I need help. I have no idea where I want to go and my mom is not helping.

Parents Forum
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<p>Im a senior and I really have no idea where I want to go.</p>

<p>Im african american.
im in state.
my gpa is around a 3.1/ i know its really low, but Im horrible at math and science
i have a lot of ec's
im taking advanced classes and two ap's
my sat was in the 1500's. soo im taking them again with the act.
my school is in the country, so its no prestigious or anything.</p>

<p>I want a somewhat diverse school and I want it to be kinda small and near or in the city.</p>

<p>I was thinking about vcu and george mason, but they are really big schools.</p>

<p>my mom wants me to go uva, but I keep telling her there is obviously no hope for that.</p>

<p>what are good places for me???</p>

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<p>Look at Christopher Newport or Mary Washington for state schools. There are some scholarships to offset costs at private schools specific for instate residents in addition to general merit money. Look at Marymount, Roanoke.</p>

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<p>Will you need financial aid? Do you know if you’ll qualify for need-based aid, or will you need merit aid?</p>

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<p>Are you saying you’re in Virginia?
Are your SAT’s 1500 for the three tests, or just for CR and Math?</p>

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<p>i’ll probably need finacial aid and Im in virginia. the 1570 was combined. im taking them again, i didnt sleep at all the night before I took them.</p>

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<p>CNU and UMW would be the choices for a less selective virginia small public.</p>

<p>OTOH, if it was only math and science pulling your grades down, another option would be to do Community College, take only humanities and social science courses. get a real good GPA at CC, and apply to one of the more selective VA publics. UVA will still be hard (a 4.0 gpa at CC, I think?) but W&M might also be possible.</p>

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<p>i don’t really want to go to community college. I want to move away from home.</p>

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<p>Wow, I can feel your stress! Deep breaths. Now, let’s do two things:</p>

<p>1) make sure your senior year is set up with some courses that appeal to you so that GPA can get some loft. Plan to work like crazy from Sept to mid term because moving the GPA from 3.1 to 3.3 could help open some doors for you. Postpone any really tough classes until spring. Truthfully, pulling an A in choir might help you more than a C in an AP class.<br>
I know that you are hearing a lot of talk about how admissions folks like to see you taking tough courses – but they don’t look at the transcript until AFTER they look at GPA. You need as strong a GPA as possible because somethings are available at 3.25 or 3.3 that may not be available at a 3.1</p>

<p>If your guidance counselor is available before classes begin, you really should bounce some ideas off him/her. See what they think about your situation and if you should tweak your class load a bit to boost the GPA. </p>

<p>2) Have some fun. You (Thank God!) are not beating yourself up to decide between Harvard and Yale. You are looking for some options that make you happy, give you a career path (and is affordable? For most of us that is a concern). So, say to your mom “UVA is a long shot. Perhaps an impossibility. I need your help shopping a to-die-for knock off that makes me look spectacular at a bargain price.” </p>

<p>What do we do when we can’t afford to shop Fifth Avenue? We hunt like mad. Goodwill, yard sales, Ross, Nordstrom’s sale rack . . . we cover a lot of country to find a real treasure for a fraction of the expense. So, a quick perusal might look like:</p>

<p>Virginia Wesleyan. Their website says:
The College is located on 300 beautiful, heavily forested acres, yet the campus also is squarely in the nation’s 34th largest metropolitan area (with 1.7 million people in 2007). Students become connected to the history, culture, ecology, and politics of the region through courses, internships, and community service projects that provide practical know-how and skills leading in many cases to jobs after graduation.</p>

<p>Shenandoah University sounds lovely too. </p>

<p>Sweet Briar – private, but sometimes private schools have great financial aid. All female, perhaps not as diverse as you would like, but could be fun – and they might really roll out the red carpet for you if they want more minority girls. Don’t dismiss the all girl option without really looking at what they have to offer. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>i will check out virginia wesleyan and shenandoah. But I don’t think im interested in sweet briar because I live a few minutes away from it.</p>

<p>Are there any colleges that anyone knows of that are in va and maybe near a city?</p>

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<p>VCU and George Mason are fine - there is a lot of diversity at both. They each have a different feel, so you might want to visit. Richmond and Arlington are different.</p>

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<p>im kind of shy, so I think that I might be better at a smaller university. idk. im so confused.</p>

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<p>^^^ I agree with Olymom. And actually, I really think you have quite a few choices. In addition to what others have mentioned, a couple o which I really like, I think you should also include the following:</p>

<p>Longwood University - IMO one of Virginia’s best kept secrets in higher ed. Approx 4,800 students, freshman GPA starts at about 3.1, SAT math+verbal @ 1020 - 1150. Great school.</p>

<p>Hampton - 4,500 undergrads (over 60% from out of state), SAT math+verbal @ 1050, One of the better HBCUs</p>

<p>Lynchburg - 2,000 students, avg GPA @ 3.0, math+verbal SAT @1030. LAC, pretty campus, decent merit aid, esp if you can get GPA up to @ 3.25 </p>

