New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread

Parents Forum
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<p>Mike, I just wanted to point out that this site can be helpful in helping in getting an idea regarding chances and amount of merit aid. In this example I chose Bryant University. You can see that they offer merit aid to 60% of those who also qualify for financial aid. It also shows that another 13% who do not get financial aid do receive merit aid. If one clicks onto admissions one can see the midrange in stats.</p>

<p>The link:
<a href=“http://studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/campustour/undergraduate/1644/Bryant_University/Bryant_University4.html[/url]”>http://studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/campustour/undergraduate/1644/Bryant_University/Bryant_University4.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Our college search and the resulting successes with financial aid was part research and part luck. It helps to have a couple of kids because the learning curve (for me) was steep. I learned after #1, to start visiting early and knew more search websites. I am a librarian by trade and a deal searcher by nature so researching colleges and figuring out where each of my kids would be happy and that we could afford was an enjoyable challenge. Plus, I found that I LOVED the college visits. My kids grew to like them as well.</p>

<p>First thing we did with our oldest, a daughter, was to go through one of the really fat college search books and a copy of the college edition US new and world report. We took a highlighter and eliminated any college that cost more then $40,000 (this was seven years ago, when she was a HS junior) and/or had SAT and GPA scores substantially above what she had. Eliminated entire states that she would not want to live in, got rid of places that she didn’t want to live - all city schools. Eliminated all tech schools and big schools except for PSU. The easiest thing with her search was that she knew that she wanted to major in education and she wanted a study abroad. Our family goal was to find a college that would cost us no more then $20,000.</p>

<p>This board was very inactive when we started our daughters search and I lurked and occasionally posted on another college bulletin board. Those posters helped me understand that there was a world of colleges out there and that the best way to get merit aid was to find colleges where her stats were above the average and where her EC’s would count for something.</p>

<p>Starting in the early Spring of her Junior year we started visiting colleges whenever we could. This was not easy as she was in the school Musical and managed the track team. One of our first visits was to Penn State. This was an excellent decision because they told us that the avg. accepted student GPA was over 3.5, and she found out that she would have to work harder to get in. EC’s were not important if the stat’s weren’t there.</p>

<p>The tour was one of the best and the food was great. So, this was not going to be a safety but it was good to see what was out there. On the way home we stopped at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. What a difference from PSU. Bloom is a nice smallish College but not nearly as exciting. This would have been a safety had she applied. A good wake up call.</p>

<p>We looked for a safety where she would be happy and we could afford and found that Millersville University of PA would satisfy that requirement. When we did our first visit here we also visited the study abroad office and found that she could fit a study abroad into her curriculum.</p>

<p>Research wise, this site: [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics) is very helpful. </p>

<p>Our daughter was accepted at all the colleges she applied to: PSU, Millersville, Elon, and Principia. I can’t remember if she applied or not to Susquehanna. We visited during the summer but I don’t think she really got a good feel for it sans students. She was offered merit aid at all but PSU. Millersville automatically gives (or gave) the honors students special housing, first dibs on classes, day trips and a small scholarship. She ended up at Principia College, a small college for Christian Science students in Illinois, about 45 minutes from St. Louis. She got about $15,000 per year in merit aid and graduated with highest honors two years ago.</p>

<p>For our son, who was closer to a 3.0 then a 3.5, we had a harder search, but we started earlier. At the time when he was a rising Junior I started looking for colleges that offered merit aid to the majority of the students. This was key and that information is on the above listed website. We made exceptions for a few colleges that he really liked but he knew from the get-go what our financial threshold was and that if merit aid was not offered that he would have to take out loans for the gap.</p>

<p>When we started looking at colleges with the big book, son was interested in IT or Computer Science. After visiting a few colleges he realized that he wanted a more rounded education but I wanted to make sure that he could go back to that so every LAC that we visited, also had an IT or computer science major. We had to do a lot more visits and son did several more applications then his sister because we needed to compare the offers and (this is important!) on-line applications were usually free!</p>

<p>With my son we visited Drexel, Juniata, Millersville, Towson University of Maryland, York College, Champlain College (in VT), and Roanoke College. By himself son visited Rochester Institute of Technology, Principia (said hi to Sister), and Allegheny. Son did not apply to all the colleges but was accepted to Millersville, Towson, York, Champlain, Allegheny, Principia and Roanoke. He visited Allegheny and Roanoke after he was accepted since both were a distance away. Allegheny offered travel money for accepted students. Principia College also paid for travel. </p>

<p>He decided to attend Roanoke and is now a rising senior there. He receives approximately $17,000 a year in merit aid. He has a very low GPA to maintain. He was offered substantial merit aid at Principia and Allegheny, a little bit at York (but it was already well priced) and a little to nothing at the rest. </p>

<p>I know this is a long read and I’m not sure it’s a bit helpful, but that’s generally what we did!</p>

