I am sure they would say no … other thing we are wrestling with is his college readiness/willingness in general. I want him to apply and hopefully get in somewhere but am definitely open to a gap year or two where he works and the hopefully understands that going to college is a privilege and not a have to ….
We have two older kids - one who graduated from NYU and the other who is 20 and hasn’t done college yet - is currently working and might be starting classes slowly locally while working - very different paths.
The college counseling process hasn’t started in earnest yet. I am hoping once it does - the counselor will be helpful but I am a little worried their focus will be on there kids applying to top tier schools as that is what the school cares about stats wise (I am unfairly predicting this)
My ds20 (senior at UVM) applied and really liked it a lot for a lot of reasons, including the diversity. Definitely take him to visit and try to time it for a day when there’s a home basketball game so he can see that “rah rah”aspect. It’s a great school for so many things.
UMass Amherst is more diverse than the other New England flagships so maybe worth a look? It’s not an easy admit, but definitely not as high a reach as UMD. Big sport fan-wise there is men’s ice hockey. It’s another one where applying early action is important. Syracus also comes to mind. More $ and less SES diversity, but more ethnic diversity, big sports school with lots of spirit, etc. Selectivity depends on major.
Well….your son’s school knows him and his needs and what has made him successful…or not. I think these schools are interested in seeing all of their students find post high school success.
Actually, going to a small, private school is what set S23 up for success at a large public university. He wasn’t overlooked and couldn’t hide. He was forced to advocate for himself. In his larger public school, not only did kids fall through the cracks all the time, they were never taught what services were available to them or how to advocate for themselves. And often if they did they were gaslighted as it was very hard to form personal relationships with any trusted adults.
For these reasons, if it’s affordable, I highly recommend a gap year at one of the boarding schools with good academic support. (I believe there is a pinned discussion on the Prep School Admissions sub forum or you can contact me directly).
For this student the key words were boarding school and acadmic support, rather than just private school.
A PG year at a boarding school that really understands kids with executive functioning challenges and with the proper academic support would be a good stepping stone if the student needs to develop better executive functioning and self-advocacy skills. Their college counseling also tends to have better insight into colleges that offer good academic support, what support is offered, what is needed to access it, and where past students with LDs have been successful. Forman specializes in students with learning differences, but New Hampton, Proctor, Millbrook, and a few others come to mind.
Also, as this student really has no idea what they are interested in, having an additional year of classes where he is a bit freer to try new things as they have already covered their graduation requirements might give them some direction as to a major.
I will point out that this is a very expensive alternative. However, attending college for a few years and not graduating is also a very expensive possibility.
I’d try for Ohio State, but be sure to review the bullet points under “Criteria of our holistic review, in no particular order” found in the drop down under the grey Admission Criteria bar when clicked, so that his application reflects them.
His school does a very good job at teaching him to self advocate. He will have the tools he needs by the time he graduates - it will more be a question of his motivation to do what he needs to do. There is no way he would be willing to do a PG year. He is so done with high school already as a junior!
Very helpful. According to these - I actually think he would have a decent chance. I am also hoping he can get his GPA up a little this year but cant count on that…
No - that’s what I was noting - CDS 22-23 shows 44% and their 3 year admit rate chart shows 34%.
That’s why I wrote this -
“Now, I’m not sure why their Common Data Set doesn’t match another report they put out - which is a three year admission trend - but it shows 34% acceptance in Fall 2022.”
Either way, UMD will be a high reach for this student.
Maybe you could work a lot on the executive function issues this year-that seems to trip up a lot of boys, particularly at large schools where no one knows who attends class. The school can provide a lot of support but he has to be willing to do his part without adults checking on him. Having an actual part-time job can do wonders, at least in the summer
Hmmmm UVM is very non diverse with 84% white. Much less ethnically diverse than most schools. UMASS is much more with less than 60% white.
But I do think that beyond diversity and every school will have services, but who specializes in students with LDs including fee services (ie extra help) may be what a student will need.
While usually, I am not in favor of paying for college counseling if you are already in a private school, I would feel out his CCs and determine if they have enough of a background working with and placing kids with learning differences. If not, I’d consider using someone that specializes in kids like yours and that can also present you with some different paths since you seem open to that.
I love UVM as an alum, but diversity is not its strong point (as addressed in another thread). Their academic support is very good, Burlington is a cool city, but the only sports with a following are hockey and basketball, so if you are looking for football you won’t find it there.
A 3.5 OOS proabably puts you in the reach category and I have not heard anything about their academic support (which doesn’t mean there isn’t any, but as I’ve extensively researched schools with good academic support and it hasn’t come up, I’d say it’s not something they are known for). UMASS is a large school that feels large and is run like a large bureaucracy which makes self-advocacy tough.
Schools with good academic support that are a bit smaller, but still D1:
University of Denver ( a hot school right now)
Elon (Another hot school)
Marist (closer to home for you)
If he could put up with the heat, University of Arizona has everything he is looking for. Diverse, big school sports and a specialized learning center with a great reputation.
A lot of private schools don’t rank, or won’t rank except for the top few percentage points. There is a path to admission. It’s not always about stats. At a private school the student has probably been in/will be in 4 years of Math, have some foreign language, 4 years of sciences and will exceed minimum college prep requirements simply by fulfilling their hs graduation requirements.
They may be TO but it doesn’t mean TO has as good a chance. Per the CDS, 85% of enrolled students submitted a test and it’s likely some that didn’t are hooked.
We don’t know about the students academics except they don’t take the highest amount of rigor and will have 3 years FL.
@vwlizard things for OP to note about Tucson - easy airport access and temperatures cooler than Phoenix. Warm yea but kids are not at school in the hottest time of year. Snow is an hour away. And a well laid out rectacular like campus that should prove easy to navigate. It’s also strong in the social sciences which appears to be this students forte.
And then agreed that you read only positives about the SALT Center which is an above the norm experience from what I understand - at a cost of course.
Here are the classes he has taken and/or is planning to take in HS
English - 4 years
History - 4 years
Science - Bio, Chem, Natural Science, Senior year tbd - probably should take physics but would rather take Enviormental science
Spanish - 3 years (currently in Spanish 3 but not likely to take Spanish 4)
Math -Geometry, Algebra 2, now is Financial/Business Math and next year will take Stats (not a strong math kid)
Also takes micro courses the school has along the lines of Nature of Knowledge, Con Law, Personal and Social Developent, Speech and Debate
Arts - has taken Digital Media, Drawing and is now in Design