Helping out a friend - Adult Imput Would be Great

Parents Forum
1

<p>(Haha, sorry for mispelling input, always do that)</p>

<p>So college admissions went well for me. I'm going to tufts next fall. For my friend, not so much.</p>

<p>He was rejected at all of the schools he applied to. I know that this includes Marist and Montclair State, maybe others, but I can't remember.</p>

<p>His stats</p>

<p>Freshman Sophmore Year: 1.3-1.6 GPA (Not sure exact number)</p>

<p>He was heavily involved in drugs and alcohol and didn't put any effort in school at all. At this time he was in some classes believe college prep level.</p>

<p>Junior and Senior Year: 3.5-3.8 GPA (Not sure, again)</p>

<p>He completely turned it around these two years. He stopped drinking and doing drugs. He became much more dedicated to his studies and is even in AP Government and Honors Western Civ this year. Amazing story for a kid who was in B level history freshman year. (one level below college prep)</p>

<p>I believe his cumulative GPA is somewhere around a 2.6. I don't think he's in the top 50% of the class, but probably close to it.</p>

<p>He's taken the SAT three times, and he hasn't done that well. His superscore is a 1570. Breakdown is 560M/490CR/520W</p>

<p>He doesn't have much extracurricular involvement. He has done baseball three years of high school (He was cut sophomore year) and he will be getting his Varsity letter this year. Freshman year he actually won the batting title for the freshman team, but fell out of shape sophomore year.</p>

<p>Senior year he made the JV bowling team, with a few varsity starts but I don't think he lettered.</p>

<p>Besides that, he isn't in any clubs, but he has worked at shoprite. Freshman year he did about 15hr/wk during school, and sophomore about 25hr/wk until baseball. During the summer before freshman year he worked, and I think he's worked between junior and senior year.</p>

<p>Now, I know the kid doesn't sound like much, but he's had a lot to go through. His mother died when he was very young, and his father is no longer in custody of him, I believe he is struggling with alcohol and drug related problems, and is near the poverty line. He lives with grandparents who are not very involved with his educational life. His grandfather is retired but his grandmother works, making somewhere around 50K. His grandparents also have 3 adopted siblings that they take care of, all of them younger than my friend.</p>

<p>He is a very shy kid who has taken great initiative to improve his grades but he still needs some help. He sent out applications to Rutgers and Stockton, and still hasn't heard back from Ramapo College, but he's not expecting to get in. He told me recently that his guidance councilor told him not to complete his application for rutgers, as he was past the deadline, but I believe Rutgers is still on a rolling basis, and at that point I was so fed up with the lack of help this kid is getting that I felt I needed to do something. </p>

<p>Tonight I went over a list of colleges still taking applications and came up with a few for him to consider.</p>

<p>Alfred
Duqesne
Niagra
U Mass - Boston
Kutztown</p>

<p>Kean (Instate)
William Paterson (Instate)</p>

<p>I feel that judging by the numbers, he has a shot at all of these places. Though I expect it to be much harder to get in at this point in college admissions. Perhaps for the out of state schools, they may be willing to take an out of stater to improve diversity.</p>

<p>I have a bigger concern at the moment - financial aid. Some of the out of state schools are quite expensive, but I feel that with his circumstances he would definitely qualify for financial aid. However, he has not completed the FAFSA or the CSS profile, and I don't think his grandparents know much about it. I've already been told his dad would have to file paperwork for that, though as I mentioned before his dad is very financially weak and does not have a great relationship with his son. </p>

<p>Tomorrow I plan on calling the financial aid offices of those schools to see if they would still offer need based aid. Otherwise, I assume his choices are going to be limited to instate schools. I really just don't want to see him going to community college, even though it seems like the best option, he worked very hard the past two years and turned his life around, and I know he has dreams of attending Syracuse or Holy Cross as a transfer student. I think starting off in a four year university would help those chances.</p>

<p>If you've read this far, thank you very much. He's a bright student who deserves a chance to learn and succeed. I know this is an exhaustingly long post, and any input you have would be much appreciated.</p>

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<p>You are a fantastic friend, and I want you to remember that. He is lucky to have you.</p>

