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<p>I am afraid I am about to have the same problem with D2. I am pulling her out of a school that was very good in many ways, but absolutely horrendous instruction in Math and putting her in public school next year for 6th grade.</p>
<p>Don’t despair! It is a great incentive for him to have a strong first semester senior year, which will not turn 3.1 into 3.6, but can only help him at all schools. If it stays his favorite, applying ED (if you are willing to not have more than one aid package to consider) might make it less of a reach (and, if deferred, give him some interest points for the final decision). And, at the very least, this visit clarified what he likes and much or all of what he likes about that school may be replicated at a match school he has not yet seen. </p>
<p>Good luck with the rest of your trip!</p>
<p>We’re in the same boat, warriorboy. S likes a school where the avg admit. gpa was 3.6 last yr. He has the SATs but his gpa…well, he qualifies for this thread! He will have to cast a wide net come application time. yabeyabe2, I’m hoping EA will help out, too.</p>
<p>We’re very much in the same boat too…our son is very high on Brandeis, and has recently expressed interest in Tufts as well, and both are pretty serious reaches for his 3.2 average–even allowing for his tough school and his good test scores. </p>
<p>But I am learning to love this situation. It’s an awesome motivator for senior year, as yabeyabe2 suggested. If he can really kick butt in his first half schoolwork, he can bring that 3.2 up into the 3.3-3.4 range, and that rising trend, combined with his good scores and the killer essay that he is (of course) going to write, might just be enough to persuade a school like Tufts or Brandeis to take a chance on him. </p>
<p>Either way, at this point in the process, I’d much rather see him aiming a bit too high than just shrugging his shoulders and settling.</p>
<p>I keep going back and forth looking at our list and asking myself the same questions - “are we shooting too high?” alternates with “are we not aiming high enough?” Then I stop, laugh at myself, and keep on looking and listening…Fortunately, he likes every school we look at, so he hasn’t become wedded to that one school…yet.</p>
<p>The flip side of worrying that your child will love a Reach and not get in is worrying that he or she WILL get in–and have trouble keeping up in class because the workload is very heavy or the child’s time management or effort are lacking; etc.</p>
<p>One poster’s formula was that she did not want her child to attend a school if their scores were below the 50th percentile for the school. What are others’ thoughts? And how can you diplomatically research workload (assuming you do not have a trusted friend at the school) without giving the impression your child is not a hard worker?</p>
<p>If a college has a fairly high freshman retention rate, I would trust them not to admit a student who isn’t capable of succeeding there. Take a school like Harvard for example. Their freshman retention rate is something like 97%, so obviously those kids in the bottom 50% of the class are still faring quite well. The numbers are less impressive for most other colleges, but my gut feeling is that a college with a freshman retention rate of more than 85% is doing a fine job of screening out kids who aren’t going to survive there.</p>
<p>In other words, I say let the college tell you you’re not good enough, rather than deciding for yourself. They’re more likely to be right than you are.</p>
<p>mantori, I agree that we should let the schools decide whether or not our children are accepted. We shouldn’t beat ourselves with too many games of “chance me”. There have been some surprise admits - low GPAs or test scores. What if they had counted themselves out before even trying?</p>
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<p>My son’s scores were at the 25% range for admitted students, but I also knew he had the ability to do the work if he chose to. His GPA was ok (although we are not a highly competitive district - we send 1/2 of the graduating class on to 4 year schools), but even he finally admitted he had not put much effort into his HS work. </p>
<p>He started off at an easier college, but was miserable - unhappy with both the level of academics and level of students. He was much happier after he transferred even though the workload increased substantially and there were students to whom the work came easily.</p>
<p>He found his internal motivation, worked hard and in his third semester there, finally made Dean’s list.</p>
<p>You really have to know the kid.</p>
<p>Kitty56 is right that you really have to know your kid. </p>
<p>The problem is that getting to that understanding can be an expensive trial and error process. We are sending our son off to a college that is extremely different (size, competitiveness, ethnicity) than the high school where he underperformed. We hope that a different environment will help him find his way.</p>
<p>Well, final grades are in for this year…4 Bs, one B plus, and one B minus. One A in band and one A in PE of course. But a B in health! (My son’s comment: “Health was a real class this year!”)</p>
<p>Three year weighted GPA is now 3.21, but somewhat lower if we pull out health, gym and band. I guess it is what it is. </p>
<p>On the bright side of things, my son started filling out the “easier” parts of the common app. yesterday and we discovered (unless he did something wrong) that they only give you seven slots to put in activities, while he has eight. (And…none of his eight are filler activities either…they range from varsity sports to student government to community service to something really cool he just got picked to do for next year.) I’m thinking that maybe this will be somewhat impressive…although I can’t get over my nagging doubt that any of the large schools he is looking at will actually look past the grades…</p>
<p>While big schools do alot by the numbers, there are real people in the admissions office, and its worth investing a little effort to make a connection for a place you kid would really want to be. This is especially true if he is applying OOS; adcoms usually have regional assignments (often listed on websites). My interactions with admissions staff at even numbers-driven places have been invariably positive.</p>
<p>I can second what drb says. We had a counselor from UMich (OOS for us) speak at our high school. She said that while a lot is numbers driven, she gets to fill several slots each year based on the “feel” she gets from the applicant – an outstanding essay, an unusual EC, etc. can make her take the chance.</p>
<p>It looks like I will be having another kid fall into this range. Child3 got her final 9th grade grades. 3 B+'s and 3 B’s. The B+'s should have easily been A’s. She has been of the mindset that she would go to the local CC and transfer to the local UC. This summer she is suddenly rethinking that idea. She likes the idea of attending the local UC and dorming. She will have to get her grades up if she even stands a chance. The last 2 days she has been coming to me with lists of schools that she likes the looks of. Her criteria- nice horse barn. She has come up with schools all across the country using this criteria. She loved the barn at Stanford and wanted to know what she needed to do to go there. Explained that Stanford was a long shot for everyone. She isn’t ready for the reality that she is not taking a horse to college.
