<p>^Darn, we seem to be fresh out of ■■■■■ Chow. :)</p>
<p>(In other words…don’t feed the beast)</p>
<p>Although I’m a CMU student, I’m writing this post from the Neurobiological Gerontology center in USC right now. </p>
<p>All I can say in response to your post: har har har.</p>
<p>^ i dont really get your post… the one above</p>
<p>The skateboarding/video-playing 2.8-3.0/1500-1700 kids in our neighborhood are attending four-year state universities in our area (Salisbury, Towson, Frostburg, UMBC). They all survived freshman year, though several got a dose of reality after too much partying first semester. They DO grow up. </p>
<p>There are so many subjects and classes offered at college that kids were never exposed to in HS – so you never know when that one class will jump out and get your kid inspired and excited. Our local CC offers some technical training which one can take in conjunction with traditional academic CC courses. It’s a great combo – we know a lot of folks in our neighborhood who are plumbers, contractors, electricians, etc. and one has to know how to keep the books and run a business in addition to being able to ply the trade. It also keeps options open if a young person ultimately decides to pursue the four year route.</p>
<p>We have dear friends whose D is at CSU-Chico and is very, very happy. Very smart kid who found her motivation in college.</p>
<p>Go see Historymom’s western colleges for 3.0-3.3 kids thread. Great stuff!</p>
<p>Have also seen some parents here of 2.8-2.9 kids who sing the praises of Northern Arizona Univ.</p>
<p>Check out the “Colleges that Change Lives”. You can find lots of schools whose requirements are a heartbeat and a checkbook, but if you can find a school where class participation is a characteristic and not an aberration, you child has a fighting chance of not only learning something but also learning how to learn.</p>
<p>poetgrl and TheDad: I’m am digressing shamefully. I am popping in to say I would rather spend an hour with Finnegan’s Wake than the same hour with Proust. I have never been able to appreciate Proust in French or English, and even the new translations which I eagerly anticipated can’t help.</p>
<p>I don’t care if his mother kisses him to sleep or not.</p>
<p>There. I’ve said it! I feel much better now. LOL.</p>
<p>DS is keeping his fingers crossed because he desperately wants to get into the Ulysses
course at his school. Preference is given to English majors, which he is not.</p>
<p>However, he IS an intellectual (not that you could tell when he’s with his friends – he watches anime cartoons with them which they discuss endlessly), which as far as I can tell means that he’s not planning on ever earning a living.</p>
<p>Sigh. I was the same way.</p>
<p>OP you sound a bit like you are describing my boy. funny, smart, athletic, kind He hasn’t become an intellectual…yet. I think that there are oodles of schools where your boy can BECOME more intellectual in a field that captures him. </p>
<p>I don’t think either of my very bright daughters particularly sought out things to ponder, dissect and discuss. But at their small LAC they are developing that ability and dsire. That is part of what college is for.</p>
<p>My boy is just finishing his 9th grade year but the things that compel him right now; outdoor recreation, athletics and uhhh sending text messages are all things that he can focus a college degree around. Take heart! </p>
<p>CSUMB is one of my favorite CSUs there is an emphasis on hands on work and integrated studies if you want to give it a look. My girls both used it as a safety and my boy will likely do so too.</p>
<p>You may also want to check out this thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/907349-western-schools-3-0-3-3-kid.html?highlight=Western+schools[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/907349-western-schools-3-0-3-3-kid.html?highlight=Western+schools</a></p>
<p>mythmom I have no doubt that your boy will be earning a living doing something that fills his heart and his wallet!</p>
<p>^^^^^Excellent post. I don’t think most kids, boys or girls, go to college with an intellectual fire in their bellies.</p>
<p>As for my boy, historymom, as the old saying goes, “From your mouth to God’s ears.”</p>
