I think you’re smart to consider schools outside of your back yard. One strategy is to look at the college matriculation lists for private high schools like yours in other areas of the country. You’ll see what schools they use as more likely options. Pay attention not only to the schools graduates are attending but also to the number of acceptances. That tells you which schools these kids are applying to in large number. One such school is Hobart and William Smith. In the last 5 years 20 kids from Middlesex (a top flight NE boarding school) were accepted but only 3 attended. That tells me it’s been a lot of MX students’ match or likely school. You’ll see HWS listed in a lot of other prep schools’ matriculation lists. Other accessible schools popular with the New England prep school crowd include College of Charleston (not technically a LAC but it feels like one), UVM, St. Lawrence, Fairfield, Elon, U. Denver, Providence College, Whitman, and Wheaton (MA, not the religious one). *
Many of these would be stretch schools but none should be out of her league if she’s coming from a tough school and might be worth bringing up with her college counselor: Trinity, Conn College, Skidmore, Franklin and Marshall, Union, and Dickinson. *
For likely schools I’d recommend CTCL schools like Goucher, Juanita, Eckerd, Muhlenberg, Gettysburg, Ursinus, Clark and Hampshire as well as public colleges outside your area such as UNH.
Take schools’ Common Data Set with a grain of salt and when you look at the class ranking data (% in top 10% or 25%) be sure to check out what percentage submitted class rank. You may be surprised to see that the number can be quite small. It was only 12% at one of the schools I listed above.
*I’m in New England so my list is heavy on the schools favored by New England prep school kids. There are lots of great schools in other parts of the country but I’ll leave it to others to make those lists.
I’d encourage her to apply to ONE match school that isn’t too far away. Good to have the option spring of senior year if she changes her mind about being far away. Sometimes family issues come up when kids prefer to not go so far away, too.
Take a look at Agnes Scott College in the Atlanta area. A URM student I mentor got accepted there this year with a sub-3.0 GPA, although she did have other positives such as a published essay, a lot of student theater involvement, overcoming being a foster child for a year, etc. I was disappointed that other CTCL schools I encouraged her to try (Wooster, Kalamazoo, Beloit, Juniata) all denied her. But Agnes Scott was willing to take a chance on her. Sadly in the end due to her financial situation she wasn’t able to accept, but I’ll always be grateful for this school.
By way of example, I went to a private school where a 77 average put you into the top 10% of the class and often gained admission to very selective schools.
The profile of schools accepting graduates from her HS fills can answer many questions;
A marked increase in the last two years makes a very positive difference;
Clark University has an average GPA of 3.6 in the last admitted class, but 5% of the first year students had GPAs in your daughter's current range so check it out @ https://www.clarku.edu/ and keep the improved grades coming;
It’s hard to know how that GPA might affect admissions, but maybe more importantly how it would impact merit offered. I’m assuming that’s an unweighted figure - since it’s a rigorous private HS, is the weighted GPA much higher? And where does she fit relative to her peers? I don’t think you mentioned affordability - one of my Ds got into Franklin & Marshall, Dickinson and Gettysburg with a better GPA but less impressive test scores. But we couldn’t justify the high cost, especially considering the generous merit from schools like Susquehanna and Ursinus. In her case she ultimately chose Ursinus over Muhlenberg based on her perception of their English department in general, and their creative writing program in particular. If she was into theater as well, I’m guessing the scales might have tipped the other way. Your D already qualifies for Ursinus’ $30k/year Gateway scholarship based on her ACT score and rigorous HS curriculum - assuming she’s admitted.
My eldest had a similar profile, OP. Slightly higher grades and lower ACT, but the same ballpark. While the rigorous HS took a toll on her self esteem, she got into some fine colleges and has soared, finding herself really well prepared for university, where she is easily in the top 5% of her class. Tell your daughter not to get too discouraged-the GPA numbers aren’t very predictive for many private schools.
COPLACs that seem to get more attention than others on CC include:
New College of Florida (check out their scholarship/discount for out-of-state students)
Truman State
St. Mary’s College of Maryland (Maryland’s public honors college)
The CTCL schools tend to have higher sticker prices than the COPLAC schools. They also include some more selective schools (such as Reed and Whitman), and on average probably draw many more OOS students than most of the COPLACs. If you want a less selective clone of the NESCAC liberal arts colleges, I think you’re more likely to find that among the CTCLs. If you want a small college with a low sticker price, preferably within a few hours drive from home, you may be more likely to find that among the COPLAC schools.
So-called “regional universities” may be another good category to consider. In some regions, many of them are relatively small, urban Catholic schools (Providence College, Loyola University Maryland, etc.). These will tend to have higher sticker prices than the COPLAC schools, but some of them offer pretty good financial aid (if you qualify). Run the online net price calculators on any that interest you.
@roycroftmom Thank you for that! Its tough to see my bright, curious kid discouraged because of a GPA. We are a family that takes a more holistic view of learning and education but we were, perhaps, naive about the importance of GPA. It is nice to hear from a parent whose kid is thriving beyond the numbers!
There is a bright life beyond a rigorous prep school. Now that she is a college sophomore, all those high school struggles are no longer remembered much, and her current classmates and professors only see her as a very smart, well prepared student. That gave her the confidence to try for leadership positions and jobs which she got. Hugs to your daughter, OP. Sometimes the darkest storms lead to the brightest rainbows.
One more suggestion. Fit really is crucial for this type of student. A reach school where she always struggles to keep up can be crushing. A college where you think she might, with effort, be in the top third of the class, can provide some much needed success, so they succeed even more.