She is capable of better grades. She will have to do better if she wants a shot at several of the UC’s and Cal Poly.Or merit money at any of the private schools. For her it is a matter of taking one more step with each assignment. She is quick to finish and in her mindset a B is above average.
She is returning to public school as a 10th grader. I am already finding the first issue. The public school does not want to put anyone in GATE classes who has not tested into GATE. This makes her automatically in the “college prep” english. College prep seems to be everyone who is not in special ed or GATE. A whole wide range. She might get lucky if space permits to get into GATE english. But budget cuts and Ca education funding doesn’t look promising. In 11th grade she can add some AP classes since AP does not have the testing requirement. At her rate she will not have many classes that are weighed grades.</p>
<p>First of all, mom60, your D has plenty of time to improve her standing. Hopefully, she has learned that with a little for effort - that B+ becomes an A - and makes a big difference! My D caught on in the 8th grade and had a very good 9th gr yr. She is a GATE student and is taking the honors classes. In D’s school, its college prep and then honors. Her friends weren’t all GATE students in the honors classes. They got in with letters of reco. from teachers from previous jr. high. </p>
<p>You know your child best. In our district, I know of a parent who fought hard to place her S in honors classes when they wanted to place him in lower ones (Engl is his 2nd lang.) He’s now an honor student at one of the UC’s. I hope his counselor took note of that.</p>
<p>I know she has time to improve. Sadly our school district has eliminated the Honors level. For a class like english 10 the options are GATE, college prep or special ed. She is my 3rd going through this. The first spoiled me. She was a GATE/AP student who I think maybe got 1 B in high school. My 2nd had LD and was a fair student. He got lucky in the college admissions process due to some lucky A’s and a strong Math SAT score. My 3rd is headed to a different high school that is academically strong. With the budget being what it is I don’t know what we are going to find once school begins.</p>
<p>In our CA school district too, the budget mess has reduced the number of teachers, which in turn resulted in fewer slots for AP US History, AP Comp, etc. regardless of teacher recommendations. My D’s school established a GPA cutoff (regardless of grades in the prerequisites for the AP classes) and once the classes filled everyone else was put in the standard college prep class. So much for bumping the GPA with a weighted class.</p>
<p>So are Bentley and Babson reach or match schools for the 3.0 to 3.3 student?</p>
<p>I believe Bentley is a match and Babson a reach (depending, of course, on SATs, ECs, etc)</p>
<p>mom60, if you and your D feel she that a GATE Engl class would be a better fit, please pursue it with her counselor. It is crazy to think that a school would deny a student who wishes to have a more rigorous curriculum. </p>
<p>My S chose to take the college prep route and I let him thinking that an easier curriculum might enable him to feel more successful (higher GPA, etc.) That backfired. He had little patience for his teachers and the slacker students in the class. No, it was not the teacher’s or students’ fault that he got a C - the blame rested squarely on my S’s bad choices. </p>
<p>This year, as a jr., he took AP classes and did well getting mostly B’s and some A’s. He admitted to me that he wished he hadn’t wasted his time in the college prep class and that he felt more challenged and motivated in the AP classes. It was a good learning experience for him but at what price? How many other kids don’t come to that realization but rather lose their motivation to learn in such classes?</p>
<p>I’m not saying that your D will be the same, just that if she wants the challenge, she should be encouraged. Good luck to you.</p>