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<p>kathie that is awesome, thanks! I have just finished admissions with my twin daughters but DS is not the same sort of student as his sisters. We have lots of time before beginning his search but it’s good to know that your S, whose profile is likely to be similar to his, was able to get a nice merit award too.</p>

<p>I am hoping my S will be willing to travel oos because I do think it will help his search.</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>One school to consider is UMD College Park because it has the Freshman Connection Program, which many B/B+ students go through.</p>

<p>My S is finishing up his freshman year at UMD College Park as an in-state student. When he applied to UMD, he had a 3.3 unweighted average a (3.7 weighted) and SAT scores just over 1200. UMD was his reach school.</p>

<p>He was officially admitted for the Spring 2009 semester but was given the opportunity to take afternoon/evening courses fall semester by enrolling in Freshman Connection. The class sizes in Freshman Connection were small – (30 students or fewer). As a student in Freshman Connection, he could join clubs at UMD and attend games. He could not live on campus or run for student government office. This program offered a variety of courses for credit at Maryland. </p>

<p>Originally, S had applied for admittance into the college of business. When he was accepted for the Spring semester, it was for the College of Arts and Letters. He can try to tranfer into the College of Business if he has at least a 3.0 average after earning 30 credit hours. </p>

<p>I was initally very opposed to S going to UMD under these circumstances for a couple of reasons. First, he was REALLY READY to leave home and live in a dorm fall semester, but he had to wait until Spring semester to do that (housing was not guaranteed but I made sure he got in his housing application EARLY!). Second, he did not get admitted into the college of business and to transfer into this program, he will need at least a 3.0 GPA. And last, I was very worried that he would have too much time on his hands during the day and that he would not use this time to study. He was home alone as both I and my husband work during the day.</p>

<p>Now that he is finishing up his freshman year, he fared much better in the Freshman Connection program than I thought he would. His first semester he earned a 2.75. The spring semester isn’t quite over yet, so I don’t yet know his grades. He was bored during the day for the first semester. He tried looking for a part-time job on campus but did not have any luck. Fall semester je did meet other students in the Freshman Connection program, but it was not the same as living on campus. He did not go to many events the first semester because he didn’t know anyone.</p>

<p>Second semester, he moved on campus and now seems to be happy with that. Mostly sophomores live on his hall so he had a hard time at first fitting in and making friends and was coming home and staying for the weekend. Early in the spring semester, the large size of UMD hit him since he was now in large lecture classes and he didn’t know anyone at first. I think he is doing OK now as we see him less frequently on weekends and during the week. The big question is whether or not he will be able to get into the college of business. If he does not, he will either have to change is choice of major or transfer to a different school. </p>

<p>As a plus, the Freshman Connection program did ease him into college life and he has grown up quite a bit. I think he was a bit apprehensive about going away to school, hence his choice of UMD and the Freshman Connection program.</p>

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<p>Does anyone know anything about UNC Wilmington? My daughter is interested in the film studies program there. She would be applying out of state.</p>

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<p>ljb, I don’t have a child there, but we did visit this school. I liked that it was a smaller public, has shuttle buses around town, and is not isolated. We visited during the summer, and boy, was it hot and humid! I mean that it was extremely hot and humid! It is also a few minutes to the beach, and a few minutes to the airport.</p>

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<p>ljb…I have a question about Freshman Connection. You didn’t have this issue with your son, but I heard that it’s hard to get housing for just the fall semester, so what happens is that you have to sign a full year lease, and thus end up being off campus for spring semester too. Is that generally the case?</p>

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<p>ljb: Is the program at UMD available for oos students?</p>

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<p>ReadytoRoll…</p>

<p>That question was addressed in the freshman orientation we attended for Freshman Connection students. When students sign a lease for an apartment in the College Park area, it is for a full year. By the time the spring semester rolls around, many of the freshmen have adjusted to apartment life and no longer want a dorm room. So they stay in their apartments. For those who do want a dorm room, UMD suggested subletting the space to another student for the Spring/Summer. Also, if a HS senior knows early on that he/she wants to enroll in UMD for the spring semester and do Freshman Connection for the fall semester, he/she can look for a sublet for just the fall semester. Apparently, some of those do exist.</p>

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<p>historymom…</p>

<p>Yes, Maryland does accept OOS students for the spring semester and offer the Freshman Connection option for the fall semester.</p>

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<p>kathiep - Thanks for your valuable information. How has your son liked Roanoke? Does it have fraternities and if so how strong are they? (We are trying to avoid schools that have strong frat scenes.) </p>

<p>The website you posted has great information. How did you determine if the school gave a lot of merit aid? Did you just look at the percentage of students that received merit aid? </p>

<p>We have come up with a fairly extensive list now and will try to visit as many schools as we can. I still need to check out the FA available. Schools in New England are sooo much more expensive so I feel as if we’re getting instant aid because the schools aren’t $50,000.</p>

