I ask bc CC seems to be heavily slanted to the “extraordinary” kids…those who start a non-profit, develop a life saving vaccine, all while taking 10 AP courses a year with perfect ACT/SATs? lol
My daughter is bright, creative and a hard worker. She doesn’t test great (never has) but will put in the work to make good grades. She has taken the AP and dual enrollment courses our HS offers, but doesn’t have a 4.5/4.7 etc GPA. Played volleyball and soccer, then now has a part time job…a “average” kid by CC standards apparently but “above average” in her school/area by comparison…
Shes creative and wants to do fashion design- I am super proud of her and think she will go on to have a great life, I just don’t know much about art/design schools and …I was hoping that CC would be an outlet to learn about schools but it seems all discussions are slanted to the “prestigious” colleges.
I am THRILLED that there are so many that are outstanding and it bodes well for the next generation leading our country, but is there anyone here in the “average” category and how do I find them?
(and before anyone takes offense- non of this is meant derogatory to “outstanding” kids- I’m just floundering trying to find someone on my “level” so to speak…)
If you find any, please let me know! ?
Your daughter sounds a lot like mine! She just finished her junior year at Susquehanna, studying photography. She had learned a lot in college and makes better grades than she did in high school. We’re very proud of her.
Yes. A lot. But way way way more, not on these boards. Most high school seniors college bound go to local schools or the State UNis and colleges. There isn’t this angst about acceptances. Affordability is addressed by going part time and working.
FIT? http://www.fitnyc.edu/
Look here:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/
Also worth looking at:
https://www.fashion-schools.org/articles/top-50-fashion-design-schools-and-colleges-us-2018-rankings
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-25-best-design-schools-2012-11
You’ll find that for some fields, the rankings that matter aren’t the typical prestige/USNews rankings but the ones specific to that field.
For a lot of design schools, your portfolio matters more than stats. Has she been building a portfolio?
Yes and there are very helpful parent forum/communities on CC for such kids. Go here
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/
Look for 3.0 - 3.4 GPA threads. Not all the kids fall in that range but it’s for the “just “average” not outstandingly excellent Ivy kids”.
Also stay away from ‘chance me’ threads! And the ‘Help! I got into Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton and don’t know which to choose’ threads.
@PurpleTitan Yes, she is working on her portfolio, (FIT is specific in their prompt for fashion portfolios, so she has to tailor it to them)…I do appreciate the feedback from everyone,I will look at the forum @liska21 recommended!!
Totally get it 
I have also been posting in the 2020 thread for 3.0-3.4 GPA students. My S20 has a GPA a little higher than that but hasn’t gotten great test scores so far and is targeting our publics in CA as well as a few OOS publics. He sounds much like your daughter, bright, creative and a generally well-rounded kid.
You can try searching the forums for “fashion design” to see if you can find any school specific threads.
Yep…I have a very academically average daughter. She has never taken an AP class (she is in honors chem this year though). She has a nice 3.6 GPA, but it takes a lot of work on her part to get A’s and B’s. She just took the ACT in April and only got a 19, so I’ve had to hire a tutor and she’s retaking it in June and July. My only goal is to get her ACT up high enough to get into our public state university, where I’m confident she will get a good college education. I cannot relate at all to my friends who moan about their kids “only” getting a 30 on the ACT or “only” taking two AP classes. Would I like academics to be less of a struggle? Of course. But I console myself that I have a bright - not genius- daughter who is hard-working,funny and compassionate. That’s enough for me.
My son is average. Smart, good basketball player, did a couple of summer business camps and some volunteering at church. No special academics other than dual enrollment courses senior year. He also studied really hard for the SAT. He made a good list of schools and got into all 8 schools he applied to. He’s attending his reach school - our state flagship. Hi had no interest in elite schools and didn’t apply to any. Don’t fret, OP!
I have read CC for awhile, and it has been an eye-opener. The vast majority of American kids do NOT fall into these categories that you see. Not at all. Consider that the average ACT score for all students who take it in the US is close to 21. However, if you read on here it seems most kids have at least a 33 or higher. The average gpa in America is around 3.38, but CC students who do “chance me” are usually at a 4.0 or even higher with advanced classes.
Many, many average kids go to “average” state universities and do just fine. Smart kids can go to average universities and do just fine. The other day I had a chance to talk to my father’s anesthesiologist and the topic of colleges came up. He winced when asked about the schools he attended as he went to a community college and then local universities. I laughed thinking why is he wincing when he’s making more than probably anyone in the hospital.
