<p>Again, it’s pretty early. I would leave him alone if he is resistant. All of this can wait a bit.</p>
<p>I agree with mom2collegekids formula. My son was really into luxury cars, so we had to get out the yellow pages and drive by all the luxury car dealers in town. Silly - yeah, but it made the trip more enjoyable and memorable. Maybe you need to locate a school with an awesome skateboard shop. </p>
<p>I also took the advice of others and didn’t say a word after the tour. Son opened up when he was ready and I was amazed at what he observed and what he commented on.</p>
<p>Did you say what part of the country/area you are willing to look at?</p>
<p>I think that there are two kinds of places that could work. Probably more than two, but try these two categories on. </p>
<p>First, there are schools that are good at firing up intellectual sparks in brains that haven’t been lighting up that way. Some of these are the CTCL colleges. A friend of my son’s from pre-school was a wild kid and indifferent student who bounced around to more than one HS and had some real problems in his HS years. He’s now at Goucher and a) loving it; and b) is so excited by science that he’s taking summer school courses. Another friend’s son is at another LAC and, having been an indifferent HS student, is a passionate philosophy major.</p>
<p>Second, there are schools that may generally have less of an academic focus. Some of these are schools that have a big job prep function (as an earlier poster noted) with teacher prep and business degrees, for example. But, there are also schools at which college football and basketball and Thursday-Sunday partying are the major focus of life. While there will be intellectual and/or academically focused kids at these schools, there will be many who are not. It would be less likely for these schools to light a fire under your son intellectually, but his lack of interest would probably not make him unusual at these schools. In reading in the college guides, students at many schools are excited by the breath of opportunities and the learning and there are a number of schools (predominantly Southern – please don’t flame me but that is what I observed) whose students cite the school’s traditions and values as the primary thing they like about the school. Schools whose students think the best things about the school are tradition and value are not schools at which the students are likely to be intellectuals, challenging existing schools of thought, etc…</p>
<p>But, I think one of the key things is to find an interest – something he’s excited about. I’m a fan of gap years, because it gives him more time to develop his pre-frontal cortex before he leaves college.</p>
<p>OP: As a college professor whose taught several places, I must say that the term “non-intellectual” defines a majority of American college students.</p>
<p>There are very few true intellectuals in the pool. Really.</p>
<p>My DD was very frustrated that her brilliant friend, a science grad student at a very, very elite research university, liked to read “young adult” books.</p>
<p>
This is NOT horrible.<br>
this boy is only a sophomore? He has plenty of time. Schedule him wisely for his next two years in high school - not only will he get admitted to college he will have choices - if you choose wisely.
Your son sounds like most high schoolers who are going to college. Sure, his grades are a little low but if he has solid grades in core college prep classes he will have choices.</p>
<p>Since you have money saved - he has more choices. I am not from CA but I suggest you do a search and look for small private colleges. Talk to him periodically (in the car… lol) about how and where he sees himself. Throw out options career wise - business, health care… etc. Kids just don’t know what is out there and what their options are.</p>
<p>Spend some time driving to nearby colleges. You don’t have to do it formally yet. If he plays a sport - did I hear soccer?? See if you can get him into a soccer camp for a week at a college. This is not only fun but they sleep in the dorms, eat in the dining hall and removes some ‘mystery’.</p>
<p>When the time comes - since he will be spending money YOU have saved - it is good parenting to set some parameters on college attendance. If need be do not be afraid to stick to those paramenters - this is a GIFT from you to him; not an ‘entitlement’.</p>
<p>Finally relax - your son sounds quite normal!</p>
<p>Since somebody way up in the thread mentioned Deep Springs College, I’d just like to opine that while it’s an interesting option for some kids, it’s not an appropriate option for this kid. It may be the most selective college in the nation test-score-wise, and generally attracts very quirky, intellectually intense boys. The kids invited to apply are the male half of the list used by the Telluride Association Summer Programs.</p>
<p>My nephew, with similar stats to the OPs son, a really nice kid interested in teaching elementary or middle school, is thinking of SUNY Plattsburgh.</p>
<p>^^^Good catch. I was thinking the same thing when I saw it.</p>
<p>Just to help out the new arrivals to the thread, the OP posted this early on:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Kids who say they want to stay in CA usually stick to that, and at best, they will look at nearby states in the West but will not consider colleges as far away as the NE, Midwest or South.</p>
<p>If volunteering is his thing, maybe he should think about spending a year in Americorps. It will give him some time to mature and figure out what he’d like to do. </p>
<p>Sending a kid to college when he is not really interested has a great potential for failure, especially at larger state schools, where no one will notice if he skips classes, etc.</p>
<p>Why do people seem to equate non-intellectual with “must do manual labor/shopworking?”</p>
