Forensic science.
She wants to major in Forensic Science or Biochemisty. Unfortunately, UVA and Tech are way out of our range for any chance of admission, so we must look at smaller schools and probably OSS. She wants to stay in the South preferably. Probably the farthest North she would consider would be Ohio or Pennslyvania.
She plans to apply early with regular admission to all of the South Carolina schools due to their limts on OSS students.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I look forward to following on this journey with all the others in the same situation.</p>
<p>Welcome RCS!
If you think a small school like Roanoke is the answer, have you looked at Mary Washington; Washington College; Goucher; McDaniel; Gettysburg; Muhlenberg; Juniata and Susquehanna and Wooster in your preferred geographic range? Small schools may not offer forensic science. Is there a reason you prefer George Mason to James Madison? JMU has a vry high graduation rate.</p>
<p>Can you find some early admission schools, so her fears drop–as they should, as her resume looks much better to me than it does to her–and outside the South, she will have geographic diversity on her side.</p>
<p>I agree with yabaeyabe2’s advice in post #84. Adding a few more schools to consider:</p>
<p>Pa/OH
Allegheny, Ohio Weselyan, Wittenberg, and Denison (reach, but not unreasonable reach), Earlham (in Indiana, but on the OH border, very different school IMO).</p>
<p>NC-UNC Wilmington and Asheville, Guilford, Elon</p>
<p>Just check that the science majors she is interested in are offered at each school.</p>
<p>BTW, I think that she has a very good chance at her first choice school.</p>
<p>She liked George Mason because of it’s program and the amazing internships students seem to be able to get being so close to DC. JMU is probably a reach based on the recent stats of the grads of 2010. She is not a big partier, and like any school yes JMU is a party school but it is a huge party school. Based on the statistics we have seen UNC-Wilmingon would also be a reach. She was looking at smaller schools because of her stats. Thanks for all of the repsonses.</p>
<p>D got her SAT scores back. CR/Math went up a total of 40 points. Writing went up 50. While I was hoping they’d be a little higher, they are at a satisfactory level and are in line with her grades, so I think we are done with testing!!</p>
<p>Regarding SATIIs - I’m glad to be on this thread this morning, rather than the thread where kids are gloating over their 800s and bemoaning their 780s. </p>
<p>After 3 subject tests now and a full SAT I earlier this Spring (so six individual section scores), there seems to be a zone that my kid fits into. He always gets in the mid to upper 600s on each test/section. </p>
<p>I hope these scores are fine for the schools he’s applying to (which don’t even require any subject tests) and they are consistent, so hopefully will give a realistic view to colleges of his abilities, and perhaps even keep the focus off his lower GPA.</p>
<p>APU- my d is also in that range and it is in line with her grades. Scores in that range are very respectable once you are out of the “tier one” schools!</p>
<p>Hey folks! I come today with a hopeful message for those folks whose kids have trouble testing anywhere near the median for schools they otherwise qualify for…my severely dyslexic kid has been tortured by her scores–one below 500 despite months of one-on-one tutoring, mock tests and homework. We weren’t hoping for 6 or 700’s–we just didn’t want to scare anybody. (and test optional schools come with their own issues…). This second test brought her scores up significantly–that nasty 400-something by 100 points!–and she’s now at the low end of the median for the schools she really would like to go to. That’s all we wanted, to make her SATs a neutral factor. Huge sense of relief! Private tutoring isn’t affordable for everyone, but practicing your head off and taking the test twice can really make a difference. We’re just beaming over here (:</p>