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<p>My son has really enjoyed his time at Roanoke and I think it was the right choice for him. There are quite a few frats on campus but he doesn’t think they are overwhelming. His friends are more of the outdoor/community involvement kids. He did a study abroad in England in the fall and his merit aid traveled with him. This summer he’s staying in Virginia at a house he and two friends rented. There are a large amount of kids at Roanoke from out of state, mostly the mid-atlantic ones.</p>

<p>On the naviance website it says that 92% of the students at Roanoke receive institutional grants, that’s a good indication of merit aid from what I’ve found.</p>

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<p>I am a parent of 2 sons - Junior and Freshman at HS. We have lived in diiff countries since my older son was 4. </p>

<p>I wanted some suggestions from other parents who have sons and have visited/experienced colleges with good Computer Sc/Math programs at LAC’s. Since we will be visiting TX and CA this summer I would like some names from those regions. We will not visit VA or the Carolina’s nor the Northeast, but may apply there without visiting if the program seems good. He is a reserved kid, not too much into the party scene, but likes hanging out with a few good friends. He thrives with good teachers and switches off to arrogant ones and does below avg in those classes.</p>

<p>He is a 3.3 GPA weighted right now, bright but not motivated to perform well at HS. He has interest in Web business and has been learning software etc on his own time. No ECC except this. He has made quite a tidy sum since he has started doing PT project internet based work. He is happy to just skip college and go straight on to this full time!</p>

<p>I dont post much but I read all your posts daily - I am too worried about finding a “FIT”, I dont even know how that works!! I have a feeling he will do better in a cozier college. Trying to avoid places that are too cold, unless he gets into a college that will be great from all other angles.</p>

<p>No Fin Aid, but Merit aid would be nice…</p>

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<p>Sorry I meant LAC’s would be nice - but not just LAC’s.</p>

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<p>Champlain College has a lot of computer science and a weighted 3.3 would be at least a match there… but it’s in Vermont so it’s cold.</p>

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<p>pixeljig: My s’s have also grown up abroad. One VERY important thing for fit is to look at the percentage/ numbers of international students. Also, check if your son can be part of the international orientation (if there is one). Although he doesn’t need the info on visas etc., making connections with other students from outside the US will be very important. Although our kids look and sound American, they have a very different set of experiences and outlook, as I am sure you know, and can often feel as much culture shock as any other international student, no matter how much time on holiday they have spent in the US.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your replies,</p>

<p>Yes, Champlain looks good, but he is not too fond of the cold weather. </p>

<p>Expatme, I know what you mean…thats why I am worried even more. He has seen so much and travelled to so many countries. He has a had a change of school every 3 years. I feel bad for him. But he is capable of so much more academically, how do we make colleges see that?</p>

<p>He is a good test taker and has done well in the SAT’s. I just dont know where to begin the search. Was reading the posts and thought Gtech, VT, UC’s, Trinity in SA, Pepperdine etc. Would love to hear about other colleges that are care about the students.</p>

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<p>My son LOVED Champlain. However, some of the programs, including Game Design, are very competitive and one cannot get into them after freshman year. That is, each year’s classes build on each other so you cannot decide sophomore year to get into game design without starting again as a freshman, also they give very, very little aid. Their price is pretty low for New England anyway but without aid, it was unaffordable. My son was accepted to the College but not the Game Design major.</p>

<p>Diversity of students is a big reason to avoid most of the state colleges. My daughter loved the geographic diversity of her college where over 90% of the students were from out of state. She traveled to Kenya with a classmate over one of her Christmas breaks to visit with her and her family. Conversely, many state colleges have 90% of their students from in-state.</p>

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<p>kathiep ~ we visited Champlain in 2006 as my son was interested in computer science/info. tech. We couldn’t get any additional information at all about the CS programs from our tour guide nor the admissions rep. we met with after the tour. On the tour, the guide just kind of pointed to one room with computers in it and that was it. We knew he was not a CS major, so ok, maybe he didn’t know that much about the major. I thought maybe we missed the CS area, but thinking back, it must have been centered around that one room. My son tried to ask the admissions rep. some questions, but was basically blown off by him. So even though S said he loved the campus during the tour, afterwards he wasn’t interested and did not apply.</p>

<p>It is a gorgeous campus. Just a breathtaking view of the lake from the top of the student center building (or was it the library - I’ve forgotten now, lol!). We were very intrigued by the dorms as Victorian homes. S would have liked that. We visited in April and the weather was nice. I do think S may not have liked the winter so much, though!</p>

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<p>pixeljig: you asked: how do we make colleges see that? one of the things is to help your s put his experiences and perspectives into his applications, via short answers and essay. When I say “help” i mean discuss with him how his life and his experiences have effected him; that his perspective is special and that he brings a uniqueness to any college or university campus.
as far as searching, we did 90% of our searching on the internet and only had limited ability to visit schools. If you would like to you can PM me.</p>