3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread (2012 HS Graduation)

<p>In May of 2009, ReadyToRoll started this thread **New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread **for the reason given below:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/707436-new-3-0-3-3-gpa-parents-thread.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/707436-new-3-0-3-3-gpa-parents-thread.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*I was getting a little frustrated by the turn in the current B+ parents thread so I'm starting a new one.</p>

<p>This thread is for parents of kids who have GPAs from 3.0 to 3.3. This would be weighted or unweighted. Please if your kid has a 3.3 GPA but it's weighted up to a 4.0, there are many more options open to your child and many more threads at CC for you. This would not be your thread. Similarly, if your child has a 3.5...again...out of the range of this particular thread. The parents here would be working on finding colleges that will accept their B to B plus student, perhaps colleges that may place more emphasis on areas other than GPA.</p>

<p>There are lots of B or B+ students who are fantastic kids and may shine in other areas...test scores...ECs....community service...or whatever. Or maybe they are kids who haven't found their groove yet. Either way, this thread is for encouragement, sharing of information, and support. Please...no "one up-ing". There is enough of that elsewhere on CC as we all know!</p>

<p>If you don't like the criteria, please feel free to start your own thread. I hope there are enough parents here whose children fit these criteria, however, to join me on this thread so we can post about our experiences.</p>

<p>Thank you! *</p>

<p>That thread in about a year's time is still very relevant but has gotten to be over 250 pages and is difficult to find information.</p>

<p>Hence I am starting a thread based on the year when the student will graduate (2011, 2012, 2013). I would think that focus would help parents based on which year in school (junior, senior) their student is in. The parent thread (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/707436-new-3-0-3-3-gpa-parents-thread.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/707436-new-3-0-3-3-gpa-parents-thread.html&lt;/a&gt;) should continue as long as should continue as a general overall thread.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Thanks for starting this thread for the Class of 2012. I had been aware of earlier threads in this category, but my older child had a high GPA. My son is a different story. 3.0-3.3 is the story of his life. He is really bright, but not Einstein. So far he has only taken the PSAT, good but not great. He’s in gifted programs, but disorganized and has trouble getting to his homework. Basically he’s lazy, and I have driven myself crazy trying to change him. The new thinking is that I can’t change him, change has to come from him, but we need to find a school that suits him. I don’t want to go broke while he finds himself. We are in California, so I would like to keep him on the West Coast. His interests are theater and psychology.</p>

<p>My son is in the class of 2013, but I have the same situation. My older son was on the top of the class and got in to a top school. The younger one is like your son.</p>

<p>Again, I am not sure if you have had your son tested for learning disabilities (LD) but it might be a factor, especially the disorganized part of it. Again, I would not advice self diagnosing ADD/ADHD/Dyslexia or any of those things. But if you are finding a pattern and the teachers are noticing similar things, then may be you need to do some research or get a medical opinion. </p>

<p>Very bright kids with LD’s often often try to cope by doing the minimum they can to get away with it and this could be construed as laziness. And there might be a little bit of that too, especially if they know they are bright and can get away with it. Again this just a thought you might want to consider.</p>

<p>Thanks, Mazewanderer. He has mild ADD, no hyperactivity. If he is interested, he does it. A’s on tests and classwork, F’s on homework. If I force him to sit at the table and do his work, he does it just fine. He’s a really sweet, laid back kid who is driving me nuts. Older people think he’s wonderful. He can converse on any subject. He just retires when he gets home, and he feels really bad for disappointing me. He doesn’t change, but he feels bad.
He’s so different from his older sister, who just graduated, and I am having trouble adjusting. Both my expectations, and my approach. I’ve never hovered over my kids, but maybe I should start. I’ve even considered bribes for weeks with no missing work.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>We have tried that, it has not worked. Works for the first day or so and then it does not work any more.</p>

<p>Norcalifmo, your son sounds just like mine! Smart but disorganized, probably has mild ADD (we’ve had him tested twice with different results) but capable of doing very well in the classes that interest him. He’s finishing junior year and I think his overall GPA will be 3.0; he’s never taken an honors or AP class. SATs were 640/550/580. NO extracurriculars; he couldn’t be bothered. Sweet kid, very interested in politics and current events, but just can’t get it together in school. He gets 90s in the classes he likes and 70s if he doesn’t like the class or the teacher. So frustrating.</p>

<p>And meanwhile his sister, who is 15 months older, is the opposite, at least academically. She is graduating from high school this year and will go to Penn – so I just went through the whole college search with her but even her safest safety would be an impossible reach for my son. So I’m starting over completely with him.</p>

<p>I think it is time to get this thread going given that the 2011 thread has almost run its course.</p>

<p>I’ve got one of these. He has a number of issues but the biggest is anxiety. He often has to be talked down (it’s not that many problems, you know how to do this, you got an A on the last essay, you’ve got a solid grasp on the material, etc.) Who will talk him down at college? He’s a high B-A student with a 27 on the ACT (you can do it, you tend to test well, it’s not that long a test…)</p>

<p>I have a son that falls in this range so I hope this thread does keep going. I know there is a lot of activity on the High School Class of 2012 thread but it seems much more suited to the typical CC student.</p>

<p>There is a lot of good information on the Jewish B student thread also.</p>

<p>I, too, want to keep this thread going. My dd’s uw gpa is only a little above a 3.0, but weighted is much better (she takes lots of AP courses). And her SAT and ACT scores are good - just that darned GPA!! We’ve got a big out of state college tour planned for July. Will post how it goes.</p>

