College suggestions for my daughter? (not a great student ...)

College Search & Selection
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<p>And so her junior year is done. It's been a very tough three years. She's had bouts with depression and anxiety which have caused her to miss a significant amount of school. I can look back and see that those time periods are the ones which have signficantly brought down her GPA. But she deserves credit for persevering and not giving up - she missed about six weeks of school from mid-November through the end of the year, but came back in January and caught up, and actually made the honor roll in the last quarter. </p>

<p>So here's where she is -- 2.86 GPA, 1500 SAT superscored (CR and W scores are decent, math is awful). She wants to major in Psychology. We're in PA. We can afford $25,000 a year, but $20,000 would be better. She will be applying to Kutztown, Shippensburg, PSU (Altoona branch campus the first two years), East Stroudsburg, maybe West Chester (a reach).</p>

<p>She'd love to go further away from home, but her scores/grades and our finances may make that difficult. </p>

<p>So here are my questions - first, do you have any other suggestions for colleges? She wants a big or medium school, decent college town, not a commuter/suitcase school. Second, is there any way for her (or the guidance counselor) to communicate that she has persevered through difficulties and made a comeback (although it doesn't show when the grades are averaged out for the year)? Or is it better just not to mention depression at all?</p>

<p>No, my daughter does not have great stats. At this site, they are atrocious. lol But here we are, and this is what she has to work with. Of course, she needs to continue the better grades in senior year to show the colleges that she's on the right track. She's taken the SAT twice. I'm not sure if a third time will help, because the last time, her CR and W scores were MUCH improved, but her math has always been atrocious. There is a significant possibility that her CR and W would drop and her math wouldn't go up that much. When schools say they superscore, do they truly ignore the lower scores and just consider the best ones? </p>

<p>I know, of course, that she could go to community colllege first. I truly do think, though, that it would do her good to get away from home and learn to be on her own a bit. Any suggestions or input is much appreciated!</p>

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<p>Some of the SUNYs might fit. I immediately thought of New Paltz. It would be something of a reach but I don’t think it’s really a commuter school and the campus vibe is pretty beatnik.</p>

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<p>Yes, they will ignore the lower scores. In the early fall, she may want to re-take the test one last time. She can spend some time studying up on the math section, this summer, without having to deal with the stress of her junior year (and classes).</p>

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<p>Many public institutions in other states will exceed your financial criterion. There are exceptions, however;</p>

<p>The SUNY schools in New York; SUNY Plattsburgh
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Ohio University
Wesleyan College (Georgia)</p>

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<p>Have you looked at York College of PA? It’s not farther afield, but I suspect she’d get in and many students from here who go there really like it.</p>

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<p>Elizabethtown, Albright and Gannon. I would also look at Marywood, its small but in Scranton so U. Scranton might make it feel bigger. I would also look at Cabrini. It’s small too but the Main Line has lots of colleges so lots to do around campus.<br>
If you give the GC permission, he/she should absolutely include information about how your D has overcome obstacles. I’m not familiar with whether the word “Depression” is hot button for Colleges. I would search out some threads here on CC about that. </p>

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<p>I forgot about York - thanks! </p>

<p>The thing with finances - we feel comfortable at $20,000 a year. If she had the stats for the main campus of PSU, we’d go to $30,000. It would be tougher - we’d need to take out some loans, etc. But we feel PSU is worth it. However, we don’t want to spend $30,000 a year on a mediocre school. </p>

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<p>She might have the stats for West Virginia U, if she wants to get away, and it wouldn’t cost much more than Penn State.</p>

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<p>Your D is very fortunate to have so much support from you as she battles this condition and searches for colleges. I know you’re concerned about her health, and so I ask this question that’s probably lurking in the back of your mind: is next year the best time for your D to be searching for and going off to college? She doesn’t have to go next year. She could still have a productive life if she postponed college for a year. Her health is of primary importance to you, of course, and so I wanted to bring up this point that sometimes students and parents ignore when everyone else is going off to college. Rural state colleges in particular can be problematic for students like your D. </p>

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<p>@jkeil911 - I’ve certainly thought about how she will do if she goes away. But I think she needs to be on her own. I think she needs the mindset of “This is real, I’m on my own, it’s up to me” that she won’t get if she’s still living at home and going to community college. What risk are you thinking of in regards to rural state colleges - partying? Or isolation?</p>

<p>@woogzmama - We thought about WVU, but they insist on 4 years of math, and that’s the one subject she won’t be taking next year. I let her know that she’d have to drop WVU from her list and she didn’t care. </p>

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<p>I’m in PA, too. I think the PA state schools you mentioned (and perhaps some of the western PA state schools), as well as York, are your best bets. With your daughter’s stats (not too different than my son’s, whose math SAT score was also his lowest), the private colleges with the best financial aid are probably high reaches. Most of the schools she will be able to be accepted to will have poorer aid packages (i.e. more loans and more gapping). Have you run the Net Price Calculators for any of the private colleges? York was one of the few that had an affordable cost (after grants) for our family.</p>

