<p>I’d look at schools with nice honors programs. He might have to prove himself capable freshman year though. American was the only school with an honors program on my B+/2150 student’s list, but I know there are many others, especially at public universities. (BTW he was invited into the honors program and given a presidential scholarship).</p>
<p>Any other school suggestions?
I feel there has to be a good fit – he’s visited a couple of the larger state flagships on the East/Midwest and actually likes a them.
**
The OOS tuition is awful!* *</p>
<p>How much will the parents spend each year? Frankly, the amount his family will pay will probably largely determine where he can go. </p>
<p>Can you ask the parents what their yearly budget is for college?</p>
<p>What is his home state?</p>
<p>Wow, shocked- this thread has generated much more response than I expected and there’s obviously lots of boys out there like my nephew.</p>
<p>Thanks for some suggestions family hadn’t thought of. I think my brother and sister-in-law are very disappointed but reality set in-- he’s not going to get into an Ivy and there’s some issues here that probably should have been handled a long time ago. They would as would my nephew like to see him at the most competitive school he might be admitted to-- he feels he will do well in another environment out of public high school and surrounded by equally bright individuals.</p>
<p>To answer the q’s on money-- I don’t think their family is concerned – they will ultimately spend the money on a top school-- I think they don’t want to spend it on a “lower ranked” school - that’s what I picked up from the conversations while on vacation. Sister-in-law would be terribly upset to spend $50k for a school that is not highly ranked and that’s not my concern or business.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your suggestions for schools.
My nephew is looking at Cornell as a reach, Penn and UMD as a possible matches and now looking to narrow a list of 3 safeties-- which with his odd profile is a challenge. We hadn’t considered OOS for NY-- but a few of you suggested some SUNYs that didn’t hit anyone’s radar. Thanks for those suggestions.</p>
<p>Curious how parents of similar students handled the essays for such a student-- is it even worth highlighting the obvious or leave that to the GC?</p>
<p>Oh-to answer another question - no there were apparently no upward grade trends-- a consistently B/B+ student. I guess if you add in the APs in Soph and Jnr year, then an upward weighted trend?</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter is a senior at UMD and absolutely loves it. If your brother and sister-in law (through you) want to pm me with questions, I’d be happy to answer. She thinks my son would be a perfect fit at Maryland–whether he wants to apply to the same school as his sister is, at this point, a question mark.</p>
<p>For the essays, most at the schools we’ve looked at allow discussions about things of interest/extracurricular activities. This is where his passion should show through. We’ve been told that he shouldn’t write a “defensive” essay trying to over-explain his gpa, but rather focus on what he’s very good at, and trust that the positives outweigh the negatives. </p>
<p>Again, good luck, and if I can answer any questions about UMD (or refer them to my daughter), I’d be happy to help.</p>
<p>I suggest that you look at the scattergrams for some of the schools that he is interested in. If his school has Naviance, that is best. Otherwise, check out some of the Naviance guest logins that you can find here on CC. </p>
<p>Cornell is not a very realistic reach - it would be a super duper reach, since the scattergrams show that Cornell really likes high GPAs, much more than high test scores. Penn is also a super duper, unrealistic reach - I think 99% of its class was in the Top 10%.</p>
<p>I echo the advice to apply to some rolling admissions or EA schools, so that he will know early if he needs to expand his range of applications.</p>
<p>Pitt, Syracuse, Northeastern, American, some of the SUNY schools come to mind.
U. Michigan also, if he is willing to look outside the Northeast.</p>
<p>Any school with under 20% admissions rate is going to be impossible. He might get waitlisted at some schools below 30%. Above 30% begins to be match range. Too bad he’ll only consider large schools. Small colleges might be better to get him on track. Perhaps there’s also a learning disability that’s never been addressed.</p>
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I hope you meant Penn State, because Penn is not a match for anyone, let alone a kid with 3.1 GPA…</p>
<p>Thanks for all your suggestions for schools.
