<p>His grades in middle school have been about a 91 average in core subjects. </p>
<p>Acceptances at our small private over last 10 years have included:
American University • Babson College • Barton College • Berry College • Boston University • Bradley University • California Polytechnic State University •Catawba College • Catholic University • Clemson University • Colby College • College of Charleston • Cornell University • DePaul University • Drew University • East Carolina University • Embry Riddle • Emerson College • Emory University • Fairfield University • Fairleigh Dickinson University •Fordham University • Gardner Webb College • Geneva College • George Washington University • Georgetown University • Georgia Institute of Technology • Goucher College • Hofstra University • Loyola University • Marshall University • Mercer College • Miami University • New York University • North Carolina State University • Northeastern University • Ohio State University •Pennsylvania State University • Princeton University • Rhode Island University • Rider University • Ringling School of Art & Design • Roanoke College • Rochester Institute of Technology • San Diego State University • St. John’s University • Smith College • Southern Methodist University • Syracuse University •Trinity College • Tulane University • University of Colorado • University of Connecticut • University of Delaware • University of Florida • University of Hartford • University of Illinois • University of Kentucky • University of Maine • University of Massachusetts • University of Miami • University of Michigan • University of New Hampshire • University of New Mexico • University of North Carolina • University of Rochester • University of South Carolina • University of Texas • University of Vermont • University of Virginia • Wingate University • Winthrop University • Xavier University (there are a few more, but remember - the graduating classes are about 30 students)</p>
<p>I agree that getting A’s and B’s in a solid, yet comfortable environment is probably better than getting B’s and C’s in a highly competitive high school. Does anyone disagree?</p>
<p>You are 100% correct. A competitive environment only goes so far. He will have zero chance getting into those schools with a C or low B average no matter how rigorous his schedule is. He will have every chance in the world to get into those schools with a B+/A- average in the school he is at now. Don’t over think this. When it comes down to it, GPA is the most important.</p>
<p>Thanks SteveMA. You are right in that I might be over-thinking this. I guess that my helicopter blades are whirling at full force sometimes. :0)
I appreciate all of your input.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree that getting A’s and B’s in a solid, yet comfortable environment is better than getting B’s and C’s in a highly competitive high school, as long as the small school sends kids to the types of colleges that you and kid would be interested in, which it does.</p>
<p>The rigorous private has " classes and clubs in his talent area." Can he still get this outside of the small school?</p>
<p>We will have to supplement his music outside of school. He can have lessons and will still be able to compete at the state and national levels if he desires. </p>
<p>Our small school is just not large enough to have the music offerings that the other schools have. They do have music offerings, but not at his talent level. But then, music will not be his career ( at least that what he says at his point…), so we think that supplementing outside school will be okay. He does not want to stop his music (he has been so successful at every level) but, again, it won’t be his career. </p>
<p>Am I wrong to think that comfort and familiarity should win out over a school that offers a dynamic music program but is alien to him?</p>
<p>Just want to point out that there’s selective and then there’s selective. I did a quick look at the admittance rates of those three colleges you named. Williams – 17.3%, Oberlin – 29.6%, and St. Olaf – 53%. The admittance rate at St. Olaf is three times that of Williams. I don’t think they’re in the same category when trying to gauge chances of acceptance. Just thought I throw that out there are something to think about …</p>
<p>You are right - there is a big difference between the schools. For this son, being only in eighth grade, I haven’t done my research on colleges yet. I threw out Oberlin and St. Olaf because of their music programs - his talent should give him a leg up at those schools no matter what high he attends. Is that a correct assumption?
A Williams or similar school is more of a concern. Would they consider a kid with good grades and good EC’s , and strong talent but from a school with no AP/IB rigor. I guess that was part of my initial question.
Right now I think we have to first be concerned about where our shy, nerdy but fabulous guy will be most “at home”. That said, I am also thinking about his future after high school.