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<p>OP, thank you for taking my suggestion in the spirit i’d hoped it would be rec’d. I was in your D’s shoes when I went off to college, and alcohol, drugs, sex, and isolation are some of the problems associated with small rural schools where not enough resources were being directed at the problems such students have. It could happen at any school, and counseling services and help lines are something to check into at any school she goes to. Small schools however often have a homogeneous mindset, and if partying four nights a week (or “she just needs to get over it/pray on it/have another beer”) is one of them your D is particularly at risk unless there are alternatives and resources available to her. In the work I do now, I see a lot of students suffering from these symptoms who don’t know of the resources available to them at the school or for whatever reason find themselves in academic and emotional trouble when midterms and finals roll around because they haven’t been proactive in seeking help. Sometimes students mistake “making it on their own” with “doing without the medical/pharmaceutical/emotional crutches” they had at home. This can be as well a very expensive experience for parents if the student cannot identify the seriousness of the problem and ask for help soon enough to avoid losing an entire semester. Talk to your D’s health provider about what you can do ahead of time to provide your D with the resources she needs to be successful in any college. Your D has to understand that she has this condition and has to manage her life accordingly. You can help her do this.</p>

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<p>I guess her math is below the average of 500 then. You should check each school CDS. Some only consider M + CR. The M is the easiest to bring up I think, if someone is willing to do the prep. Sounds like she doesn’t want to if she doesn’t want to tak 4th year math to improve her prospects, but just a thought.</p>

<p>There is a thread on the Financial Aid forum about colleges under 25k all in. A couple in Maine. Worth a look.</p>

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<p>Her math is way below 500. She has done some prep, but her score actually got worse. Next year would be precalculus, and she barely got through Algebra 2 and Geometry. She’s had tutors, etc - math just is not a good thing for her. On the other hand, she gets As on her english papers, does well in foreign language, etc. If she’s majoring in Psychology, I’m hoping the math score won’t have as much importance.</p>

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<p>psych can involve some statistics, and stats are almost always prereqs for grad school applicants. and all colleges are going to require a minimum math competency. That competency is usually higher than that required for passing high school Algebra 2 and Geo. You seem to have your hands full, OP.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I know it’s still a hard road ahead. She may have to learn some things the hard way. </p>

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<p>We all have to learn things the hard way. Unfortunately, parents can’t eliminate all these hard things. (Would that I could have, but it might not have been best for my children.) We can however encourage them to make good decisions at every opportunity.</p>

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<p>Although I think that it would be good in some ways for my son to go away from home for college, he seems to prefer to commute to a local school, which I have to admit will probably be better for his mental health. He’s had some issues over the past few years which are now well-controlled with medication, but since you never know if/when mental health issues will flare up, particularly under the stress of a brand new living and learning situation, I think there are many advantages to keeping such a student closer to home (continuity of treatment, oversight by family, etc). </p>

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<p>I’ve told this story a lot of times on this board before. I well know a woman whose oldest DD had some issues, the most sever being eating disorders which landed her into treatment at least 2 times. When the time finally came for college, this young woman had a lot of great options since she was a top student with top test scores. But her mother just felt that the risks were too high to let her go off to school yet… She did not feel that her daughter had come to terms with the fact that she had a chronic condition, a mental condition, a deadly condition and it would likely be a lifetime battle for her. It was a very difficult time when they told her she would have to commute to a local college and if she could function without a relapse for two years, they would let her go away to school. Well, she relapses and few times. But two years after she got her degree, she was close to two year in good shape and did go off to an Ivy League graduate program. She’s married with a child, a great career now, 15 years after her high school grad, and understands the ramifications of her problems at this time. But at age 18, that was not the case. </p>

<p>IMO, if you are going to let her give it a go with a sleep away college, it should be one nearby where you can keep an eye on her situation. Depression is often a chronic, long time, maybe life time problem. College is a terrible time for young people which is when the mental demons come out to play. Going into this with a problem is really a recipe for a possible disaster. </p>

<p>Grades, failure, all things that can be redone later. Mental issues, depressions can lead to things more permanent. </p>

<p>So the schools on her list should be those where you, the parents can check on her and be there readily is my opinion.</p>

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<p>I appreciate the thoughtful advice. She has gone through outpatient treatment, goes to therapy twice a week, and has worked through (some) of her issues. Right now, I honestly think she needs to grow up. She needs to become responsible and independent. No matter what happens, she may fail - there is a risk no matter what. But she does have some sense – she has friends that have had problems with heroin, that have ended up in juvenile detention, and that’s just not her. She seems to have a core common sense that keeps her from going there. Thank god.</p>

<p>I’ve talked to her about the need to balance work and play at college. And that at any school, she will have to reach out for the resources she needs. No one is going to babysit her or save her from her mistakes. But people are willing to help IF she makes the first moves. </p>

<p>We’ll see what happens her senior year. Heck, we’ll see if she gets accepted anywhere. At least her favorite choice(so far) is only about 1.5 hours away. And her favorite cousin (someone she talks to regularly and who I think gives her pretty good advice) would only be about 30 minutes away. </p>

<p>Sometimes college helps a person mature. Sometimes they aren’t ready. I’m just trying to help her find a place where she has the best shot.</p>