Colleges for smart but "under-achieving" student

Parents Forum
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<p>Any one of the Colleges that Change Lives.</p>

<p>Off the top, especially if she liked Sarah Lawrence:
Bennington, Bard, Goucher, Hampshire, Marlboro, Vassar, Bates (test optional), Barnard, Clark (Worcester MA), Lesley (Cambridge), Lewis and Clark</p>

<p>Her writing may help her a lot, so applying to a range of selectivity makes sense.</p>

<p>Can she use the library for the Internet?</p>

<p>Using type 1 as an “excuse” is not a good idea. I have a kid with type 1 and other health issues, who missed a lot of school. We worked with the school on accommodations that helped, but she did her own work and sometimes taught herself. She did fine academically. Not that it wasn’t hard sometimes.( Honestly, most people don’t know anything about this type of diabetes, the dangers, or the kind of work it entails).</p>

<p>The ACT, on the other hand, may reflect her taking several breaks to tend to blood sugars. Did she have accommodations on the SAT or ACT? She has a right to take test with blood sugars in a good range: highs and lows really affect cognitive function. She should have the means to stay in control for the hours of the test, and the ability to postpone if her blood sugars are off kilter.</p>

<p>Safety is an issue with type 1 no matter where you are. You can die overnight in your own bed. There should not be any limits on where she goes. is she on a pump? Roommates and residential staff should know how to revive her with glucagon. She should have an endocrinologist set up wherever she goes, or a primary care doctor who works with her endo. </p>

<p>She should register with the disabilities office to get permission to test, have snacks during testing/exams and the ability to postpone, get excused absences for blood sugar problems. If she is too high, she may vomit and be sick for a bit, and if she gets too low, it can literally be too hard to walk across campus. Etc. But none of this should really stop her: it’s just that certain people need to know so she is not misunderstood.</p>

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<p>Look at this and other similar lists: [SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>

<p>( I forgot to mention that most of the schools I listed are test-optional. Her writing talent will help her with these schools as well.)</p>

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<p>You’re preaching to the choir, unfortunately :(. Logic doesn’t quite work with this mom sometimes- even if she is a doctor. </p>

<p>She is on a pump. </p>

<p>She did have accommodations on the ACT. Unfortunately, the morning of, her blood sugar was way out of whack. Her mom wanted her to postpone but she wanted to go ahead and do it. There was a battle the morning of and it was just all sorts of not good. She went into the test right after a fight with her mom and with her blood sugar out of whack. She realizes now that it was a poor decision, but sometimes there’s no reasoning with a 17 year old. </p>

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<p>She’s not allowed to bike to the library and she doesn’t have a car nor a license. I’m going to see them today and I’m going to take her and her dad aside to propose this as an idea. Her dad means well but honestly is just out of touch with technology and doesn’t know what is available where.</p>

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<p>This family sounds odd. Being a technophobe is not going to work for this mother if she is a physician. And moving every few years is also strange for a physician-- she will never become totally vested in a job with any kind of pension plan, let alone build a decent practice. Strange. Is this student’s diabetes pretty stable (doesn’t sound like ACT day was)? Will she need to be nearish a good tertiary care center? Then she shouldn’t look at schools in the middle of nowhere.</p>

<p>Columbia College in Chicago? Art school/LAC hybrid, kind of, in a northern state.</p>

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<p>Odd doesn’t even begin to describe the family. Actually, just the mom. There’s more to the story but I’d rather not disclose it. (It’s about the mom so irrelevant to the girl :slight_smile: ).</p>

<p>Her diabetes, for the most part, is very well controlled. It’s only during stressful times that it is out of whack.</p>

<p>I have a good friend at Columbia College. I’ll run that one by her =)</p>

<p>On that note, I’m heading out to see them. Once again, thank you guys so much. You have been incredible (as always!). I think she’ll be very excited to see this list.</p>

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<p>I don’t know about the violin portion but Pitzer sounds like a good option. I know several young women in recent yrs who were excellent writers who were accepted with low test scores.</p>

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<p>Mount Holyoke is very liberal and also a warm, nurturing environment. They are also test optional and put a huge emphasis on their essays, so someone who is a good writer (and a good interviewer) would have an excellent shot.</p>

<p>One of my daughter’s friends, who is a poor test taker but a gifted artist, got in, and she had a similar GPA trajectory (not so great her first two years, then a significant rise jr and sr years.) Unfortunately, it was too expensive for her family, and she opted to go elsewhere.</p>

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<p>My daughter’s pump tubing got clogged the morning of her first SAT test, so she didn’t go. The next time she was super careful to avoid any problems and probably tested 12 times that morning!</p>

<p>Hoping this young woman can retake the ACT under better circumstances but the test-optional schools really and truly are that, test optional .</p>

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<p>I don’t understand why everyone is recommending she do the test optional schools unless they offer a portfolio review in lieu of standardized test scores. The reality is, only 9% of students did better than her on the ACT but her GPA is only .1 above average. If anything, not doing score choice would probably help her application (I had a slightly larger GPA ACT disconnect, submitted my ACT scores and got into most colleges I applied to, even though my ECs were not nearly as “developed” as this girl.)</p>

