Colleges in MA, CT, RI for B students suggestions

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>We just received my son's grades from Junior year - not a shining star, pretty much all low to mid B's. He is looking towards liberal arts for freshman year and perhaps switching to Bio/Sciences in the next year - so the school must be strong in the sciences. We need suggestions for foundation and middle colleges with a higher acceptance rate.</p>

<p>His is in a private high school that has let us down terribly having fired the college guidance person. We have no where to turn, except here! The new hire will not begin until later August. To give enough information for suggestions here is his fact sheet so to speak.</p>

<p>His school does not calculate class rank or gpa - so no information there. Just know he is mostly a B student with some A's in freshman, sophomore year - only one A in Spanish honors junior year.</p>

<p>He does not play sports. He has precious little for extra curriculars, is not a leader or joiner and extremely introverted. He is low on the self-confidence scale and so, wants to stay close to home which limits the search to MA, CT, or RI.</p>

<p>Latest SAT of 2120, reading: 800, Math: 680 and Writing: 640. ACT composite is 31. The counselor last year said his higher test scores, but weak grades will reflect poorly being reviewed by admissions as a lazy student (he is) or under achiever.</p>

<p>We also are extremely limited in our ability to pay and so need a school that will be generous with either merit aid or need-based. Off hand we could finance maybe 20K a year.</p>

<p>All in all, he will not look good on paper.</p>

<p>The current list is:
Reach:
Wesleyan in Ct (not a prayer, but will visit anyway)
Brandeis in MA (which seems a good fit - seeing next week)
Tufts in MA</p>

<p>Middle:
Trinity - CT
Holy Cross - CT
Connecticut College</p>

<p>Foundation:
URI - RI
Wheaton - MA
Clark - MA</p>

<p>Can anyone suggest more in the foundation or middle that I may have overlooked?</p>

<p>thank you in advance</p>

2

<p>I didn’t know there was a Holy Cross in CT. Look at your own state school, be it Umass, Uconn, or URI. Beyond that, there is the NEBHE (New England Board of Higher Education) which allows students in NE to attend other NE state universities as a discounted price for various majors not offered at their own state uni. </p>

<p>Otherwise, the test scores are strong and not everyone is an A student despite what some might have you believe and a strong first quarter could show maturity. Also consider Stonehill (MA), Bentley (MA), and Bryant (RI).</p>

3

<p>Oops - typed wrong state - Holy Cross in in MA.</p>

<p>Wanted to add that a small to med size is ideal with a smaller teacher/student ratio. His whole senior class size is 32! So he is accustomed to a more intimate learning environment.</p>

4

<p>Here’s a [GPA</a> Calculator](<a href=“http://gpacalculator.net/high-school-gpa-calculator/]GPA”>High School GPA Calculator) It should give you an idea of where your son stands in relation to the student body at various institutions.</p>

<p>I disagree with Collegedadnh’s suggestion of Bentley and Bryant. Those are both business focused institutions with poor science programs.</p>

<p>Here are some ideas:
-Hampshire College (great because of the cross enrollment, and open curriculum)
-Fairfield University
-Quinnipac University
-Roger Williams University (seems to be more of a C+ students school)</p>

<p>If you’re willing to consider New Hampshire, you should check out Saint Anselm College</p>

<p>You might want to look at these two threads. They have some great suggestions
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1469626-parents-hs-class-2014-3-0-3-3-gpa.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1469626-parents-hs-class-2014-3-0-3-3-gpa.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/939937-parents-hs-class-2013-3-0-3-3-gpa.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/939937-parents-hs-class-2013-3-0-3-3-gpa.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>Boston University and Northeastern University may be good soft reaches.</p>

<p>UConn, Quinnipac, URI, Suffolk, UMass-Amherst, Roger Williams, Clark are all decent options for targets.</p>

6

<p>Did he take any AP courses? Were most of his courses honors or just college prep? A “B” student in college prep is not viewed as highly as a B student in honors courses…
There are lots of choices, however, there is less opportunity for merit aid and generous financial aid once you start going down the selectivity scale. Since his test scores are so good it is worth pursuing reasonable reaches that have good aid, just in case. Holy Cross for example, his odds aren’t good but they meet full need. Tufts is not gonna happen at all. Brandeis is worth a shot.
You get more choices if you add in NY.
Try using the college search tool here on CC [College</a> Admissions, Search, and Financial Aid Help from College Confidential - College Admissions, Search, and Financial Aid Help from College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/]College”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/)
Plug in his data, expand the number of results returned (at top). You will see matches such as these:
Merrimack, Bryant, Simmons, Assumption,Endicott, Roger Williams, Fairfield, Providence College…</p>

7

<p>Endicott College in Beverly MA should be a pretty solid match I think.</p>

8

<p>I think the schools you have for middle would be a bit of a reach with a B average. Some schools you might consider are: Quinnipiac, Marist (in Poughkeepsie, NY , Roger Williams, UMass- Amherst, Siena College (near Albany NY), Assumption College, Clark College, Sacred Heart, UConn, Fairfield (may be a bit of a reach). I’ve listed a couple of schools in upstate NY but you can decide of any are close enough to your target area to be viable choices. To get merit aid you typically need to be at a school where you are above the average student profile so take that into account as well. Definitely look at state schools where you live.</p>

<p>If you aren’t getting the help you want/need from your HS then I’d buy a couple of college guide books (I like Princeton Review and Fiske but there are a lot of choices) and do some research with your S.</p>

9

<p>Yes, I should have mentioned that - Pre-Calc was college prep, all other academics were honors and History was AP. </p>

<p>And yes, I know Tufts is a pipe-dream - it’s a shame because he should have be making A’s and it should have happened, he knew it and dropped the ball anyway. It’s hard for a 16 yr old to take anything as vast as the “future” seriously.</p>

<p>Thank you all for the great recommendations - will be researching tomorrow!</p>

10

<p>Yeah, it is a pretty common situation! I have seen it a lot with kids I know. Lots of them don’t “get it” until it is too late to change things. Some never get it. And on the other hand, there are kids who need therapy because they are overdoing everything in an attempt to get into the most prestigious schools.</p>