<p>I think that your friend does have options. If he is diligent and does well in his classes at a community college, he can gain acceptance to a four year school that he is interested in. He will also save money in those two years by living at home and maybe working. Good schools do accept transfers from CCs who have good records.</p>

<p>I also think that he should think about taking a gap year. He can study as hard as he can for the SAT or the ACT (which I know isn't as common in MA, but some students find they score significantly higher, relatively). He can work and save money, maybe take a class or two at a community college, and if he wants to look into volunteering. He may enjoy being a mentor for at-risk youth or helping to coach a kids' baseball team. He can also spend time filling out financial aid forms and putting together a good list of colleges he can apply to, including reaches, matches, and safeties. He can look for scholarships he can apply for, as well. There are scholarships designed to target students like your friend.</p>

<p>It is obvious from his grades that he really has turned his life around. I know that there are a lot of schools out there for him, but I do not know whether he will find one he likes so late in the year with good enough financial aid. I think his best option is taking a year off to re-try the college process. I think that he should look into taking a couple of community college classes, as well, and work as hard as he can on them in order to prove that he can handle college material. </p>

<p>As long as your friend has the motivation to keep on trying and working hard, which appears to be the case, he will be able to get back on track. I do think that he can succeed, and he will if he works hard to get there.</p>

<p>Congratulations on Tufts.</p>

3

<p>How are his baseball skills?</p>

<p>He might consider asking the GC to recommend a 5th year boarding program which could then get him in shape for college apps next year. Does he have any video of himself playing baseball? Send that tape with the app.</p>

<p>It's not the GPA killing him--it's the SAT. He has to get those SAT scores up.</p>

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<p>I really don't think he's recruitable for baseball. He's a senior and he doesn't start this year.</p>

<p>I agree about the SAT, but he's taken it three times already. Not sure what to tell him about that.</p>

5

<p>What a fantastic friend! I don't know much about the other schools on your lists, but please be aware that U Mass Boston doesn't have dorms, and it's very expensive to live near the school. If aid is a real issue, and it sounds like it is, then that may not be a viable option.</p>

<p>If you're talking to the various schools, you may also want to call Syracuse and Holy Cross and see if there really is a benefit for transfer students in going to a 4 year school rather than community college. If there isn't, then getting his AA from community college and then transferring might be his best bet.</p>

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<p>I agree that his best bet is to attend a community college and re-apply, either next fall or the following year. Even if he could get into a college at this late date, the chances of his getting aid are slim to nil. </p>

<p>An alternative to attending community college full time would be to take a job and attend evening classes at the community college. It would help him earn some money while keeping him engaged in academics.<br>
He could consider taking the ACT or re-taking the SAT, but he needs to do some preparation to increase his chances of success. Look up advice by Xiggi by doing a search on CC.</p>

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<p>I agree with the general view here that starting at a community college, with the intent of transferring to a four-year college, would be a good plan. I know that this idea isn't appealing to some young people because it usually involves commuting rather than living on campus, but sometimes it's a really good choice.</p>

<p>In fact, I think your friend is exactly the sort of person that this strategy was designed for -- someone with a weak high school background but lots of potential. The community college would provide him with a fresh start.</p>

<p>Many community colleges have transfer arrangements with state universities. your friend might want to inquire whether the local community college has such an arrangement with any of your state schools.</p>

<p>Congratulations on Tufts. It's a really interesting place, and Boston is a great city. You should have a fine time there.</p>

8

<p>one thing I would want you and him to think about is the support system available. I would be concerned that going off to a college might be difficult to adapt to and he might fall back into the same problems. He sounds like academics will at least be challenging for him and with everything else that comes with going to college, I would not recommend it for this student. When you add up the past problems with drugs and alcohol, financial problems, family problems and moderate academics -- this student could really benefit from staying at home and attending community college.</p>

<p>It sounds like his grandparents are an excellent support system and the consistency of staying with them while starting college would probably be best. He could focus on school rather than the social aspects of college and do very well.</p>

9

<p>Evergreen State here in WA has a good history with students like your friend. And they're relatively inexpensive.</p>