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<p>I’m kind of confused by that as well, but I think maybe because it means they’ll be a bit more holistic in general of applications? </p>

<p>I passed the list on to her and spoke with her dad. Her dad was very receptive. My mom spoke with her mom and she’s going to be allowed to have more “online” time until school starts in mid-August. They’re also going on a college tour swing in late July/early August between New York, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and around those areas. I’m very optimistic about her falling in love with a small LAC somewhere in the Great Lakes area. </p>

<p>I found out that her GPA is actually 3.3 now, unweighted (they don’t weight grades). Her grade trend has been roughly 3.0, 3.3, 3.6 each year. She was on honor roll every quarter last year. I think the upward swing will help her :).</p>

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<p>Since she wants an LAC in the Northeast with a strong music program, I have a few suggestions. We listened to music groups at about 10-15 colleges in the northeast when looking for S1 and S2. We heard many orchestra rehearsals as part of their search.</p>

<p>The GPA improvement is great news and the 28 ACT really is not a problem at many schools but she should take it again for sure in the fall. S2 increased his ACT score dramatically in October of senior year. She needs to make a music recording because many of these LACs will value that. </p>

<p>Susquehanna has a very strong music culture. She may get merit there - we heard the jazz band.<br>
Franklin & Marshall also has very good music - heard their orchestra’s sectional.
Bucknell’s jazz band was energetic and awesome.
Skidmore’s orchestra was great - we went to the ballet they accompanied.
Hamilton College’s orchestra was a wonderful surprise and very strong also - excellent conductor. Heavy emphasis on writing there.
Bard - excellent orchestra and heavy emphasis on writing
Smith - did not hear orchestra but have heard they have good music</p>

<p>Put some additional reaches on her list - you never know!
Vassar - excellent orchestra and conductor! and wonderful English department(easy to double major - few distribution requirements)
Wesleyan - smaller size orchestra and strong music
Brandeis - did not hear orchestra - but heard the jazz group - smaller but fun</p>

<p>For safeties besides Susquehanna, a school such as University of Vermont has a small but vibrant music department and is a smaller university.<br>
Ithaca College has a conservatory within the college and University of Hartford- Hartt School also has the same. Maybe merit at these?</p>

<p>These are schools that we visited in the past 4 years. If you can time your visit to their rehearsal schedule, that is more valuable than a general tour for sure!</p>

<p>Vassar has excellent music and English</p>

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<p>I’d thought of Ithaca College too. They have a fabulous music department/conservatory and also a good writing program. Their writing department was too rigid/structured for S1 (he’s the kid who ended up at Hampshire) but we all loved Ithaca - the town and the college. Ithaca is focused on “what will you be when you grow up”. I believe Ithaca College can share classes with Cornell which is a nice benefit.</p>

<p>Bard and UVM (University of Vermont) are great suggestions as well.</p>

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<p>Washington College in Maryland may fit the bill.</p>

<p>Small
Strong creative writing program.
4 seasons</p>

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<p>No particular advice, but romani you are a great friend! If only more students had friends like you…</p>

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<p>Agree with Salander - it’s wonderful that you’re taking the time to help out.</p>

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<p>Thanks guys, that means a lot. Like I said, she’s like family to me and I just want to see her do well. I believe her potential has been limited by her circumstances and I believe the right college will at least begin to fix that.</p>

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<p>I always recommend Evergreen State U. (Olympia WA, CTCL school) for artsy types. DD and DS attended and loved it.</p>

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<p>While she should keep her options open, the above three schools are just as/greater reach schools in terms of admissions difficulty compared with Oberlin unless things have drastically changed.</p>

<p>Wesleyan and Vassar…especially for White upper-middle class female applicants. </p>

<p>They also have very different campus cultures/vibes to each of them so a visit is recommended. </p>

<ul>
<li>Vassar has a reputation for having relatively easier admissions for male applicants to balance out their gender ratio.</li>
</ul>

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<p>I got into Brandeis off of the wait list with a much worse GPA, and slightly better standardized test scores than this girl. It’s a reach, but it’s not impossible.</p>

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<p>The problem is that English is a popular major at Brandeis and a humanities major many women…especially those fitting her demographic are perceived to gravitate towards which is likely to make it more difficult for her to gain admission there. </p>

<p>Incidentally, I was admitted to Brandeis with a much worse HS GPA myself without being waitlisted and received FA/college scholarship covering around 60% of my tuition and fees to boot. However, 1). That took place in the mid-'90s. 2.) I’m male 3.) Brandeis loved students from my HS and one GC* must have had a great working relationship with them considering how often he advocates for us to seriously consider Brandeis. 4. I wasn’t declaring a major in English. </p>

<ul>
<li>If Brandeis ever needs someone to market their college effectively, my HS GC would definitely be their man. :)</li>
</ul>