<p>I was getting a little frustrated by the turn in the current B+ parents thread so I'm starting a new one.</p>
<p>This thread is for parents of kids who have GPAs from 3.0 to 3.3. This would be weighted or unweighted. Please if your kid has a 3.3 GPA but it's weighted up to a 4.0, there are many more options open to your child and many more threads at CC for you. This would not be your thread. Similarly, if your child has a 3.5...again...out of the range of this particular thread. The parents here would be working on finding colleges that will accept their B to B plus student, perhaps colleges that may place more emphasis on areas other than GPA. </p>
<p>There are lots of B or B+ students who are fantastic kids and may shine in other areas...test scores...ECs....community service...or whatever. Or maybe they are kids who haven't found their groove yet. Either way, this thread is for encouragement, sharing of information, and support. Please...no "one up-ing". There is enough of that elsewhere on CC as we all know!</p>
<p>If you don't like the criteria, please feel free to start your own thread. I hope there are enough parents here whose children fit these criteria, however, to join me on this thread so we can post about our experiences.</p>
<p>Younger S had a WEIGHTED gpa in the range of this thread due to his being a kid who academically underperformed despite loving virtually all aspects of school, including the academics. He underperformed due to procrastination, perfectionism and laziness.</p>
<p>He had excellent test scores, and very strong community service ECs, plus did a gap year as an Americorpsvolunteer after high school. He is now a very happy student at Rollins College in Florida, which also gave him some merit aid.</p>
<p>It has been a wonderful experience for him due to the small classes, nurturing, interested professors, and variety of ECs. He has absolutely blossomed there academically and socially, including branching out to trying new ECs and academic subjects, which he ended up loving.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread. One place to start is with the book “Colleges that Change Lives,” by Loren Pope. Another place to look is at liberal arts colleges more generally, because they seem to look at the “whole person” rather than just GPAs. Boys in general tend to have lower GPAs than girls (there are many reasons for this). Many schools, in an effort to recruit boys, seem to be a little more forgiving of lower GPAs.</p>
<p>thanks, ready…it’s about time…
anyway, there also has to be a distinction between kids who take all AP’s with that GPA (obviously no criteria for admissions to AP courses) and those (like ours) who cannot be admitted into AP classes…just because the college list will probably be a little bit different due to rigor…</p>
<p>John: so then my daughters “B” GPA is even lower than it appears, according to that analysis…get the valium ready…</p>
<p>ReadyToRoll, thanks for starting this thread, as well as being so clear about who should (and should not!) post here.</p>
<p>Here are my suggestions. These are for students with a 3.2-ish GPA (unweighted, no APs) from a strong high school, and “matching” SAT scores (ie, around 600/800, 1200/1600):</p>
<p>Chapman University (for non-California students who are NOT applying to film and other selective majors)
College of Charleston (OOS)
Eckerd College
Goucher College
Oxford College of Emory University
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX (for non-Texan applicants)
University of South Carolina (OOS)</p>
<p>Yes, I’m not sure what is meant by fendrock’s post. Isn’t 800 the maximum score for each section of the SAT? That’s not what we’re talking about here.</p>
<p>My two HS juniors took the ACT and the SAT–my thinking was that we could take the scores from whichever test results were better. As it turned out, one kid scored better on the ACT and one scored better on the SAT. I don’t plan to post their scores in a public forum.</p>
<p>^^^ I am talking about students who get around 600 (plus or minus) on a section where the maximum score is 800, or around 1200 total on the math and verbal sections combined (where the best possible combined score would be 1600).</p>
<p>If you have students with a 3.2 average and 700+ on each section of the SAT, they will have a different pattern of acceptances (such applicants could be seen as not fulfilling their potential because their SAT scores suggest that they should have had a stronger GPA).</p>
<p>How about: Hartwick, Scranton, Wittenberg, Roanoke, Hofstra, Marist, Washington College, Washington and Jefferson, Susquehanna, Drew, Manhattan College, Wagner, Pace, Moravian, Bridgewater (VA)? I agree with CTCL schools and Fendrock’s list. Rodney, I do think that C of C and USC are possible. With mid 1200s on the SAT I would not rule out an OOS scholarship to USC.</p>