I do think that CC is good because too many kids and parents are totally clueless with how competitive the college process is now compared to when they attended. In my day I had friends who all attended UC’s in California. A friend with a 950 SAT, 3.1 gpa got into UC Davis. Many average students went to Cal Poly SLO. One of these friends now has a senior graduating.,Her son with a 3.7 gpa, 28 ACT knew he’d get into all of these schools and was crushed when he received nothing but rejections. Parents are clueless that their “average excellent” student has no chance for most UC’s. I truly am shocked when I read on CC the students with perfect stats getting rejected from schools that in my generation were for the average student. But it’s the new normal so it’s good for everyone to be educated about the college acceptance process.
@engineermomof2 - stay away from certain threads and you’ll find a lot of parents of happily average kids here on CC. Truly the Ivy hysteria is overwhelming but plenty of us don’t buy into it. I visited a couple of Ivies with my kids when we did their college tours and both felt they didn’t like the rarefied atmosphere… which is great because they probably couldn’t have gotten into one if they’d tried. 
I knew from the beginning that they cared more for fit than prestige. We made the proverbial balanced lists: they had reaches they didn’t get into, matches and safeties where they did - and they’ve both ended up very happy at schools they love. I have found that the “majors” forums can be very helpful and they are less exclusively oriented towards the lottery admission schools. Maybe try checking the Visual Arts majors board:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/
I know of two young women who went to college seeking fashion careers (which they both now have). I don’t know details (majors, etc.). One went to Auburn, and the other started at Bowling Green and then transferred to finish up at Kent State. I know both were happy with their colleges!
I don’t have the same impression of CC, but I never read the chance threads. The parents’ forum also frequently has parents posting about various challenges their kids face.
For those who are stressing about SAT or ACT here is a list of schools that don’t require or emphasize test scores. Note many top schools are actually on here. A whole range of schools actually. If you need merit aid, however, some will still want scores.
https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional
These schools don’t give more weight to applicants with scores versus those who don’t submit them. Again, unless you need merit aid- for some.
Oh there are plenty like your kid & like you here! We’re usually in the Financial Aid forum, or here in Parents (& the Cafe!), and in major-specific forums.
When you suddenly find yourself in a crazy-making thread, just smile, and move on to one that is useful for you.
YES! I have two! S20 and D20 and I have learned which threads to avoid. The threads for “B” students are so helpful.
We are trying hard to find match schools and some great ideas have come from this board.
By definition, ivy kids won’t be “average”.
Me! My kids are average amazing in their own ways, but don’t fit the mold of super high scores and tons of APs etc.
I know it feels like the “average” CC kids have a GPA that’s not even possible at the hs my kids attended, where the free/reduced lunch rate is 60%. They also come from “Middle Class” families that have an EFC more than my salary!
However, you can skip those threads. You will also find parents of kids who started at community college or went to the directional U so they could commute. My own kids had great grades (but take with grain of salt considering the high school was the kind of place with regular drug dog sweeps and it’s own cop), well above average test scores but nothing at the top of the scales, and attended small privates that I’ve never seen mentioned on College Confidential. One is a nurse, and current MSN candidate, who did not attend a direct entry BSN program and the other was a CS major who found out that the FAANG company who hired her really didn’t care at all about the name on her diploma.
You will find parents here who struggle to let go of that T20 dream because they’ve realized it is unaffordable, who have to learn to say no, whose kids make bad decisions, who realize their kid was not well prepared for the semi-independent life of a college student, etc. Focus on these threads.
I think there is a higher percentage of high achieving kids/parents here because a lot of the “average” kids just go to their in-state public or a local private or cc and have no need to be on these forums.
I ended up here due to hearing about CC on another forum. I learned some about hunting merit here which was the main objective of my college research. We looked a little far and wide but in the end DD’19 is going to a nearby, non-selective regional public so I didn’t really need a lot of help. But I just really enjoy talking to other parents in the same place in life.
She is a 3.98/4.007 valedictorian in a small school with 1 AP (that almost did her in) and a 27 ACT so she doesn’t fit the 3.0-3.4 threads nor is she a super competitive candidate. I have been in both of the parents thread but settled into the regular one and just skim over most of the AP-type talk that I don’t relate to