<p>I could not agree more with AnotherNJ mom. We used that book to help us find the perfect school for our underachiever. I have a very bright kid, but he hated every day of high school and really struggled with thinking about college. He feared it would be just a continuation of the boredom and torture of HS. However, he chose a small, nurturing school (Jesuit) that emphasizes the liberal arts. (One of deans there spent many years going back and forth between his school and the College of Wooster, and brought over many of the undergraduate teaching programs that Wooster employs to my son’s college). His experience at this school has turned him around completely as a student. He is frequently on the dean’s list and has become an avid reader. He participates in class and enjoys many warm, supportive relationships with the faculty there. He has actually encouraged many of his struggling peers not to drop out and some of those kids now credit my former-slacker son with inspiring, and helping them stay in school and turn themselves around.</p>
<p>Somehow, when you read about these things in Pope’s books, they seem almost too good to be true, but in my son’s case, I see the positive impact that a small, nurturing enviroment can have on an underachieving student. My son is, and FEELS, valued at his school; I cannot tell you what this has done for his confidence. </p>
<p>My son worked hard enough in high school to create a good academic record, but not a great one. He was actually accepted into more highly ranked colleges/universities than the one he wisely chose, but he went to exactly the right place for him. </p>
<p>Pope’s book will convince you that there is a good-fit college for your son. You can help him by doing the leg work and steering him in the right direction. Like my son, your son may not get great vibes from the powerhouse schools but he may feel right at home when he finds that nurturing place that is right for him. Another good source of info is USNEWS and WR’s list of A+ colleges for B+ students. It should not replace Pope’s book as a first read, but it does list a number of very good, less-selective schools that have as their mission, the education and development of kids like ours. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>I completely understand what your going through. I have a very intelligent daughter that just hated high school. She just graduated. She hated the mindless assignments and the lack of freedom in the work she had to do. She took the hardest courses offered and did fine but not a 4.0. She hated the idea of working hard for a grade (as compared to for herself).</p>
<p>After much research we found Hampshire College (also in the book mentioned above) and Sarah Lawrence College. Both allow the students to develop their own program geared to their interests. They don’t use the typical grading system (A,B,C,…) and instead use evaluations. This allows the students to work for themselves and not just for the grade.
Also, Sarah Lawrence doesn’t take test scores (can’t remember if we submitted any for
Hampshire) so your son wouldn’t have to worry about the ACT or SAT.</p>
<p>My 12 year old son sounds similar to your son. He went on both tours with us and when he saw Sarah Lawrence he said “this is where I’m going.” Ever since then he has worked harder in school and has a goal. He will have to pick up a pencil and start writing though!</p>
<p>I would never, never, recommend a gap year for a child with low motivation. In fact getting them right in to a 4 year college would be my suggestion and it seems to be your idea also. I also agree that a 4 year college is best. A smaller one would be better! I know your son wants to stay in CA but possibly leaving would give him motivation. That is my hope with my own children!</p>
<p>For all of you mentioning CSU’s, they are increasingly becoming more difficult to get in because of budget cuts. A lot of them have become harder to get into than some of the UC’s. San Diego State University is very competitive and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is really hard to get into.</p>
<p>ProteinMan that is true but CSUMB continues to be one of the least impacted in the system.</p>
<p>The Cal Polys have always been harder to get into than the straight Cal States. And the impacted Cal States are harder to get into, but some of the less impacted are much easier to get into and for the price, can’t be beat.</p>
<p>yeah plus what Atomic Girl said ;)</p>
<p>Hi everyone (I’m the OP)–
Reading all the posts (thanks everyone) has really helped me focus. I’m thinking a gap year would not be a good idea for S. I think he’d get out of the school “mode”. I also think a CC would be a good fallback, but not my first choice for S, because I’d be afraid he’d continue the same habits he has now in HS living at home (eg, xbox) instead of hanging with new friends or putting his nose into schoolwork. I think UC’s are out (my neighbor didn’t get into UCSC with nothing below a B on her HS transcript), and as other posts have indicated, the better CSU’s are getting very hard to get into. Sonoma State might be a good choice, if he’s interested. I think a smaller, residential school is a great idea-- someplace where the profs get to know the students (eg, Whittier College?). Trade school is out-- he shows no interest whatsoever in any sort of trade.</p>