<p>2011 parent here; just done with the process…I will check back occasionally…</p>

<p>the one thing I do want to mention is that I think it’s foolish to assume that all kids in this range have some type of learning dis/ADD…some might, but what I have found is that most do not…</p>

<p>What are some of the schools our students are considering? Visits?</p>

<p>I haven’t visited any schools with my son. I’m planning to do some visits at the end of the summer; school here starts after Labor Day and most colleges seem to start up the week before, so that seems like a good time for visits. I’m focused on LACs for him. He has no idea what he wants in a college; he wants me to figure it all out for him. </p>

<p>I think that he could succeed in college in a smaller school with a more nurturing, non-competitive environment, with primarily small discussion-based classes and professors who know him (and will notice if he skips class or is having trouble). In a big school, I fear he will slip through the cracks, especially since he is extremely resistant to asking for help.</p>

<p>Colleges we will probably visit: Goucher, McDaniel, Hood, Susquehanna, Albright, Moravian, Elizabethtown. Maybe Hartwick. I would love more suggestions. We are in Long Island but he doesn’t want to go to college in Long Island or NYC. I have lots of family in the Philadelphia area so am thinking more about Eastern Pa. and the Baltimore/DC area rather than upstate/central NY though I know there are many nice LACs in NY.</p>

<p>I was happy to see this thread become active as I also have a son that fits in this group.</p>

<p>The only honors class he has taken through junior year are in math so not much weight to pull up his GPA. SAT’s are better than GPA would indicate. He took them again last Saturday so we wait and hope for the best. Slight upward trend junior year, although he usually manages to shoot himself in the foot when things are going really well.</p>

<p>He is currently undecided as to major but is definitely a math and science kid. He is also interested in music.</p>

<p>I have followed this discussion for the last 2 years and am very thankful to all of the parents who have shared their journeys with us. </p>

<p>Various commitments have made it difficult too many schools but he seems to like medium sized and not too urban. Definitely wants a campus. </p>

<p>I look forward to sharing the journey with other parents of 3.X students.</p>

<p>rodney, I agree that not all kids are B students due to learning disabilities. I know my son is smart but not brilliant and deserves the B’s that he gets. He excels in the classes he likes and skates by in the ones he doesn’t. </p>

<p>You’re not alone simpkin. My son has let me weed out the schools for him based on what I think he would like and also are financially viable. In some respects it has worked out well because I know he won’t get his heart set on a school we can’t afford. </p>

<p>We have visited a few schools in the midwest and eliminated one (Univ of Northern Iowa) because it felt too hurried for him. He will definitely apply to Northern Michigan University and probably Carthage College. NMU is mid-sized with around 9,000 students and Carthage is smaller at around 3,000 students. As a side note, another poster Kajon has a son at Carthage who I think graduated high school with a 2.8 GPA but now has a 3.7 (I hope I have this right) GPA in college. Wonderful things can happen for our “B” students.</p>

<p>My son sees benefits of both small and medium schools. A friend teaches at a small university in Minnesota and I know professors call students when they start to miss classes. I like that but I don’t think my son would appreciate it!</p>

<p>We will probably visit a few additional schools this fall. My son really wants to join the military but due to a medical condition has to try to get a medical waiver first. I don’t think he will be successful in obtaining the waiver but it’s something he has to try and he wants to find out the results before we go full steam ahead.</p>

<p>Simpkin your son sounds much like mine. He is reluctant to ask for help, and also thinks mom will figure this whole thing out with little input from him. </p>

<p>From your list we have visited Susquehanna and I liked it very much. DS said it was fine maybe a little small, but it is on his list. </p>

<p>We also visited St Joseph;s in Philadelphia, very nice school, but DS was not sure he liked being in the city. (It felt pretty suburban to me) We will concentrate on more suburban schools and see what he thinks by the end of the summer.</p>

<p>Hello from California!</p>

<p>My son is in this wheelhouse. He should finish this semester about 3.0 to 3.1, depending on his chemistry grade (yikes!). His SAT from May was 520-560-520 (1600) which is better than his practice SAT a few months before (1420). The kid works hard, but doesn’t work hard enough to get the better grades, I don’t know how else to put it.</p>

<p>He’s probably better suited for a state school, but his main interest is going back east to be with friends at schools like Sarah Lawrence, Bard, Eugene Lang, etc. I don’t dissuade him, but I tell him to look up the enrollment stats of the schools he’s interested in. He says it’s irrelevant, since his friends aren’t geniuses and they’re in these schools. And of course, I’m just a know-nothing dad…</p>

<p>I am glad this thread was taking off and it was by design dormant for a year. I had noticed that the first thread was becoming to big and that it was better to concentrate based on year of graduation, so that parents can discuss strategies for bright but academically non performing kids. If you have a child who will graduate in 2013, I have started another thread and you could post there or here till such time that thread becomes active.</p>

<p>Some suggestions: </p>

<p>Elmira College - New York
Eckerd College - Florida
University of Delaware - Delaware
West Virginia University
Rochester Institute of Technology - New York
Converse College - South Carolina (women)
Chatham University- Pennsylvania (women)
Simmons College - Massachusetts (women)
Stephens College - Missouri (women)
Alfred University - New York
Flagler - Florida</p>

<p>University of Delaware is really hot at my kids’ high school. My DD’s good friend will be attending this fall, and she’s an honors/AP student with great ECs. So I think it may be out of reach for a kid like my son. Maybe for a B+ student?</p>