My daughter...schools & chances

Parents Forum
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<p>My daugther is not a top student, her stats</p>

<p>...3.3 gpa, 3 AP courses (out of 6 offered), 4 years of math, science, english,
social studies, and french (gpa is hurt by 3 "C"'s in math)
...1050 SAT (580 CR, 470 math, 530 writing)
....40 of 140 class rank at an average public HS in the Finger Lakes region of
NY state
EC's include: 2 years of "Big Brother / Big Sister" mentoring program
2 years of volleyball
4 years of Theatre (4 musicals & 2 plays)
class officer
assstant yearbook editor
fashion editor for school newspaper
catholic lector and sunday school teacher
has had 2 part time jobs (cafe & retail clothing store)
we have hosted a foreign exghange studet & my D has been to France twice & Spain twice (2 months in one stint)</p>

<p>She wants to major in International relations and have (or will look at the following schools:</p>

<pre><code> James Madison (her #1 choice bot I'm doubtful she can get in)
George Mason
Randolph-Macon
Wagner
Manhattan
Towson
Mount St Mary's
SUNY New Paltz
</code></pre>

<p>What does everyone think of her chances & schools we're looking at????</p>

2

<p>I'm not as familiar as some others will be with schools on your D's list, but I have a couple of thoughts. Your D's GPA and rank are stronger than her SAT; this is a better combination than the reverse. She should visit James Madison and take all other steps which indicate strong interest. She should work hard on her essay and carefully select her recommenders, so that these will also be strong.</p>

<p>Have you looked at <a href="http://www.fairtest.org?%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.fairtest.org?&lt;/a> This lists schools which require neither the SAT nor ACT - your D might do well at such schools if there are any which appeal.</p>

<p>It seems to me you have a good list in relation to her stats. Others will say she should re-take the SAT and get the scores up, but I don't know if that is the route you want to go. I am the mom of a v good student with very good (but not top cc-style )SATs; but I am also the grandmom of a student with lesser SAT's and grades than your D - sometimes we have to work with the kid we've got and not try to make them some other level of kid. My gS got into his first choice and I, too, didn't think he would. So have her make as strong an application package as she can and "love her safeties." Then if she can get into JM, it will be a bonus.</p>

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<p>csdad, did she take her AP tests in the courses she has finished? How did she do?</p>

<p>As to those choices, I'm only famililiar with R-MC and it's a good school.Secondly, would she consider a women's college as there are some wonderful ones that might be right up her alley. I'm wondering about Wesleyan in Georgia , very diverse, very international ( I don't know about degrees). Of course Wells in your area is a fine school. Maybe one of the Virginia schools, Sweetbriar or that type of school? Any interest. She can really find a great academic enviroment where her scores won't hurt her at a women's college. Also go to fairtest.org for a list of SAT and ACT optional schools. Has your D considered taking the ACT? Some students do much better on one than the other and the beauty is she can take the ACT and then decide who to send it to.</p>

4

<p>What area of the country/size school? There are some midwest LACs that might fit the bill (Wittenberg, Otterbein, Heidleberg, Ohio Wesleyan, etc.)</p>

5

<p>There is a wide range of size in those choices, with George Mason being very large while Mount St. Marys and Randolph-Macon being small. Does she have a preference? If she likes small schools and the area around James Madision, she might also look at Roanoke College in Salem, VA. It's small, but they do have an International Relations major and do have an active student exchange program. Her stats would fit in nicely there too. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the replies....she scored "2"'s on US History & English AP Exams (this is pretty standard at our school for these 2 exams), she is taking AP Bio this year...as far as size she's pretty open to all sizes. We like the DC & NYC areas because : 1) she's already fairly familiar with each (has aunts living in each area) 2) we thought that these 2 geographic areas would be good for internships, etc. She has no interest in all women schools.</p>

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<p>Yeah csdad, my D isn't interested in women's schools either. Just wanted to put my research to use. LOL. I looked at Roanoke online and specifically at their student profiles on the FA page and I think that would be a really good place to look.</p>

