Hello. I am totally new to this forum and I’m a nervous wreck. A few days ago, my DD and I had a meeting with her counselor regarding DE for her senior year as well as college planning. It did not go well, lots of tears. We live in the south (SEC territory) and she attends a very competitive high school. Unfortunately, my DD has a 3.3 GPA, she hasn’t taken the SAT yet. Her low GPA factored in her being a full time comp cheerleader at her HS. I am just so worried that she will not be able to raise her GPA before end of fall of her senior year. She has taken 4 AP’s as well and passed those classes. Has anyone been able to raise their GPA before college applications? Please help!!
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Being realistic, she has one semester (second half junior year - right now) that will affect her GPA for college apps. After five semesters that average 3.3, mathematically, the highest she could achieve is just over a 3.4 (assuming we are talking unweighted) at the end of junior year and a 3.5 by the end of first semester senior year (which is usually not available when apps are submitted). So not a lot of opportunity to raise it significantly.
But that’s ok - there are many many college options out there. Do a search here for colleges for B students or 3.3 - 3.5 GPA and you will find a lot of great suggestions.
I would suggest she put her time into SAT or ACT prep. Take both, see which one she does better on and then focus energy on maximizing her score.
Breathe. She’ll be ok. Admissions officers know what high schools are more competitive than others. She hasn’t even taken her SAT yet so you don’t have the full picture. Reading CC makes most students feel inadequate. I have found guidance counselors really are not the best at college counseling.
Just keep moving forward in the process. Start researching schools. Make a list of reach, match, and safety schools. It all works out.
Your daughter is fine. She is a B student and there are many colleges that would love to have her. Start researching appropriate schools and putting time into the ACT/SAT. It will all work out.
Deep breaths.
This forum is incredibly skewed towards kids with a 4.0, aiming at top 20 schools if they somehow aren’t in the 6 or 7% admitted to the Ivy of their choice.
But it’s not the real world. In the real world of most high schools, a 3.3 is a very acceptable average.
There are hundreds and hundreds of absolutely wonderful colleges in this country where your daughter will thrive. Where she’ll learn and live and grow and find her path.
My suggestion, as both a teacher of high school seniors and the mom of 3 B average kids, is to stop and breathe. Don’t worry about raising her GPA-- she’s under enough stress as it is. Instead, both you and your daughter start going shopping for colleges. Do a couple of college match surveys-- I think there’s one on this site, College Board has another, and Google can help you.
My list for my 2 older kids (youngest is in 10th grade) included a column for SATs in 25th and 75th percentile (you could substitute GPA), distance, cost, major/ program, and one for misc-- what made me pull the info for this school? You can find lots of the info on each school at collegenavigator.
Your daughter will bloom where she’s planted. Keep repeating that, over and over, until it sinks in with her. (My daughter is planning a tattoo sometime this year, having learned that we were right last year when we kept saying it.)
This may help: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1995005-time-for-another-thread-for-b-and-c-students.html#latest Though I have to apologize-- I started it, and most of the schools we looked out were in the mid-Atlantic or Northeast since we’re from Long Island.
Thank you bjkmom. Looking through this site, I absolutely agree that it is geared 4.0’s and higher, it almost makes me feel inadequate. The pressure that the kids in the middle and bottom of the totem pole feel, breaks my heart. I tell my DD, it’s not where you start that’s important, it’s where you end. She’s struggling, hopefully she will do great on her SAT’s. But reality is reality and we have to start looking, as you said, for a college that will accept her for her. Thank you also for the links, they’re great!!
Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah should be considered. A 3.3 GPA would be good for admissions.
As others have said, there are a lot of universities and colleges that are appropriate for a student with a GPA of 3.3. This puts her somewhat above average for US high school students. You can forget about perhaps the highest ranked 50 universities in the US out of something like 4,000 schools. The next 50 would be reaches. That still leaves a huge number to look at.
We live in New England. If you were from Maine I would suggest U.Maine Orono. If you were in New Hampshire then UNH would be a good fit. If you were in Massachusetts then either U.Mass Boston or U.Mass Lowell would be a good fit, or the Mass college of liberal arts if you wanted something smaller. These are all good schools. I am sure that there are many good schools for your daughter in your part of the country.
I think that you and your daughter should be thinking about what she wants in a university. Big or small? City or town or rural? What majors seem to make sense? How far from home? What is your budget? Do not just go to the highest ranked school that she can get into. Look for a good fit and I expect that she will do well.
By the way, my older daughter mostly had friends in high school with UW GPAs near 4.0. She had one good friend with a lower GPA, probably close to your daughter but with no APs, no DE. She attended a school that is a good fit for her, got decent funding and took on only a small debt, selected a practical major, and got a good job out of school (starting with a couple of part time jobs, but moving to full time within a year). In terms of being successful with a good career out of college she was among my daughter’s most successful friends.