My nephew is looking at Cornell as a reach, Penn and UMD as a possible matches and now looking to narrow a list of 3 safeties– which with his odd profile is a challenge. We hadn’t considered OOS for NY-- but a few of you suggested some SUNYs that didn’t hit anyone’s radar. Thanks for those suggestions.</p>
<p>You must mean Penn St. </p>
<p>Is he instate for New Hampshire (his dad is a prof at Dartmouth)? </p>
<p>Possible matches and safeties…</p>
<p>Ohio State
Penn State (this may be a match, not a safety because of GPA)
Rutgers
Loyola Maryland
American U
U Pitt
Syracuse</p>
<p>I also would like to add that if your nephew has any unusual activities and/or a good sense of humor his essays may really give him a chance to shine. I think my younger son got better than expected results because his essays were really fun to read.</p>
<p>Another possible safety (though not urban) is Bard. They have a brand new science building, take academics pretty seriously, but cater to the unusual student.</p>
<p>“he feels he will do well in another environment out of public high school and surrounded by equally bright individuals.”</p>
<p>Well, that may be the case. I think that it’s a good thing that he wants a large school, because even a Tier III large school is likely to have some very bright students concentrated in pockets. That’s especially true if it’s a state flagship. Dummies and slackers do not generally major in physics at any school. My standard advice to any student who hasn’t found the smart, focused kids on his campus yet: enroll in an Asian language. It generally takes exactly one class period for everyone who isn’t dead serious to drop Japanese or Korean. (I found that to be equally true in an open-enrollment night school and at Harvard.)</p>
<p>The OP’s nephew’s AP scores may allow him to place out of intro classes and jump right into the more sophisticated classes. That would probably make it easier for him to find his people, too.</p>
<p>West Virginia University, but not sure how “urban” it is, but have always heard such great things about it & it seems to be overlooked! Their football & basketball teams always do well, if your nephew wants a “Rah” “Rah” type experience!</p>
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<p>I graduated from a CC and then went on to get my BA. My son spent his Senior year of high school taking classes at the CC in the morning and AP classes at his high school in the afternoon.</p>
<p>Neither of us had the experience of getting As with little or no effort. And we sure as heck would not have gotten As if we’d not handed in the homework in classes where it was part of the grade, in addition to mastering the material. </p>
<p>So, yes, I’m serious about what I’d do should my son’s natural gifts be so far ahead of his efforts.</p>
<p>"for those who suggested that the nephew go to CC, or that if they had a son like him, they’d only pay for CC until he demonstrated better work habits–really? You have a kid who has done gotten Bs in AP classes with really smart kids without great study habits, and you’re going to teach him to work hard by putting him in an environment where he can likely get As with little or no effort whatsoever? "</p>
<p>Unless his parents micromanage him, the OP’s bright nephew would have to get himself to class on time and do his homework and show up to take tests in order to get “As” in a CC. </p>
<p>My older S – who has lots in common with the OP’s nephew-- entered a second tier college as one of their top freshmen academic recruits (due to his scores, not his grades), but by the end of freshman year, had a college gpa of below 1.0 because he didn’t go to class, do assignments or do the work even though the work would have been very easy for him. In fact, some of the assignments for the honors class he was taking as part of the college’s honors program were the same that he had had as a high school junior.</p>
<p>“he feels he will do well in another environment out of public high school and surrounded by equally bright individuals.”</p>
<p>Instead of attending a large college where he’s likely to have very large classes – classes so large that the professors don’t notice if students don’t attend – he may do better at a community college or a liberal arts college where classes are very small, and professors get to know their students very well.</p>
<p>There also may be proportionately more very bright students and students interested in academics at LACs because most LACs lack the big sports emphasis that’s at many large public schools. Many students choose large public strictly to follow their sports teams and the activities related to those teams.</p>
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<p>This is exactly why the family should look further at the possibility of whether ADHD issues are effecting current performance; their denial/inaction on this issue could be setting this student up for failure no matter where he goes.</p>
<p>OP… I would strongly discourage applying to Cornell for a student who has not mastered the art of study. Cornell is not a school that will hold your nephews hand in any sense of the word. I also doubt that he would even have a shot at an acceptance unless he had some strong EC or other important criteria. </p>
<p>A student who scores high but whose grades are weak will not last until midterms at Cornell. I am not sure what makes your family think this would be a wise choice for him. By the way your nephews “high scores” are normal for Cornell but his grades are far below the Cornell standards.</p>
<p>^^ It’s amazing to me how many people diagnose by Forum. It is just possible the kid is very smart and needs to actually fail on his own to figure out mandatory work is just that. And your quote is not from the OP. It is a contributed viewpoint from NSM.</p>
<p>^^ I am not diagnosing the OP’s nephew. I am just stating the facts that an applicant with such a low GPA, will not have a chance at Cornell. He may have the test scores but a school such as Cornell would not be impressed with a GPA in that range. </p>
<p>I also have two kids attending Cornell, and the work load is not something that should be considered for a kid who has not demonstrated a strong work ethic.</p>
<p>According to the OP:</p>
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<p>I get to be the contrarian on this thread. Some bored kids respond to a challenge … not all … but some do. And the suggestions to put a student into the same relative situation and expect different results perplexes me … the student has already shown they will not work hard if it is not needed … so why will this change if they go to a college where they can get OK grades if they do not work hard? I actually think tougher schools can be most beneficial for these types of students … throw them into the deep end … and they will either swim or drown … however it will shake them off their current studying paradym. We clearly do not know enough about this student but he may be one who it is likely will respond to the challenge.</p>
<p>PS - I am a Cornell grad who NEVER studied in HS other than one quarter of Calculus and even skipped about 1/3 of my papers for English … and went to Cornell and go my lunch handed to me for 3 semesters … then figured it out, found a major that compelled me, and got a 3.6 for my last 5 semesters and got into 2 top tier grad schools. And while there is no way to know I absolutley believe going to less challenging school would have at least delayed my maturation which Cornell forced on me.</p>