New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread

Parents Forum
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<p>Re Alleghenny and other seeming reaches, remember that the recession will force many usual applicants from these schools to state schools and make applicants more more attractive if they are fortunate enough to not need (or unfortunate enough to not qualify for) aid. Also, many of these schools do not get applicants from a wide geographic area, so geographic diversity can be a major plus (and even schools without athletic scholarships give athletes major preference).</p>

<p>One other factor–many of these schools are popular safeties for A students, so the stats of those admitted are much higher than for those enrolled–and applying Early Decision can increase your chances dramatically. But Northeastmom’s practical advice about aid, airports, etc is always wise.</p>

<p>Re boys vs. girls, I get the unscientific sense that boys may on average warning: stereotypes ahead!) be somewhat more inclined to coast; avoid a nerd label; devote incredible (wasted) time to mastering videogames instead of calculus; and focus on athletics.</p>

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<p>//Re boys vs. girls, I get the unscientific sense that boys may on average warning: stereotypes ahead!) be somewhat more inclined to coast; avoid a nerd label; devote incredible (wasted) time to mastering videogames instead of calculus; and focus on athletics.//</p>

<p>Stereotypes or not, really none of these is a factor for my son, except maybe “coasting,” depending on exactly what this means. He’s not grade-driven; he doesn’t like getting worse grades than he’s capable of, but it doesn’t eat at him even to the degree I would like it to, and I’m not nearly as compulsive as a lot of parents. But he’s not lazy or indifferent to the work. He’s pretty engaged in it; he’s just disastrously inefficient about it, and unfortunately he is starting to talk like he thinks there’s nothing he can do about this.</p>

<p>Otherwise, no. “Nerd label” not a factor at his school; no videogames or equivalent; and the closest he comes to focusing on athletics is pestering his out-of-shape father to go throw a frisbee with him at the park.</p>

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<p>I think it could possibly be a birth order issue, too. My D was the first born, 5 years older than S. She is and always has been on top of everything - more competitive and more driven. Many first borns I know are like this.</p>

<p>My best friend has 2 D’s, the oldest one being like my D, and the younger one much more laid back like my S.</p>

<p>And yabeyabe, your general boy description does kind of sound like my S. Coast when you can, play videogames til your fingers fall off, do NOT be a nerd (although being a computer systems major, it is ok in his book to be a nerd now, but it was not ok while going through elem., middle and HS), and um, yes, basketball was his only EC (although he was and is very good at it)</p>

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<p>It’s no wonder I feel at home on this thread. If someone were to switch our sons in the middle of the night, I’ve got a feeling many of us wouldn’t know the difference. And, yes, at least from my own experience (and that of friends and relatives), this stuff tends to be worse with the boys. It may also be generational. When I was going through this, the only thing my parents did was get me to the places I wanted to see. I took care of the rest. For whatever reason, I’ve not been able to instill the same independence in any of my kids. </p>

<p>Warriorboy, and Yabeyabe2, thanks for your feedback. In order to explain our choices, I need to give you a bit of background. </p>

<p>Our less-than-stellar student has painted himself into a pretty small corner. First, he really wants a small school. His grammar and middle schools were tiny, and his high school isn’t much bigger. It’s what he’s used to, and in this respect, he’s not interested in something new. </p>

<p>Second, he loves working with his hands and thinks he wants to be an engineer (For example, he starts a gas welding class today, and he and a friend built a shed where they are going to do blacksmithing.) The only hitch is that math is not his strong suit, and I have real doubts about whether he can handle the coursework. </p>

<p>Still, I don’t want to discourage him, and as a result, I suggested that he think about a small LAC that has a decent physics department, and ideally a 3/2 engineering program, too. That way he can try majoring in physics. If it works out he can either do the 3/2 or finish his physics major and do engineering in grad school. If it doesn’t work out, he can do something else. </p>

<p>Finally, he’s also a little immature. When I see that along with his weaker academic skills, I think he needs a place with strong transition/first year support. If he goes to a place that expects him to be on his own, he’ll probably end up back home by Thanksgiving. </p>

<p>Bottom line, it hasn’t been easy for me to come up with a list of possibles that meet all the relevant criteria. The safeties have been particularly hard. He really is a nice kid. He’ll interview well, and he has interesting ECs (e.g., he’s learning how to fly—already soloed in sailplanes). We are also fortunate enough not to need FA, so for him it’s just the admissions hurdle, but when you’re a B/B- student with so-so SATs, that hurdle is plenty high all by itself. </p>

<p>With that said, the six schools for our first visit are all small LACs that have what appear to be decent physics departments, some with 3/2 engineering programs, Plus, according to our guidance counselor (who’s really terrific), most of them are known for nurturing, supportive environments. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, I’m a little uncomfortable, because in my view not a single one is really a safety. That’s why, for example, we dropped Allegheny and Scranton. They look like reaches, and we have too many of those as it is, although they both look terrific. </p>