<p>" then my daughters “B” GPA is even lower than it appears, according to that analysis…get the valium ready…"</p>
<p>Virtually all high school students in this country can find a 4-year college that would take them.</p>
<p>Most students who apply to colleges get into their first choice college.</p>
<p>The majority of colleges in this country admit the majority of their applicants.</p>
<p>You can’t judge your D’s chances by looking at the majority of posts on CC because most people posting on CC are either students in probably the top 5% of the country when it comes to scores/grades or they are the parents of such students. Such students are applying to the rare colleges that except as few as one in 10 of their applicants. Those are places like Harvard.</p>
<p>Most students don’t apply to such places, so don’t judge your child’s chances by what you read here. </p>
<p>Remember, when it comes to SAT scores, for instance, having a 520 or so score on any section means one is at the average for COLLEGE-BOUND high school seniors.</p>
<p>My son had this profile a few year ago when he applied (around a 3.3, 1780 SAT, 28 ACT), and there were a lot of very good options and schools that he looked at. He’s currently at Elon, but it would have been very difficult for him to be admitted there if he hadn’t gone ED. Other schools he applied to and got accepted at:</p>
<p>Bridgewater (VA) – Clearly his second choice, he and I were both somewhat surprised at how much we like it
Lenoir-Rhyne (NC)
McDaniel (MD)
Winthrop (SC-OOS)
Lynchburg (VA) – And they offered a very good merit scholarship
Randolph-Macon (VA)</p>
<p>Other schools that he considered but did not apply to:
Roanoke
Furman (probably a reach, but they have a reputation for looking past the scores)
College of Charleston
VMI
Guilford
High Point
UNC-Wilmington
UNC-Asheville</p>
<p>In North Carolina, kids in that range go to:</p>
<p>Appalachian State Univ.
Western Carolina Univ.
UNC-Asheville
UNC-Charlotte
UNC-Greensboro,
NC State (depending upon major)
East Carolina University
UNC-Wilmington. </p>
<p>Private schools:
High Point Univ.
Catawba College
Lenoir-Rhyne University
Queens University of Charlotte
Wingate University
Meredith College (all female)
Gardner-Webb University
Campbell University</p>
<p>My D - 3.2 GPA (school does not weight), 25 ACT - did better than I expected. Helpful factors: good letters, declared her major in Animal Sciences, applied to Ag schools, which I think are a tad less competitive than Arts and Sciences, and targeted widely geographically. No doubt being able to pay OOS tuition helped. Accepted at Colorado State and Montana State (both with merit aid!), UDel, UMass Amherst (IS), will attend UVM.</p>
<p>Those students are genuine B+ students, though, so discussing them belongs on this thread, right? For kids like that, what do posters recommend? I suggest taking a good look at CTCL, trying to find schools that are strong and demanding academically, but not very selective in admissions-- because unlike the Harvard- and Stanford-bound, those underachievers need to Change their academic Lives.</p>
<p>My B+ son, with 700+ Math and CR scores, applied to Beloit and Kalamazoo. He was accepted at both with big merit money. He chose Kalamazoo, a great choice for him and for other high-score B+ers.</p>
<p>Rollins College has been wonderful for my B student academic underachiever.</p>
<p>U Minn. was awful for my other B student underachiever, who got deeply into the partying life, hung around with students who were deliberately going through college as slowly as possible because they liked the ECs and partying. That S flunked out of college and never returned to college. I think community colleges and LACs are better places for underachieving students than are large publics, where such students can take too much advantage of the large classes by not showing up at all…</p>
<p>This is a great thread!!! Keep the suggestions coming. I have a S who with a 3.3 thinks he likes all that a big school has to offer. Really has no interest in a LAC. Of course, a LAC is what seems to be suggested most for those academic underachievers. He has really hated high school, so we really want him to be happy where ever he goes, so he will be motivated to work hard and stay to graduate.</p>
<p>schoolmom, what does your son want from a college? What do you want him to get from a college? What does he hate about high school? What do you hope will happen to him at college? Some students love the idea of a big school, with big time sports and parties-- all fine, but if a student has no desire to study and no interest in academics, it would be cheaper to get him an apartment in a college town and let him party.</p>
<p>A year working in the real world can do wonders to improve a student’s desire to work hard in college.</p>