<p>UVA at Wise - perhaps too remote of a location for you , but a pretty good Liberal Arts College with about 2,000 students</p>

<p>Radford University - About 8,800 students, middle 50% GPA is 2.8 - 3.4. Has a lot to offer and some very good programs, but used to have a party school rep - not sure if that’s still the case or not. Not far from Va Tech if you are into major Div I athletics. </p>

<p>Randolph Macon - Nice little private LAC near Richmond, nice campus - middle 50% GPA 2.9-3.6 (mean = 3.3), SAT Range: 990-1150 mth+verbal and 1,490-1,710 all parts. Pretty generous with financial aid.</p>

<p>I think these along with the others are a very good group of schools to start researching/visiting.</p>

<p>Lastly, if you are ambitious, I’d also recommend looking into Richard Bland College in Petersburg. It is the only VA state supported junior college in Virginia, but as such, offers a guaranteed transfer admission into several VA schools including William & Mary, James Madison, and Virginia Tech. They’ve also just recently completed a new student village providing what looks to be pretty nice residence halls.</p>

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<p>Marymount University?</p>

<p>I don’t know much at all about this school, but I think it’s fairly small, maybe @3,400 students. Looks like it could be a match for you as far as admissions and it’s only about 6 miles outside of D.C.</p>

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<p>Just putting in a plug for Radford. I believe it’s a state school and I know some people who go there that really like it.</p>

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<p>As others have said, you will have a tough time gaining admittance to UVA. Same thing with W & M. You would need much better scores and SATs.</p>

<p>That said…</p>

<p>Just had a student get into Longwood the other day. It is an excellent school. Lots to do. Great majors. One of my former students says that the internship programs are excellent. It does have rolling admissions, so you could apply now and maybe hear within a month.</p>

<p>Shenandoah is a great school. One of my former students got nearly a full ride to attend – she did pick UVA, as she gained admission to its nursing school. I’ve had some other former students go there and loved it.</p>

<p>Radford: I’ve got a former student there who just loves it. He already has completed his general education requirements and is working on his major – he’s just a sophomore. As a communications major, he’s had all kinds of opportunities to be on the air, so he’s getting some great experience.</p>

<p>GMU: If you apply, do so as an early action student. That may favor you, given your GPA. </p>

<p>Bridgewater: It’s near Harrisonburg. Gives good aid. Nice, small school.</p>

<p>While I know you want to stay in state, I will give a plug for a small school that is OOS. Take a look at Shepherd University in WV. Good academics. Pretty town. Good aid. Nice athletic program, too.</p>

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<p>I thought I posted to this last night… George Mason is something of a reach. You might try Old Dominion.</p>

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<p>A couple thougths … </p>

<p>1) If it would lessen the stress with your Mom agree to apply to UVA and W&M … it is very unlikely you;lll get in but why don’t you let the admission committees at those schools tell your Mom instead of you … (and don’t spend a tonof time on these applications)</p>

<p>2) In return for these applications your Mom shoudl support your other applications. I’d suggest buying a big fat college guide (or going to a library) and check out all the schools in Virginia (and NC? and WV? and MD?) to find schools where your SATs and grades are in the 25%-75% range (and yes there will be a lot of options) … and are the right size … and in a location that looks good. This will only take a few hours at most and will likley yield a bunch of candidates.</p>

<p>PS - as others have mentioned you need to understand what your parents are willing to pay compared to your EFC to know which colleges are reasonable financial options.</p>

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<p>People…
**
Which of the schools that you’re recommending will be affordable to a student who needs financial aid? ** If you’re recommending schools that don’t give LOTS of free aid (especially privates), it’s a waste of time for this student to apply if there’s no way they’d be affordable. </p>

<p>If the student has a low EFC and a school has a COA of $40k-50k, it’s doubtful that many schools are going to give her $25k - 30k in free money with the rest being covered with a student loan, Pell (if she qualifies), and small EFC. </p>

<p>And, if this student has an EFC that her family can’t pay, that will be another problem since her FA package will already include a student loan. </p>

<p>Don’t Virginia state schools meet need for residents? If so, then she should apply to a variety of them…including UVA to keep her mom happy (sometimes it’s best to go ahead and apply to such a school just to show the parent that you won’t get in).</p>

<p>Virginia Girl…can you calculate what your family’s likely EFC will be? </p>

<p>FA Calc<br>
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator - Finaid) </p>

<p>It’s important to know what your likely EFC will be to figure out what kind of aid you’ll get and whether your family can afford to pay its EFC.</p>

<p>How much will your family contribute?</p>

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<p>I think my family will contribute the majority. I really like geroge mason. I think I’ll apply even though its a reach. I really like the location. I don’t like that its so big, but its near d.c. </p>

<p>I might try to transfer to uva my sophmore year or something.</p>

<p>My aunt keeps telling me that I need a school with a good name. But I don’t really care, I just a good education.</p>

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<p>Country girl trying to get to the city, eh? You didn’t really say, but are you open to schools outside of VA?</p>