<p>Some of the others mentioned we crossed of the list because they were either too big or didn’t appear to be strong enough in physics (e.g., York and Arcadia). Others look promising and we may yet get to them (e.g., Lycoming and W & J). And others I’ve heard of but haven’t yet researched (e.g., Moravian and Albright). With respect to St. As, his guidance counselor really likes the school, and says they do well with kids like our son, so we’ll probably visit later this summer. Again, however, it looks reachy. </p>

<p>For now, we’re focusing on the six we selected (somewhat randomly I’ll admit, notwithstanding any rigor implied above). We’re doing the trip by car. In what promises to be my family’s version of Chevy Chase’s “Vacation,” we’re starting in PA and ending in OH: six visits sandwiched in between a trip to Hershey Park and Cedar Point. (The two diversions were, of course, the spoonful of sugar.) </p>

<p>As far as Eastern goes, we’re from CT. We have family who’ve been to all three schools (Eastern, Central and Southern). The general consensus is that Eastern is the closest thing to a small liberal arts college. I’ve also never liked Southern (even though my wife is a grad). It feels too much like a commuter school. I haven’t heard great things about Willimantic and we have yet to visit, so it may get nixed. But I hope not, since I do view this as a solid safety. </p>

<p>Sorry for being long-winded. I’ll try to post reactions to our visits when we get back (early August). And thanks again for the input.</p>

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<p>gweeta, I think that you have a very good list. I can’t say that I have researched physics depts. because I absolutely have not, but since you are going to venture to OH, you might want to see if these schools have a physics department and how that dept. is: Marietta College (rolling admissions school and once you are on their list the mail doesn’t stop), Otterbein College (I know it’s good for things like music and theatre, but you might just look into it). It might be another reach, but you might want to have a look into Earlham (on the OH boarder), oh, and Wittenberg is another small school that might be slightly easier to gain admission to than OWU. Allegheny is probably on your way to OH if you are driving (2 hours from Cleveland), so if you are going to OH, you might want to stop and check it out.</p>

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<p>Do you think the recession really has students attracted to state schools? Or are the 4.0 students willing to go to our safety schools by accepting major merit hence eliminating our chances?</p>

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<p>gweeta, I’m from the Willimantic area (Mansfield, but about a two-minute walk to the town line) and have spent a lot of time there. I think it gets something of an undeserved bad rep. It is something of a depressed town, since the thread mills closed, and there is some of the stuff that goes along with that, but there’s a lot of really great stuff too.</p>

<p>There’s a fabulous food coop within walking distance of the campus that organizes a country fair every year.</p>

<p>There’s a street fest on the third Thursday of every month, where they close down Main Street and have vendors selling food and merchandise and street performers, musicians, etc. Huge crowd of people, and a lot of fun.</p>

<p>The area around the ECSU campus is actually really pretty. There are a lot of fixed up old Victorians. I think there are a few areas near Main Street that it may be best to avoid late at night, but he’d also have no reason to be there. I have never felt unsafe anywhere in Willimantic. Please let me know if you have any other questions now or after your visit.</p>

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<p>gweeta,</p>

<p>of the schools you mention, my son was accepted at Susquehanna, Hartwick, Moravian and Albright, most with a moderate amount of merit money and his stats were comparable to your son’s (a little lower GPA, a little higher SAT.) He just had a great first year at Susquehanna. Hang in there, get those applications in early, and things will work out.</p>

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<p>Gweeta, your list of schools seems like a great first cut. Since I suspect that, like most parents on this thread (including me) you will never hear from your child what a great job you did of doing their work for them, please accept congratulations. If you go back about 3 weeks in the NY Times Magazine, yo will see an article by someone about how they found happiness leaving the white collar world to work with their hands–you might find this helpful.
If you are going to McDaniel, you might look at Goucher, which is said to be very nurturing for B students.</p>

<p>Cherryhillmom2, from what I have read, the recession has resulted in greatly increased applications to state schools (for example, Fresno State in CA cut off applications more than a month before the announced date because of the flood). Assuming you are from Cherry Hill, NJ, there was a Newark Star Ledger article you could find online about the NJ State schools being able to raise average SATs, etc as a result. I think you are also correct that some A students will go fishing for major merit aid from B student schools–making B student aid packages skimpier until the A students make their decisions.</p>

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<p>My son is now officially a senior. I can’t believe it!</p>

<p>What are all of your rising seniors (or rising juniors?) doing for the summer? Mine has a job at a local grocery store (which he has had since he turned 16) where he has a set schedule but can also pick up extra hours every week. He also has a lot of summer commitments for the football team. And…I hope he will also work on his essays, because once football season starts there is a huge paucity of time.</p>

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<p>We recieved 2 applications in the mail this week. One said that if we applied by 6/25 then there would be no application fee but seemed like a regular app. The second was a “personalized” application. It was partially filled out, had a card to give to hs to gets grades with a letter that said the the essay and recommendations were optional. Is this for real??? Is this considered a priority app? </p>

<p>It feels like a lot of schools are suggesting that we apply this summer, does that mean that they are expecting to get recommendations at that time also??? We’re new to this and wondering if this is typical…</p>