<p>Sally you hit the nail on the head with Music Management and Merchandising, which is actually something S might consider. He loves music, plays guitar (played piano for 7 yrs but quit). He has said he wants to go into music business, although I don’t think he really knows what that is. Unfortunately, his college app will not have much evidence of his interest in music, since he does not play in a band, nor is he involved in music at school (jazz band is not his thing). However, he will be going to a music camp at UCSC this summer (audition required!), so I’m very happy about that. Plus he will get a taste of college life living on campus for a week.</p>
<p>I just wish he would put more effort into schoolwork so that he will have more options later on. More to the point-- I wish he understood this concept.</p>
<p>Anyway, it is reassuring to know that he is like most 10th grade boys, as some have said.</p>
<p>I was waiting for someone to mention Whittier. Watch for early application deadlines - merit aid, for anyone else reading this who is interested.</p>
<p>UC Merced will take anyone who is breathing, I think. </p>
<p>Ski bums who can manage in apartments might appreciate one of the least impacted community colleges with housing in California - Cerro Coso at Mammoth. There are quite a few Calif CCs with housing if you want him out of the house. Check out insidecollege, fabulous new website, for community colleges with housing. </p>
<p>I agree, Jesuit, but watch the price tag.</p>
<p>If visits are too much of a hassle, you could encourage S to just go online and read about the music-related programs at some colleges. If he can get motivated by thinking about what he might be able to do after h.s., he’ll work harder to get the grades he needs…that’s the plan anyway. Here are some programs at Cal State Monterey Bay (gotta be connections to the area that hosts the Monterey jazz festival…) and Cal State Northridge (ties to the music industry in L.A.)</p>
<p>[CSUMB</a> Catalog](<a href=“http://catalog.csumb.edu/undergrad-education/majors/music]CSUMB”>http://catalog.csumb.edu/undergrad-education/majors/music)</p>
<p>[CSUN</a> Department of Music](<a href=“http://www.csun.edu/~hfmus003/APDegreeBAINTRO.html]CSUN”>http://www.csun.edu/~hfmus003/APDegreeBAINTRO.html)</p>
<p>OP, music interest can be indicated in the essays. S wrote a very nice essay in finding his muse for guitar. D went in a separate arts supplement for violin. </p>
<p>Both my kids are intellectuals, but would never define themselves that way because they are so much more. They are musicians, athletes, and love to hang out with friends.</p>
<p>Nobody else has mentioned this, but…</p>
<p>Have you thought about having your S take some aptitude tests? Something like Johnson-O’Connor? Now, they do cost and a lot of folks don’t believe in them, but at least some kids who really aren’t “into” school enjoy finding out what they ARE good at. When you get the results, you’re told what sorts of occupations people with the same aptitudes go into. </p>
<p>The results are almost always interesting to the kids themselves. Sometimes, it leads them to an interest. In one case, it turned out that a girl was very talented artistically. This was not an aptitude anyone else in her family had and she’d never taken any art courses. When the results came back, she admitted that she spent a lot of free time sketching…but usually destroyed the drawings because she didn’t think they were good. She would never have had the nerve to ask for art lessons–she was a quiet, introverted kid. But when they got the test results her parents encouraged her to do so. She was talented and excelled in art–she took her first course as a junior. She ended up going on to get a degree in art. </p>
<p>I suggest it because sometimes it’s a way to get kids to focus on their futures without turning it into a discussion about school–something they are not interested in. Instead a kid might find out that people with his aptitudes often go into urban planning, for example, and then he might go on to find out what urban planners do and maybe even contact one to discuss the job. Step by step, he might be lead to the conclusion that would be interesting…and then to figuring out what sort of education he would need.</p>
<p>Again, it may not work for the OP’s kid, but I have seen it work for some.</p>
<p>University of the Pacific might be a good one to look at.</p>