Is that his weighted GPA?
He only has one AP class so far, so weighted and unweighted are much the same. And the 2.8 is my best estimate for his ending senior year unweighted.
oh ending senior year? That is too late. Acceptances will occur before that. What will his GPA be at the end of junior year (many schools use THAT). And what will his GPA be with a 7th semester (which may only be a small bump since it’s not a full year and needs to be calculated as such).
I would like to suggest that he NOT consider Community College.
I went to one, and it was absolutely the right choice for me. I was an honors student, and driven to succeed. I graduated two years after graduating from high school, and all my credits transferred to a local university.
But I asked someone in College Placement at the high school where I teach for advice about my son. She said that kids who aren’t particularly driven in high school can tend to fall through the cracks at a community college-- they tend to think of it as an extension of high school and fall into those same old habits. Very often, it’s not a case of any sort of learning disability, merely a kid who takes a little longer than “average” to mature.
That makes a lot of sense to me.
As a result, with my son we’re looking at smaller LAC’s.
One note of caution about MSU, if a student is not highly motivated, it is incredibly easy to fall through the cracks at the school. I used to live with an MSU TA and she constantly remarked just how many students started as freshmen but didn’t finish. I would be cautious about recommending Montana State for a student like this, particularly because it’s at the outer limit of affordability and the overwhelming majority of students take at least 5 years to graduate (a tiny majority never finish).
Community college? Really? Cool the exaggeration. This kid isn’t dumb and doesn’t have a mental illness. His GPA is around 85. I think we need to get rid of this CC notion of 3.0+ or bust.
OP, you clearly have a smart son with a lot of potential. I encourage you to look at @lbad96 college admissions journey. His stats seem to be very similar to your sons, and you can see which schools he has a shot at getting into and look at the merit aid he received.
Good luck!
You say he has NO ECs? What does he do when he is not at school? Work? Babysit? What?
“Community college? Really? Cool the exaggeration. This kid isn’t dumb and doesn’t have a mental illness.”
- lol
- Community colleges aren't just for dumb kids and people with mental illnesses.
- He could strengthen math, science and English skills while investigating transfer options to colleges that would not admit him directly from high school.
- lol
@CaliCash I just looked at your suggestion’s profile. Some notable differences in favor of @LBad96: URM, had extracurriculas and experienced an extreme family event that many colleges would accept as a very good reason to bring GPA down, plus he was also full pay. The profiles are comparable only to a point.
@witchhazel, son also got into Colorado State and University of Montana. We live in Colorado, applied to Montana because we have relatives in the area. My son did have some ECs, but they were all required by the high school he attended (some tutoring, an after-school internship in a lab.) His HS grades were low, but he attended a respected magnet, and had high ACT scores. Whenhen might be right about MSU, but on the other hand, there are lots of out-of-state kids there, and we didn’t notice a lack of support. Son left MSU after a year, for reasons that had nothing to do with MSU itself.
My heart goes out to you! When you have a bright kid who struggles (for whatever reason-anxiety, lack of motivation, ADHD), you can’t simply will them to succeed. My son is an Aspie who had few ECs; because of his intelligence, he succeeded at what was easy and who cared about the rest. Believe me when I tell you that dh and I lost a LOT of sleep worrying when we agreed to let him go OOS to a large Uni when he was less independent than his peers. He essentially jumped into the deep end and we held our breaths!
Lessons-regardless of potential and intelligence, child has to be ready for the workload. Don’t be locked into the “should” path and find what’s right at this moment in time. You don’t want him to fail. (For my son who didn’t know how to study, combined w the challenges of being on his own, the first semester was rocky but motivated him; second semester, he’s finally finding his way, tg). If taking a gap year to work and find confidence-try that. To help him learn to study, maybe a local Uni with study support and plans to transfer. OR a smaller Uni that will nurture (large Unis are not particularly known for that and some even actively weed out). You’re asking about colleges with lower entrance requirements but will your son be happy there? (My son would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb). encourage him to do things that demonstrate HIS interests as EC-the engineering fair, a tech/gaming group for younger kids. That helps build up his creds, too.
