<p>Back in June, I started a thread about my son, he of the 3.1 UW gpa, but 35 on his ACT and state championship/national finalist EC (DECA). My son wants to go to a large school with a prominent business program and good athletics. I asked if anyone knew of schools of that type who tended to look favorably on those with similar mismatched stats. Many people provided helpful advice.</p>
<p>Ultimately, he decided to apply to five schools--Michigan, Indiana, Texas, North Carolina and Pitt--while leaving open the possibility of applying to additional safe schools if he didn't get a quick admit from one of his choices. This contingency proved unnecessary, as he was promptly admitted to Indiana (will apply for direct admit to the business school in January). Since then, he has been accepted at Texas (business school decision pending, but admitted to the University), and had Michigan and Pitt ask to see his seventh semester grades. He hasn't yet applied to North Carolina--he was advised to wait until the January admissions cycle, so that his seventh semester grades would be reviewed prior to a decision being made.</p>
<p>I am not posting this to garner congratulations for his acceptances, or guesses about his chances at the other schools, but rather to provide empirical encouragement for those with kids with similar track records. As we have gone through the process, we have discovered that this is a more common phenomenon than we thought, especially with boys. His admissions suggest that there are very good alternatives for those with talented kids who struggle academically early in high school, and that perseverance, rather than panic, is the way to go--life (and even college admission) doesn't end with a 9th grade C, or even a 10th grade B-. His performance this semester to date--3.8 UW with 4 APs out of 5, which is way better than he has ever done--suggests that the light switch does eventually go on. </p>
<p>Good luck to everyone in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Both of my kids had mismatched stats. Son had high GPA and low ACT/SAT. Daughter had low GPA and high ACT/SAT. Guess who fared better in admissions? Just like the OP, the high ACT/SAT wins. Guess who is doing better in college? My son with the higher high school GPA and lower ACT/SAT is doing much better.</p>
<p>Thanks so much dadx3… I love it when people come back to post successful stories. I had followed this thread with interest because I have a similar situation with my DS. He is a Junior and did have a lackluster first 2 years of HS… although he did much better last year… ended with a 3.2. It seems that, like you said, a light bulb has finally gone off this year. He has pulled off a 3.9 first semester. He got his first SAT under his belt with a 2100+, so he is definitely mismatched. It is so good to hear this story. I agree that it sometimes just takes boys longer to get it all together. They just aren’t as careful about dotting and crossing all their t’s and i’s. I do think colleges know this… it is VERY common. I should know… hence my screen name… have pity on me:-)))</p>
<p>A lot of people on here would have told you that there was no way your DS could have gotten into any of these schools with that GPA. My DS will be looking at small LAC’s, but I don’t want to discourage him form applying to any of his " no way" schools as long as he has a few “yes, absolutely” schools. I think ED is out of the question because I’m sure, like your DS, they will want to see his first semester Senior grades. I found it interesting that he did so well this year and a lot of the classes were much harder than last.</p>
<p>Yes, her school would be considered more academically challenging, but her classes were much easier. My son took much harder classes at a lower-ranked school. I figured this evened things out, but that could be a factor.</p>
<p>So, take heart, those of you who don’t get into your first choice school because of low ACT/SAT scores. Your hard work will pay off with a great GPA at your second choice school. And you may find that you really grow to like that second choice school.</p>
<p>There were dozens of classmates at my high school who scored high enough on the SATs to be in or exceed the upper-median of many elite universities…including the Ivies and top LACs and yet, had high school GPAs well below a 3.25 or in many cases, well below a 2.5. </p>
<p>With the exceptions of those of us who managed to gain admission to respectable LACs that were willing to take a chance on them(i.e. Oberlin, Vassar, etc), most ended up in a SUNY/CUNY flagship and within a semester, nearly all of them joined the honors colleges there. </p>
<p>For those at the SUNY/CUNY flagships, quite a few of them ended up transferring up to top LACs like Reed and elite universities like Columbia, and Brown and continued excelling academically despite coming into a school with a seemingly much stronger student body. More importantly, every one of them felt the institutions they ended up graduated from was more manageable academically than our high school.</p>
<p>^^definitely the same experience for S2. HS was much more demanding. Not that college is easy, but he feels like the profs treat him as an adult and there aren’t so many petty ways to blow a grade as in HS.</p>
<p>The classmates I mentioned above were all surprised how their undergrad GPAs were almost the polar opposites of the one from HS even after finishing at the more elite LAC/university (i.e. 3.5+ vs 2.0)…and that included STEM majors and kids who weren’t allowed to take AP courses. </p>
<p>This was mirrored IME though my SATs and GPA were both low for the LAC I ended up attending and graduating from with grades in the abovementioned HS classmates’ college GPA ranges.</p>
<p>S in similar boat. 2180 SAT/32 ACT, but 3.2 GPA. He has received 4 acceptances (Xavier, Pitt, Loyola Chicago, and Seattle) 3 with merit and 1 deferral. Waiting to hear back from 5 more schools in Jan. and 3 in the spring. These kids can get into some good schools you just have to do a little work. S applied to 12 schools and will be happy attending any one of them. ,</p>