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<p>warriorboy…that sounds promising. Which schools are they? We have not received anything here…although I’m realizing that we don’t even open the envelopes from schools in which he isn’t interested.</p>

<p>We met with our GC who said we could not get recommendations over the summer…but could get them at the beginning of September.</p>

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<p>RtoR - my son will spend a good amount of time visiting colleges this summer. (We have found that many of the schools that look good on paper for him, he doesn’t really like. I want to be sure that he is apply to schools that he will actually like and choose to attend. Then from those I’m hoping that his GC will find some similiar schools that would be low reaches that we won’t visit but might accept him for geographic reasons.)</p>

<p>He’ll also work part time as a lifeguard and essays will have to be done this summer. He also has quite a bit of hw because he’s now taking AP’s. (That’s a whole different discussion)</p>

<p>We did have a great moment recently. My son was invited to academic awards night. (a first for him) He received a certificate for the National Latin Exam. All I could think is “something to put on the college app”</p>

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<p>warriorboy, congrats on the award! My son also takes Latin, but has never been willing to take the exam. (He also refused to take any SAT IIs because he said none of the colleges he is considering require them…he is frustrating that way although probably right about the SAT IIs though it could not have hurt.) Meanwhile, he is actually asking his Latin teacher for a recommendation, and I can’t help but wonder what she is going to say about his motivation level since he never goes the extra mile.</p>

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<p>I have yet to read through it wall, but plan to do so! My rising junior daughter will most likely graduate with a 3.0-3.2 and a low 20s ACT, average extra-curriculars and no APs. The wants small to medium (2000-10,000?), no further north than Chicago, within 9 hours driving, and possibly education or event planning. We’re looking in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky…Bradley, Augustana, Truman State (reach), Belmont, Union and Murray State. What are we missing? Any comments on any of those schools?</p>

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<p>Ready to Roll…Bradley University in Illinois immediately comes to mind…known for its’ soccer program and I don’t even have soccer players.</p>

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<p>I read that Susquehanna’s incoming class is its largest ever. Does anyone know if this has a particular cause (such as needing more tuition income) and what effect it may have on the school?</p>

<p>Are other schools undergoing similar expansion?</p>

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<p>Mendy, welcome to the thread. I do not know enough about schools in the states you mention, but you might look at The Colleges That change Lives website for schools in your area. Also, although Ohio was not on your list, I know part of Ohio should be not further than parts of Kentucky and I believe Ohio has some good options.
If your hcild is serious about event planning, I imagine you need a fairly large school to have courses in that, while my general beleif is that small schools are better for B students generally</p>

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<p>//What are all of your rising seniors (or rising juniors?) doing for the summer? //</p>

<p>Ours will spend July working as a counselor at a summer arts camp run by the community music center where he’s taken lessons since he was 8. August will be about college visits, essays, and putting sleep in the bank.</p>

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<p>Once again, thanks to all for your thoughtful comments. </p>

<p>Northeastmom, we considered the schools you mentioned (except Otterbein and Marietta which I want to research). Earlham was a very tough decision. It was just enough of a stretch (both geographically, from the endpoint of our current planned road trip, and admissions-wise) that I crossed it off the list for now. But I will say, my son’s counselor likes it (and Guilford, in North Carolina), so depending on what happens we may still get there. Ditto for Wittenberg, which appears to be strong in physics. I will certainly have the map out as we make our way west, and if it seems like we can just stop by any of these other places, we will. Just not sure what the tolerance will be for packing more visits in. </p>

<p>Eireann, thanks for your thoughts on Willimantic. The nice thing about Eastern at this point is that we can just swing by and see for ourselves on some weekend afternoon. In my own experience coming to the East Coast from the Midwest years ago, many areas that had bad raps turned out to be favorites, so I’m definitely open-minded about Willimantic. Also, my son hasn’t heard anything negative, so he’s a blank slate at this point. </p>

<p>BassDad, really appreciate your sharing that. I know one data point doesn’t really tell me much, but it still helps to hear about other positive experiences for similar students. Actually, right now, Susquehanna is very high on our list. Not exactly sure why, but at least from afar, it seem pretty close to what we’re looking for. </p>

<p>yabeyabe2, at some level he knows how much I’ve done. It borders on gratitude, but you have to look really hard. It’s funny because earlier on I did note his lack of independent motivation, and of course, I’m continuing to enable that. On the other hand, it’s hard to sit back and do nothing. </p>

<p>I did clip the NYT article, and have been trying to get him to read it. His guidance counselor also suggested “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” He’s actually rebuilding an old Honda right now (or trying to at least), and I think both things would speak to him. </p>

<p>We visited Goucher earlier this year (before I discovered CC). He loved it, but I’ve been told (GC) that the stats there are a little misleading. In particular, she said they are trying to move themselves up the food chain, and become more selective and that my son’s Cs (a couple) will hurt him. In other words, I’m afraid it’s another reach. </p>

<p>But again, thanks to all. I really do appreciate the time you all have taken to comment.</p>