<p>I’ve assisted with admissions decisions in the past and would like to say first and foremost that your friend will find acceptance into a university or college, though it may not be one of his top choices. Here’s my 2 cents…</p>
<p>As others have said, the 2.7 weighted (2.4-2.5 UW??) GPA is the obstacle . Unfortunately, his ~1100 SAT (just CR + M) is not enough to mitigate his grades. However, you did say he had a difficult two years. Although his freshman/sophomore years may be abysmal, was there any significant upward trend in his grades and/or extenuating circumstances to explain the low grades? If so, this should be explained in applications and could definitely help in admissions.</p>
<p>As far as your harder than average school: unfortunately any “pull” the high school has would be local or regional and could extend to universities your high school “feeds” into. Boston University and Maryland- CP are definitely out unless your friend whips out an amazing second SAT score which would need to be quite a bit above his current projection of 1800. </p>
<p>I know the idea of community college does not appeal, but I just want to second (or is it third, fourth or fifth?) this idea. CC doesn’t actually have any negatives connotations and can be an indispensable, bridge between high school and a four year institution. Motivation is a great thing to have but university will not be any easier- especially at the colleges mentioned in the original post. Ultimately, he could do well at a CC, transfer to a great school and end up with the same diploma. Although admittedly CC usually feeds into local (though great) universities so the whole northeastern area thing may have to be abandoned for now. However, as a former ad con, I would be worried about your friend’s stability. Low GPA in high school + move across the country + increased demands of college workload = potential recipe for disaster. </p>
<p>If your friend is still in the process of looking for schools, I do have several suggests. However, I’d be interested to know a few more things: what is his general financial situation like/is financial aid needed for out any state/private institutions? Is he completely dead set on the northeast or is he open to other geographical locations? Are there extenuating circumstances to explain the two bad years in HS? Also do you know his combined critical reading and math scores on the SAT? Perhaps he bombed the writing portion and that lowered his overall score even though no one gives a flip about the writing section score.</p>
<p>Still if he settles for a school that is a fit for his grades/scores, it may not be a match for his personality and could lead to a bad situation…</p>