<p>My son went to an excellent high school (national top 100), but has a low GPA (2.5 weighted). He also has minimal extracurriculars. However, he has scored at least a 4 on the four AP exams he's taken in the last three years. He also pulled off a 29 on his ACT. </p>
<p>I don't know how to make sense of all this. We've asked some admissions officers their opinion and they all say "oh yes, he will most likely be admitted here." We don't want to waste a bunch of money applying to schools that just want to pump up their admit numbers. </p>
<p>Which of these do you think is actually a possibility for this kid?</p>
<p>Augustana
Valparaiso
Carthage
Knox
Ripon</p>
<p>Are there schools we <em>should</em> be looking at that are like these? He would very much like a school that's in a nice college town. Doesn't have to be L/A but should have <5000 students.</p>
<p>Right now another slacker is posting in the Selection section and has collected several pages of answers. You might want to read those.</p>
<p>Thanks, Woodworker! I did read through his thread, but he seems not so far along in the process and focused on state schools/east coast. My son has actually been to all the schools on the list and he would love to go to any of them <em>if</em> he could get in, so it’s not really about identifying more schools for us. </p>
<p>My understanding is that Carthage is probably the least competitive. However, even they describe their average grade point as closer to a 3.2. (The 2.5 I mentioned above is on a 4.0 scale.) </p>
<p>I guess what I’m trying to ask in a nice way is whether the admissions officers are lying through their teeth. My son has done a couple of interviews already at these schools and the admissions officers keep telling him “oh, yes, you should apply - you’re a shoe in.” My husband just shakes his head and says they’re getting his hopes up for nothing - that his GPA is just too low. </p>
<p>As mom, I don’t know whether to encourage him or aim him toward a community college. How many sins does a 29 ACT excuse?</p>
<p>I don’t know if they are necessarily lying through their teeth, but I do think they are over-exagerating.</p>
<p>He is not really a shoe in anywhere with a 2.5 and if you are being realistic there is a good chance he will either have to go to a college that he would not pick or go to community college then transfer. My guess is the 29 will help a little bit, but not really as much as you would like (it would be different if his average was like 0.2 below the schools average). I have no idea if he has strong EC’s, but he needs some if he wants to have a realistic chance. Sadly he is not in an ideal situation, but I hope I was able to help!</p>
<p>Check out community college and transfer to flagship after 2 years</p>
<p>I will comment that all of them have said the quality of the high school does matter. One college counselor said he considered a 2.5 from my son’s school to be the equivalent of a 3.2-3.5 at some of the rural schools…</p>
<p>I guess it’s silly to ask you guys to guess along with me. We’ll just have to spend the money on a couple of them and see.</p>
<p>I am a little more optimistic than others. His ACT and APs indicate that he is capable of more than his GPA indicates. Why is it so low? Does he truly blow off school and just do enough to get by? Is he on an upward trend or is this how the all 3 years look?</p>
<p>Is his course load rigorous for the fall? If he can get his fall GPA (not overall) over a 3.0, I would be willing to send him to the LAC. You might make that a condition for attendance, so that you know he will survive academically at college. It won’t be easier at the next level.</p>
<p>Can you afford to send him to the schools on his list without financial or merit aid? I would say apply to several that he loves and see what happens. CC would be his safety. I think that Carthage would take him, maybe Valpo and Knox.</p>
<p>Thank you, Dentmom…that <em>is</em> some encouragement and I think we all could use a little right now. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, he did not have a junior year epiphany. His grades are low because he is very unorganized and cannot stay on top of his homework. His counselor has talked about a learning disability evaluation, but the group we talked to indicated the starting cost is around $700 and that it often ranges into the thousands. We asked his high school counselor her opinion and she said that many times, these evaluations don’t actually help the child improve their performance – they just provide a label to “excuse” bad school performance. His dad and I aren’t interested in going that route if that type of evaluation wouldn’t really help him. </p>
<p>It’s hard to know what’s right here. He might really step up and find his niche if he goes off to one of these schools. Or, he might bomb out and fail dismally because he hasn’t reached the maturity to really try. He may take a gap year, depending on how this all shakes out. </p>
<p>This is just an overwhelming process. I don’t remember this at all from when I was a kid. My parents weren’t even involved in my choices - I applied to two schools, got into both and just picked one. </p>
<p>He does have good courses for this semester and we have had the conversation with him about proving it’s worth the money, so I guess we’ll see. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for your input!</p>