It makes me wonder, how do home schooled kids manage the whole process???</p>
<p>I work at a small private school that only offers 5 APs. We have no problem getting our kids into good colleges. As has been stated earlier in the thread, colleges look at what courses a student takes in the context of what is available to them. A kid with high grades in the most rigorous courses his school offers and high test scores will not be discounted because he wasn’t able to take more AP’s. Frankly, several of the Ivies are beginning to discourage over-use of AP classes, and some of the top independent high schools in the country do not offer ANY APs because they don’t like the program. It hasn’t stopped their kids from getting into top colleges.</p>
<p>We had a student who loved our school whose parents made her transfer to the local (prestigious) public hs for 12th grade so that she could take 5 AP classes her senior year. They were convinced that was what she needed to get into Yale. Well, she did indeed get into Yale SCEA - with transcripts that were sent early in her senior year from OUR school, recommendations written by teachers at OUR school, and an essay written the summer before her senior year with advice/editing assistance from OUR school. We have no idea if her taking 5 APs at the public school had any effect on her admission.</p>
<p>Let him go to high school where he will fit in, be known and loved, and flourish. The rest will take care of itself.</p>
<p>Lafalum - thank you for your thoughtful reply. I am encouraged to hear about the results from your school. Sounds like the young lady that went to Yale didn’t need those five AP’s as much as she thought!</p>
<p>When our son was in 8 th grade, we considered a number of private schools. We had him read about them, and visit. But like college, we let HIM make the choice. He chose our local public high school. And the reason? It had the BEST music program offerings bar none. Our kid already participated in precollege programs and summer music festivals…but he wanted to go to a high school with highly regarded music teachers and program offerings. He graduated from Boston University (with a degree in performance</p>
<p>I know that St. Olaf and Oberlin are good music schools, but I get the impression, just seeing where kids I know go, that Oberlin and its conservatory are a pretty tough get. The boy I know at St. Olaf was your basic band kid. The one I know this year who got into Oberlin is a step above. I guess what I’m saying is that for music to be a real tipping point you have to be stand out. But I’m not a musician’s mom and don’t have any real experience so I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>How exciting to study music in Boston! One of our sons took a summer course at Berklee and loved the whole music scene in the city. With BU, the two conservatories and Berklee there is an incredible amount of talent in the City.</p>
<p>I hear your advice thumper - we are letting him decide, but we are also going to let him know what we think. He has already ruled out our local public himself. We are touring two other privates and then he will decide if he wants to audition for scholarship or if he just wants to stay where he is. He is only an eighth grader though, so we are going to try and sway him against the super-competitive large school that might look great (bells and whistles appeal to middle schoolers!), but not be in his best interests.
Thanks so much for your input!!! :0)</p>
<p>When you said that the current high school does not send kids to ivy’s or top schools how well do you know this?
What I mean is, do routinely kids from this school apply to top schools and get rejected?
Just my anecdotal story but I was wrong the way I was looking at my son’s high school. For years I was just looking at what schools the students “chose” to go. This is very different than the statistics of how many apply to top schools and how many get accepted. I believe high schools have a report that states all that but you have to ask for it.
For example our high school NEVER sent a kid to MIT. However, I recently discovered that MIT did accept few kids through the years but the kids decided not to attend. Also, a lot of kids do not even bother to apply to LAC’s due to money issues and fear of debt.
One of the stars last year got a full ride in the honors programs of our state school and this year one of the stars is going to a good coop school because she really wants work experience. Both got accepted to top schools but declined.