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<p>My take (and take it with a huge grain of salt as I seem to have misplaced my crystal ball):</p>

<p>Longer shots:
SUNY New Paltz (regular, not Early), Towson, James Madison </p>

<p>I have put the last two in this category because she will be applying out of state. Both schools have become more popular in the past few years. Her GPA is also low for both schools. If she applies EA to New Paltz, her chances get better and she becomes a likely admit (New Paltz accepts 52% Early, 34% after that).</p>

<p>Likely Admit:
Wagner
Manhattan</p>

<p>Good bets for admission: Randolph Macon, Mt. St. Mary's</p>

<p>In short, I'd say she has a realistic list.</p>

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<p>Carolyn,</p>

<p>What I don't get about New Platz is that they only accept around 40% but their GPA & SAT #'s aren't that great????? Alot of "less than quailified" students apllying their because of low cost???</p>

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<p>Csdad, Remember, the medians they post are for ENROLLED students, not for ACCEPTED students. I don't know for sure but with over 10,000 applications a year, I'm guessing that SUNY New Paltz gets plenty of applications from better qualified students using it as a "safety" school who then end up elsewhere. But, I'm only speculating --- maybe someone else has a clearer sense of things than I do.</p>

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<p>First, it is a pleasure to see a reasonable request for chances. I see so many of the people who simply want strokes with 1550 SATs and stellar grades that your post was refreshing.</p>

<p>I can only comment on Towson University, where my son attends. </p>

<p>Based on our high school's experience, her chances for Towson are very iffy. I would like to know what her weighted GPA would be. No one got into Towson from our high school with your daughter's SATs with a weighted GPA under 3.5. Most of the kids had over 1100 on the SATs and weighted GPAs of 3.5 or better. If your daughter does get in, she will be at the bottom of the ladder. Again, schools sometimes accept kids with below average scores depending on their ecs and essays. Thus, who knows? However, unless she has a WEIGHTED GPA in excess of 3.6, she probably won't get accepted to Towson. She should shoot to raise her SATs by at least 50 points to even have even a possible shot. Remember, Towson is just a bit easier to get into then Unviversity of Maryland. As of what you told us about her record, I would estimate a 20% shot at admittance.</p>

<p>For the record, you can check out our school's record with Towson by going to: <a href="https://tcci.naviance.com/fc/signin.php?hsid=wootton%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://tcci.naviance.com/fc/signin.php?hsid=wootton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>and log in as a guest and do a college lookup.</p>

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<p>Taxguy, your son was instate correct? Do you have any sense of how much more selective Towson is for out of state applicants? Is it similar to UMd College Park for instance in terms of out of state students needing to be much higher than the overall median?</p>

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<p>People from NY State apply to the SUNY schools in bunches on one centralized application.Thus, New Paltz would be one of many choices marked off on the app.It could be the top choice for one student,but the third or fourth for another.
OP has your D looked at the other SUNY choices avaiable to her?</p>

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<p>I have some stats from 2 oos high schools regarding towson-</p>

<p>HS in Ct- 2.68 480m/430v-Accepted These stats are from 2003 and 2004</p>

<pre><code> 3.5 580m/600v-Accepted
2.31 650m/690v-rejected
2.41 740m/620v-rejected
</code></pre>

<p>HS in NY -2.77 no sat 24act- accepted-2004</p>

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<p>James Madison from same oos high schools:</p>

<p>CT HS:
3.17 590m/510v-accepted
3.26 570m/550v-accepted
3.37 670m/650v-accepted
3.73 580m/600v-accepted</p>

<p>NY HS:
3.22 600m/630v-accepted
3.26 no sat 26act-rejected
3.42 660m/630v-accepted
3.57 700m/600v-accepted
3.69 590m/530v-rejected</p>

<p>The stats on the sats is a mix of the highest scores if student took them 2 times. If they sat more than twice, I don't have that info (info comes from 2 seatings). This applies to JMU and Towson.</p>

