<p>I've been reading threads started (or hijacked) by parents who are livid about affirmative action (URM's taking "spots" away from more deserving students) athletics (athletes, ditto) and financial aid rewarding spendthrifts (and therefore presumably punishing the more praiseworthy and prudent among us.)<br>
Here's my deal: I live in California, which means as a middle class family in a good neighborhood we have a low six-figure income. Our EFC? Do the math. My next kid up to the admissions game is your typical, 3.9 - 1450 BWRK. His interests? Baseball and cars - but he's not interested in playing baseball in college, even if he was recruited. So what does that mean? Well, he can forget about attending a top-tier state college. Berkeley? UCLA? UC San Diego? Fuhgedabouddit. If he was into music he could have padded his GPA with band or chorus classes, which are considered "college prep". But baseball? Nah. Auto tech? Nope. So basically all of the things he does outside of class count for nothing - and it even looks like he's carrying a light academic load because he spends two periods of class a day (and 2-3 hours a day in baseball season) doing things that don't "count." (Well, some of his baseball awards might translate into the equivalent of being president of the school Anime club.) What's really weird is he's blown by the "cap" UC puts on honors, AP and college courses, so taking community college and AP classes and getting a B hurts his "stats" at UC compared to kids who don't have the opportunity to take those classes. Go figure.
He's got no adversity, he's got no diversity. He's got bupkis. He'll be lucky to get into a second-tier college. And we're talking state schools here, because I've got three kids and can only budget $20K per year per kid.
So, poor me. Poor Kluge son #2. His future is bleak.
Except, it's not. All the things which <strong>don't</strong> help him with his college application actually give him a leg up in life. He's grown up in an educated household in an educated community with great public schools. I did save enough money over the years (because I didn't expect to qualify for financial aid) to be able to send my kids to 4 years of our still-pretty-good state U's, so he should graduate college with $0 debt. And, I can't ignore - an articulate six foot tall, athletic yolung man is probably going to walk into a job interview without a lot of strikes against him. So, he's going to have to "settle" for a "second tier" undergraduate education. Big deal. It's just one part of life for a kid who's got so much more going for him than most teenagers could dream of. He'll be OK.</p>
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He's got bupkis.
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<p>Loved it. Thanks for the response to all the "Cry Me a River" threads. The private hs my Ss go to awards merit scholarships. My S qualified but we dared not accept it. We wouldn't DREAM of applying for merit aid.</p>
<p>Money is for kids who truly truly need it. My Ss have the veritable silver tea set in their mouths, relatively speaking.</p>
<p>kluge,</p>
<p>Thanks for putting things in perspective. A nice antidote for the "wah,wah,wah" threads.</p>
<p>What an unusual post, one based on acceptance of reality. Your son will do fine because of all the atributes you mention, but also because he grew up in a household where he's learned to make the best of what's available to him.</p>
<p>And I was hoping for the sake of my sophomore s that the anime club was a good thing. :-)</p>
<p>A refreshing breeze! since I'm always on the hunt for spouses for AngelDD - how does he feel about Southern belles? She doesn't know anything about cars, but she could learn! Sounds like a great kid.</p>
<p>UC puts a cap on honors classes? I didn't know that. Guess I'll never figure out the wiley ways of the UC system.</p>
<p>Anyway, my daughter will probably have a very similar profile come application time. And she "wastes" a couple of hours a day swimming, and is never going to be very good. Buy hey, she likes it. Cheers for BWRKS everywhere! Believe me, I've got a good "second tier" list forming here. . .</p>
<p>Great post! Yes, I think your son will do just fine. You've obviously taught him to count his blessings. Good reminder for us all!</p>
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<blockquote> <p>3.9 - 1450 BWRK<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>I dunno. I think you are being a little too pessimistic. Those are still pretty strong stats. I think he has a decent shot at Berkeley and UCLA and a strong shot at UCSD.</p>
<p>Coureur - based on the published information about UCSD admissions last year, a student who averaged 700 on all 5 required SATs (SATV, SATM + 3 SAT 2's) needed about a 4.2 GPA to qualify on academics alone. (1000 x gpa + .8 x 5 SATs + 500 points for taking a lot of college prep classes > 7483 to qualify - check my math?) There's a lot of ways to get "extra" points, but sports, cars, and a - let's face it - privileged background don't qualify.</p>
<p>Mstee: The UC "cap" means that weighted GPA can only be applied to 8 semesters of honors, AP and college level courses, so once you've hit 8 semesters AP Physics = Art 1 as far as GPA is concerned. </p>
<p>I actually thought about telling the kid to do some things that fit the mold colleges are looking for, but thought better of it. He is who he is. Making him appear to be something he's not doesn't seem to make any sense.</p>
<p>kluge - I loved your post, but I agree with coureur that he still is qualified for a UC. Santa Barbara, Irvine, Davis, Santa Cruz, all are within reach, I believe. Now, if that GPA is unweighted, Cal and LA and SD are still in the picture.
Of course he still may prefer one of the Cal States, as a few of them are excellent. In any case, your point is well taken. He'll do great in life regardless of where he goes for undergrad.
Don't you feel lucky that you live in California? I do.</p>
<p>Kluge--just FYI, S got accepted to UCSD last year with about a 3.7 UC GPA and high SAT's and SATII's. He applied to and got into Irvine, San Diego and Davis, but chose to go elsewhere. If you're applying to one, you might as well check off a couple of more boxes and see what happens.</p>
<p>Kluge. . .I'm sure you know this, but if your S has interest in a smaller school, there are several very good midwestern LACs that might offer enough merit aid to bring their cost around that 20K mark. And he could probably play ball at some of them without ruining his academic schedule. There are at least a couple in this conference. . .<a href="http://www.northcoast.org/ba/ba.html#Standings%5B/url%5D">http://www.northcoast.org/ba/ba.html#Standings</a></p>
<p>Bravo Kluge!</p>
<p>K,</p>
<p>I agree with Coureur. My D has similar GPA and 1350. She plays tennis, but can't play D1. Admitted to UCB & UCSC.</p>
<p>Leadership counts, even if the activity won't continue in college.</p>
<p>With the GPA & SAT he should be into a good UC. </p>
<p>Also: reidm has a good point. </p>
<p>(Can't you just imagine the essay: "tinkering with cars=life?" ;))</p>
<p>Kluge,</p>
<p>Here is this year's Berkeley Results thread:</p>
<p>Your son's stats would not look out of place among the accepted students. It wouldn't be a sure thing - nothing in Berkeley admissions ever is. It might well be less than 50:50. But it is sure worth checking the box and paying another $40.</p>
<p>Kluge,</p>
<p>The 8 semester "cap" on the extra grade point for honors and AP courses within the University of California is for purposes of calculating a GPA to determine minimum eligibility for admission to the system only, not for admission to individual campuses. The California Master Plan guarantees admission (if they apply) to at least one UC campus to the top 1/8 of the seniors in the state, but not necessarily to the campus of the student's choice. Most UC campuses have admissions standards well beyond the minimum eligibility criterion, allowing the weighting of all approved courses.</p>
<p>What is a BWRK?</p>
<p>EllenF:</p>
<p>See abbreviation thread. Bright Well Rounded Kid.</p>