I am saying that there might be other reasons that most kids from your school go to the state school. Do not assume it is because they can not make it elsewhere.</p>
<p>I think with a class of 30 it’s hard to judge a list of colleges. The one posted seemed like it had a good mix of very selective and selective colleges for such a small class. Personally, I’d never send a kid to a school that small though I was pretty happy at a school with a graduating class of 80. I was lucky though to be there in an era where they were remarkably accommodating. I had a year of medieval history and a year of British history because a teacher agreed to teach us. AP Econ was offered my senior year when some students lobbied for it. They offered AP Calc even though in that era only a tiny handful of girls took it. If the school is willing to teach a class of four to six kids (and I had that situation twice), small can be great.</p>
<p>am9799 makes a VERY good point. We’ve had a people at our private school that look at the list of where our graduates attend and assume they didn’t get into top schools. The truth is that students end up choosing where to attend based on a lot of reasons, including particular programs and financial concerns. After paying so much money for private high school, many of our families do not have a lot of money left for college. Their students will often attend a slightly lower ranked college because they have received significant financial aid - in some cases, a full ride. A few years ago a graduate turned down Georgetown and Villa Nova for a regional in-state public university that gave her a full ride. (She got straight A’s and is now at a nationally ranked university for grad school). Another year’s Val and Sal are at good-but-not-top schools because they were offered Honors programs and large merit aid awards. Another Val went to a college that offered a particular program she was interested in, although it was not a major “name-brand” school. </p>
<p>The list of where students are accepted is much more telling than where they were accepted, but at a very small school (30 graduates) you probably need several years worth of acceptances to really get an accurate picture.</p>
<p>I think you have to know your child, and, I hate to say, we didn’t know ours well enough! We followed our son’s lead in letting him pick his high school and it didn’t work out. Terrible grades, terrible social situation, transferred after freshman year. Fortunately, the transfer school was a good fit for him.</p>
<p>He had been at the same small private school from k-8 and he was ready to go elsewhere. Even though freshman year was incredibly rocky, I think changing schools was a good thing. Being in the same place from k-12 would have made college quite a shock, I think. Time will tell though - he’s a senior with a bunch of college acceptances in hand, undecided where to enroll as of yet. We’ll see how things go next year - fingers crossed.</p>
<p>smythic - sorry to hear about your bad transfer experience. Congratulations on the high number of acceptances though and best of luck to your son!</p>
<p>mathmom and lafalum - you are correct, it is tough to judge acceptances particularly when you are talking about graduating classes that are 25 - 30 in size. The list that I gave before was an abbreviated one of the acceptances over the last 10 years. With 25-30 kids a year that amounts to 250-300 kids which is a one year class size for a “regular” size school.<br>
If I think about it that way (bythe numbers), the list of acceptances doesn’t look too bad.
am9799 - yes, it is important to note that you can’t get accepted to selective schools if you don’t apply and many of the kids in our small school don’t apply for various reasons. The few that do often make it.
youdon’tsay - yes, Oberlin and St. Olaf are very different for different types of musicians. I was using them as examples because my son may have the potential to attend such a school and I feel that they are both great LAC’s. At this point, it is just too early to tell whether or not his talent will continue to develop well enough or if he would even want to use it at that level. Unfortunately, in eighth grade, he just hasn’t made up his mind what he wants to do and that’s okay with me :0) He has a little time yet! I just want to make sure that his high school experience will give him the background he needs to go in whatever direction he decides that he wants to take.
Thanks to all for your sage advice and comments. All is very welcomed.</p>
<p>Even at our “big” high school, kids often get accepted into Ivy’s but choose not to attend, usually for financial reasons. I agree that where kids attend isn’t always a good measure of where they applied. </p>
<p>As for St. Olaf’s band. They have several levels of band, orchestra and choir. It’s nearly impossible to get into their top bands if you are not a band major (or orchestra or choir). It’s a nice option for those that want to continue to play in college but not major in music. I’m sure being an outstanding band performer will assist you in acceptance to St. Olaf, however, being a “regular” band kid isn’t going to hurt you either. We have several kids from our band program go to Olaf each year. These are kids that have been tops at state, regional and national band competitions of all kinds, Of these 20 or so kids that go there, maybe one or two will eventually make it into their top band. Most of the kids, however, play at other levels.</p>