<p>My son is starting his junior year now. Assuming he performs about as well this year as he did the last two years, he will apply to colleges with a barely passing GPA and great SATs, probably 1400 minimum, possibly higher.</p>
<p>I'm guessing that the admissions guys will split the difference. He won't get into a college where his SATs are average, but he won't have to settle for a college or juco where his GPA is average. We're thinking of SUNYs with the exception of Binghamton and Geneseo, which might be too hard to get in.</p>
<p>Of course the wild card is whether he decides to do some schoolwork this year. The other wild card is his sports performance this year, as he's on the cusp of being a recruited athlete.</p>
<p>Some in-state schools would be willing to take a flyer on him despite his grades. Some less selective privates would as well. Is he in-state for the SUNYs? Do you know your EFC or how much you’d be willing to pay for his schooling?</p>
<p>Yeah we are in-state for SUNY. My thinking is that unless he shows some real interest in academics it doesn’t make sense to spend much on tuition.</p>
<p>My older son just started at Rice and we didn’t even bother applying for financial aid. Maybe it will be worthwhile with two kids in college, but I don’t think so.</p>
<p>FWIW I should mention that he attends a very tough high school, so maybe his lousy grades could be viewed from that perspective.</p>
<p>And if he decides to get involved in school this year then we’ll be on the boards again with as much enthusiasm as we had the last two years.</p>
<p>By “tough high school,” you mean academically tough, rather than students-carrying-weapons tough? Does his class rank kind of match his unimpressive-looking grades? If not, that says something important about the school. But if his class rank is unimpressive too, that could be an issue.</p>
<p>I’ll admit I don’t have any actual expertise in this area, but here’s what I’d expect.</p>
<p>I’d expect my kid to do well at colleges where his GPA was a match, maybe to get merit aid on the basis of his test scores.</p>
<p>I’d expect him to have a better shot than he would otherwise in schools where his GPA was more or less the bottom quartile. I’d expect some admissions and still some rejections at these schools.</p>
<p>I’d expect him to be shut out of schools where his test scores were a match, but his grades were low.</p>
<p>I’d expect that a lot of college admissions officers would see high SATs and low GPA as a serious red flag. Absent a compelling explanation for the low grades in high school, that’s how I’d be inclined to see it.</p>
<p>I know this is kind of…well, blunt. Sorry. You did ask, though.</p>
<p>By tough school I meant one that is selective in admissions. I don’t know exactly how tough but I’d guess that you have to score in the top 10 percentile to get in.</p>
<p>His GPA and class rank probably match. I’d guess that there are very few kids who got into the school, chose to attend, and then decided not to do any work. </p>
<p>There’s no compelling reason for the low grades. He just isn’t interested in school. Don’t worry about being blunt. I accept that he is not into academics; high school isn’t for everyone. And neither is college.</p>
<p>He’s pretty much always scored between 95 and 99 percentile. Got accepted at Johns Hopkins summer program and all that. Refused to consider attending, of course.</p>
<p>He probably can easily get into tier 2 schools like Syracuse and American U.</p>
<p>Unless his grades increase, I suggest seriously considering a productive gap year for him - one in which he volunteers fulltime for an organization like Americorps or works fulltime (any job) and pays rent if living at home.</p>
<p>Both of my sons were similar to yours. Older S went to a tier 2 OOS public, that gave him virtually a full ride. He flunked out of college even though that college would have been easy for him.</p>
<p>My younger S took a gap year as an Americorps volunteer after H and I had warned him that if he got sub par senior year grades, we wouldn’t pay for college until he had gone to college for a year on his own dime (We were willing to cosign loans), and did well.</p>
<p>After Americorps, he went to a tier 2 LAC of his choice, a place that gave him some merit aid. He had developed the maturity and self awareness to fully appreciate the college experience, and has been a Dean’s List student throughout even though some of his classes require more work than I was expected to do at an Ivy League college.</p>
<p>Your son has the stats to get into many colleges. The important concern is whether when he graduates from h.s., he’ll have the maturity and motivation to pass while in college.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, I usually agree with you, but in this case, I think a lot hinges on what bird rock means by “barely passing GPA.”</p>
<p>At the American U information session I attended last month, the admissions officer said they were looking for a GPA of B+ or better. Even if “barely passing” means mid-twos, that’s a pretty big difference; if “barely passing” literally means “barely passing”…</p>
<p>To me it sounds like your son doesn’t really put the effort into academics which is why he is barely passing. Therefore I think you should press him into really trying this year. I’m sure if colleges see that he has dramatically improved junior and senior year, it would look so much better. He still has a full year of grades, there’s some room to recover. But if he can’t pull off the grades, then yes a SUNY school makes sense.</p>
<p>If the only way your son will get decent grades will be for you to use everything within your power to get him to do the required work, then he’s not ready for college. His problem isn’t getting into college, it’s having the motivation and work ethic to stay in college. </p>
<p>I’m speaking from my experience as a mom of sons who were similar to yours.</p>
<p>so, did he go to Bronx Science or Stuyv or the like? If so, the colleges will recognize the school and let him try it, especially SUNY’s or CCNY.</p>
<p>If the S isn’t really interested in academics, why even send him to college? Have you discussed this situation with HIM? What DOES he like to do, what are his interests?</p>
<p>Another thing is that he will mature when he got older.</p>
<p>I was doing badly in HS, barely graduating with 60/100 score for EVERY Subject except English, I did not get into any colleges or trade schools in my country where only 30% of the graduates can go. I was drafted into military for two years. I matured in the military and got admitted by a third tier college in US. I worked very hard in the college and was since employeed by HP and other great companies.</p>
<p>The idea that your son could become a recruited athlete will help his chances to get into schools he might not otherwise have access to, but remember that there are NCAA minimums on GPA. The most liberal math would make a 70 avg equal to a 2.0 GPA, the most restrictive would make it a 1.5; even with high SATs that may make it impossible for him to be recruited by some schools. The flip side of that issue is how optimistic are you of his ability to do college level academic work while meeting all the time commitments of a recruited athlete?</p>