<p>Hope it is helpful.</p>

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<p>" People from NY State apply to the SUNY schools in bunches on one centralized application.Thus, New Paltz would be one of many choices marked off on the app.It could be the top choice for one student,but the third or fourth for another.
OP has your D looked at the other SUNY choices avaiable to her?"</p>

<p>....well she really wants to be in the NYC or Wash DC areas so that has put the other SUNY's on the back burner. I still don't get New Paltz. They report an average GPA of 3.30 and SAT's of 1096 but because they only accept 40% their selectivity rating is high. Someone speculated that it is because they have so many students use it as a safety but don't go there. This still wouldn't account for the low acceptence rate.</p>

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<p>Carolyn, I don't know if it is tougher to get into Towson from out of state. Sorry. As to Northeastmom's posted stats, you will notice in most cases, you need about 1100 or over ( in math and verbal) to get admitted. Also, don't go by 2003 and 2004. Towson has gotten a bit harder over recent years as have UMD. The harder UMD gets, the harder Towson gets because they get some of the same kids applying.</p>

<p>Towson, in my opinion, is a better school that University of Maryland in some ways. I can picture the giant flamming now!</p>

<p>I taught at Unversity of Maryland; thus, here is my take on Towson as compared to Maryland.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Average class size at Towson is MUCH smaller than Maryland. I was teaching a junior level accounting class at Maryland that had over 100 people. Towson rarely has classes over 30 at upper levels and in must cases it is around 20.</p></li>
<li><p>Average class size for intro classes at Towson is much smaller than Maryland. My son was taking an honors intro to accounting class at Towson,which had 12 people! Intro classes at Maryland can have hundreds!</p></li>
<li><p>All teachers at Towson are professors and NOT TAs. Maryland is known to have teaching assistants ( grad students) teaching a number of classes. This doesn't happen at Towson</p></li>
<li><p>The curriculum is pretty standard among both schools for core requirements. Maryland dictates core requirements and, in many cases ,requirements for majors. This is the same for all Maryland state universities.</p></li>
<li><p>Towson is both cheaper than Maryland and has more merit money. Towson is a bit cheaper than Maryland in Tuition. In addition, it is easier to get into the honors program at Towson than at Maryland. Finally, all honors kids at Towson get merit money. This is clearly not true at Maryland. In fact, Maryland is rather stingy with any merit aid.</p></li>
<li><p>Towson has some very strong programs, which are quite comparable to that of Maryland. Towson is very strong in business, accounting, education, performing arts and communication. Towson is also much stronger in visual arts. However, Towson does NOT have engineering. Maryland also is supposedly stronger in communication and sciences and has a higher ranked business school; however, Towson is quite good in both communication and business. </p></li>
<li><p>Towson has more of a small college feel that that of Maryland. You feel much less like a number there than at Maryland. Make no mistake: you will feel like a number at Maryland.</p></li>
<li><p>Towson has more on campus housing for students than that of Maryland. In fact, many students at Maryland must find off campus housing because there just isn't enough room on campus.</p></li>
<li><p>Towson was rated by one magazine as having some of the most attractive people, especially women, found on college campuses. I would agree with this. With strong performing arts, exercise science, and dance programs, they got a number of people in good shape. In addition, sports are very big at Towson. They have all kids of intermural teams including some lessor known ones such as ultimate frisbee, which my son was a participant. Students are fairly athletic there. Towson has a great athletic facility with lots and lots of treatmills, bikes, exercise equipment and even a climbing wall.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>All in all: Towson is quite good and very reasonably prices even for out of state kids. It is considered a hidden gem here in Maryland, although it is getting more well known.</p>

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<p>I just looked at page 18 of last year's application for Towson and found these stats:
65% -3.5+
34.3% -3.0-3.49
0.7%- 2.5-2.99</p>

<p>sats 650+ v-11% m-15.6%
600--649 v-19.6A% m-23%
550-599 v-27.5% m-28.8%
500-549 v-26.4% m-23%</p>

<p>There were stats given for sats below 500 or act scores</p>

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<p>If considering the DC area, you might want to look at American U.</p>

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<p>I don't see any way she could get into AU.</p>