<p>The CTCL is an excellent recommendation, but most of the HYPS students I know (not an insignificant number, given that I attend one of them) are non-intellectual. I’m no philosopher.</p>
<p>One does not need to sacrifice quality of school to satisfy the needs of a “non-intellectual.”</p>
<p>The limiting factor seems to be grades/SAT, but those weren’t brought up before people starting giving bizarre advice.</p>
<p>For the record, at what point was the state flagship eliminated?</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like this kid would be happy at the state flagship (Berkeley) - which is uber competitive - nor does it sound like he has the grades to get in. </p>
<p>Some of the CSU’s might be good matches for him, though.</p>
<p>Colleges for non-intellectuals? Perhaps a community college or technical school.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Yes, but I don’t think he could get into the Southern Calif CSUs (except, maybe CSULA - and he won’t want to go there). </p>
<p>the problem that I see is this…
the more popular CSU’s seem to have a lot going on (which I think this kid wants) are also the ones that are the hardest to get into.</p>
<p>He could get into Azusa Pacific, but I’m thinking more like U of Arizona or AzSt.</p>
<p>BfloGal–Try this experiment:</p>
<p>Sit down with your son and a list of all (or most) college majors such as those you’ll find here: [College</a> Search Find Your Colleges and Universities with Petersons](<a href=“http://www.petersons.com/ugchannel/code/searches/srchCrit1.asp]College”>College Search | College Finder | Colleges by Major & Location) or here: [Majors</a> and Careers Central](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools)</p>
<p>Let him skim through the roster, making sure to check out all the options beneath the broad headings.</p>
<p>You may find that your son sits up and takes notice when he spots possibilities like “Aroma Therapy” or “Air Traffic Control,” “Broadcast Journalism” or “Music Management and Merchandising.”</p>
<p>If any of these areas seem to excite your son, then you can research the colleges that offer them.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Fortunately, California has other state schools – I was more referring to states without such an expansive system. Replace “flagship” with “system.”</p>
<p>If the son is not intellectual, it seems that he is going to college for practicality, something that I think I am doing to some degree as well. In that case, I find it unlikely that the cost of a private school that he will get into with his stats is worth it. I realize that is probably a controversial statement.</p>
<p>If he has a lot of volunteer hours, he might do well in a school that values community involvement/activism. Perhaps Loyola Marymount? I am not sure if his grades/scores are good enough, though. All the schools, not just the Cal States are getting more selective.</p>
<p>Still, I think there are few schools less selective than the Cal States. Also, there is something about them that give priority to people who live in the immediate area, so that might help him get into one of them. I believe everyone in the state has one of the Cal States in which they are considered a local (I forget the term they use).</p>
<p>LMU might make an exception for a full pay student.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not just score-wise. Successful applicants go through a battery of interviews by invitation only. </p>
<p>The same post mentioned Colorado College and Warren Wilson. Colorado College is not Ivy or DS level, but it is also rather selective. About 1 in 4 admits ranked in the top one percent of their HS classes in the last couple years. Its one-course-at-a-time “block plan” can be quite intense. </p>
<p>Warren Wilson might be an interesting, viable choice. It is not too selective and from pictures appears to be in a beautiful setting. </p>
<p>Selectivity aside, I think the post that suggested these schools was on to something. A conventional 4-year semester system is not necessarily best for everyone.</p>
<p>Below, find a blurb copied from CSU San Jose that defines entrance criteria. C+ (2.5 GPA average) is enough
This last bit of being an ‘impacted’ campus puts a bit of a wrench in the works, since it sounds like a competitive admission process in some cases, although I cannot tell how competitive.</p>
<p>I think the potential problem with the cal states is that it is so hard to graduate because it is so hard to get classes! What about…Chapman, Santa Clara, USF, UC Riverside or Merced, USD, Chico State (which is not SoCal but is residential!). I don’t think your son is that different from most of the other boys! Don’t despair! Keep doing volunteer work, summer programs, and other things that will make him an interesting person and the rest will fall into place!</p>
<p>San Jose</p>
<p>Test Scores
Middle 50% of
First-Year Students Percent Who
Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 440 - 540 93%
SAT Math: 460 - 580 93%
SAT Writing: 430 - 540 93%
ACT Composite: 18 - 24 23%</p>
<pre><code>* 52% Women
- 48% Men
</code></pre>
<p>**
* 10% had h.s. GPA of 3.75 and higher
* 15% had h.s. GPA between 3.5 and 3.74
* 20% had h.s. GPA between 3.25 and 3.49
* 26% had h.s. GPA between 3.0 and 3.24**
* 27% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99
* 2% had h.s. GPA between 2.0 and 2.49</p>
<p>*SJSU is an impacted campus, therefore eligibility for
admission is based on:
- Minimum CSU eligibility standards
- Location of the applicant’s high school
- Applicant’s choice of major *</p>
<p>One’s geographic location plays a lot into this. SJSU is more forgiving to those who live in their area. </p>
<p>And, when you see that 70% have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and probably only about 3-4% have a GPA of 2.5, that doesn’t bode well for this student (since some or most of those are probably athletes).</p>