As a fellow Pacific Northwestener - here are some suggestions, particularly if your son doesn’t want the environment of a large public school. I know kids that have gone to all of these and been quite happy, some with profiles similar to your sons. It’s a pretty ecletic list and some of these schools are very different from others on the list, but might give you some ideas: Pacific University (Forest Grove,) Evergreen State, Portland State, Linfield, UMontana - Western, Western Washington, and University of Puget Sound. It’s all about fit, and as I’ve said I’ve know kids for whom each of these was their right fit.
I was going to suggest Evergreen State, also. If he’s interested in arts and/or media & communications, Columbia College Chicago is another open-admission option. Ignore all the other helpful advice, if it doesn’t work for you. I had an underachieving son, also. He hasn’t taken a straight, flat road, but the local C.C. would have been the worst imaginable choice for him immediately after high school. He did take some classes at an urban CC after leaving his first college, but that was simply to stay “in the game” while effecting a transfer to a large four-year university. I am inclined to believe that the kid who muddles through with a 2.8 will do that at a CC, also, and might as well do it at a four-year college. I am not a fan of seeking a pharmacological remedy, myself, and take exception to unaccountable,anonymous strangers on the Internet providing diagnoses. Some kids, especially boys, are more suited to scenic, indirect routes than to Interstates. They eventually find their way. Mine recently reported two successive 100s on assignments in one class, and a 97 on a paper in another.
I think-though I should only speak for myself-the reason CC is being mentioned in this thread is that the OP said her son is now doing MUCH better academically (closer to the intelligence demonstrated in the test score) but not enough that his application’s GPA will reflect his potential. Taking classes at a CC will allow him time to shift gears (college mind) AND to build a new GPA that will open doors to better academic options. If he sees a school he really wants but cannot at this time qualify for, it’s an option worth considering.
@witchazel - what is your son’s GPA for 10th and 11th grades? How are his grades in math and science (namely physics and chemistry) and computer science (if he’s taken any classes)? What math is he taking this year? His GPA is low but his ACT puts him above the 75th percentile for UMBC in Maryland. It’s a well-respected school that’s up and coming.
I know of a child who is taking a gap year before attending college; very bright young man but he’s just not quite ready for college. He will be doing Americorps during his gap year. I also know that there are STEM Americorps opportunities available. This may be a possibility for your son if you think he needs a little maturing and maybe an EC.
@witchazel my high school experience is similar to that of your son. 33 ACT/bad grades (ended up dropping out of high school). Here’s my advise:
Encourage him to find a job, preferably a physically demanding one–it took me about 7 years of working a mindless/low paying job to realize that I had the intelligence to do WHATEVER I wanted to do.
Don’t push him into college–when he becomes motivated enough to attend school on his own, he will perform better than 95% of his peers. If he’s not ready, he will scar his college record and make it more difficult to get into a good 4-year later.
Get rid of the video games and get him an RC Quadcopter or something of the sort–very cool and almost guaranteed to foster the sort of curiosity/problem solving skills required to be successful in a STEM career.
After 10 years out of a classroom, I’ve almost completed 60hrs at a CC. I’ve taken math through Cal3, Chem1 and Chem2, Engineering physics 1 and 2 and a host of other classes. I have been able to maintain a cumulative GPA of 4.0–and am on track to get into a few top 15 engineering schools (despite my HS record). Sure, it would have been nice to do this 10 years ago, but the life experience I have gained over that time has allowed me to excell in every class I have attended. Just have faith in your son’s abilities–when he’s ready I’m sure he’ll grab the bull by the horns and make you very proud.
Thank you for your post, @MathMeany.
I think we have to remember that colleges look at upward trends and also some do not look at 9th grade at all. If he did a lot better in 10th grade and has continued it this year that will help for admissions. He should try do some sort of EC though.
Unfortunately his worst semester was 2nd in 10th grade. That was his wake up call. His GPA for 1st semester of 10th grade is double that of the worst!!
He wants to go to a 4 year school. He knows he messed up and has limited his options bu t we want to do all we can to help him now that he has found his motivation.
Thanks for all the suggestions, there have been some we did not know much/anything about.
@Much2learn I’m referring the two things separately. He doesn’t need to be checked for ADHD because he has a GPA in the 80s. And should not be considered for the OPs son given that tey have a $30,000 budget.