If you were from the NE I would say Castleton College.
@DCCAWAMIIAIL is right…it’s too late to raise her GPA in any sort of meaningful fashion…which means what you concentrate now is getting a good SAT or ACT score and really putting your time into finding great colleges (of which there are many many for your kid). Can I ask about finances? That can determine next steps.
@SouthernHope Thank you for your reply. Finances, fortunately, are not an issue. We have saved plenty, living in Georgia we have the Hope that can help her hopefully. Out state schools are an option too. Just hoping she gets a great SAT score.
@Gwinnett I assume the HS your D goes to begins with the letter “B”. We are also from GA and my D17 was a Bish student and got into some great schools, including her reach, where she is thriving. Under the parents groups look for a thread titled something like "Class of 2020 3.0 to 3.4 GPA. " you will find a wealth of information and ideas.
She should have no problem getting Georgia Southern and many of the other schools not named UGA or GT. Depending on what she wants to study and what her SAT/ACT scores turn out to be, there are the Alabamas (UA, UAB UAH). In florida a school like University of Tampa might be something. What does she want to study. I will also send you a PM.
@Gwinnett I am a local Ga Parent also, and want to second the need to stop and breathe. Your D has lots of options im Ga, both public and private. Hope pays a small amount towards private Ga college tuition.
A practical tip-you need to post something like 15 comments in this thread before you unlock the ability to Private Message other posters. I hope others will chime in with the most accurate info about how to unlock the PM feature.
Have your D take both ACT and SAT practice tests at home and see which test makes more sense for her brain. Then come up with a study plan-a tutor or college coach, an online test prep course, or an in person class. This testing, although it should not define your child, will have a huge impact on admissions and merit aid.
Maybe sign up for a June test, and work methodically on test prep, setting aside time each week devoted to studying or taking practice tests. We went to the quiet room at the library and administered the test in as close to actual conditions as possible.
Do NOT have her take a real test without prep to get a baseline score. If she raises her score a lot after studying, the testing company or the college may suspect cheating .
My kids honestly did not study well on their own. If i could do it over, i would insist on in person tutoring or classes.
If you can tell us your D’s interests and possible majors, posters can provide more helpful direction.
And this forum can be helpful for your D, and for you, if you ignore all the hype about Ivy League and Top 20 schools.
@Gwinnett my son graduated high school in 2016 with a 3.35 GPA and a 1280/1600 SAT score. He was admitted into some solid colleges. He received $26,000 in merit money from Roanoke College in VA where he now is a junior double majoring in business and computer science with a 3.7 GPA. There are a plethora of solid colleges out there. No need to worry!
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123France my son’s stats are exactly the same as your son’s. Would you mind sharing the schools he considered? Thx!
WRT finances, they are not a problem for in state, but OOS could easily cost much much more, so have a budget figure in mind. If you are banking on Hope then your instate costs are pretty low, right?
Take the previously cited Roanoke college, 60K a yr COA, some scholarships are not denting COA in a real fashion. Do you have a figure?
@mariacar , he was accepted to Roanoke College in VA, Elon University in NC and College of Charlston in SC. He looked at but did not apply to Virginia Tech.
@Sybylla When my son entered Roanoke in the Fall of 2016, COA was around $54,000 (tuition, room & board, fees, etc.). We paid $28,000 after merit. (I believe we’re paying $32K this coming year, his final year). We considered that a sizable dent. YMMV.
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You will find plenty of company here:
The 3.0-3.4 thread for class of 2017 had many recommendations for schools that offered merit to B/B+ students with results compiled towards the end.
There are many great options for the B+ student. Some of the less competitive schools also offer rolling admissions or early action deadlines so your student can get an acceptance early on.
For example, if your child wants to go out of state, she may be eligible (depending on test scores) for reduced tuition via the Amigo scholarship at the U of New Mexico. Annual cost for room/board/tuition/fees would be less than 20K. UNM is rolling admission.
https://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/non-resident.html
There may be similar merit awards at other western schools like U of Arizona and Arizona State, depending on SAT/ACT results. Requirements change from year to year, so check websites. Finally CTCL schools (Colleges that Change Lives, ctcl.org) are smaller liberal arts colleges where B+ students can get merit awards up to 20-30K.
Most of my kids had 3.0 UW averages. If she’s taking good solid college prep courses, she’ll find a number of great schools. What schools did you and she have in mind? Do you have a budget?
Yes, she can work on that senior year gpa. Keep it steady. Test prep is the big focus now.
As the parent, be sure to do the financial planning so that you know what price is affordable. For most college bound high school students, cost is more of a limiting factor on college choice than admission is.