<p>lilmom-I have requested the GATE Eng class. She will be allowed in the class space permitting. Once the school counseling office reopens later this summer we will attempt to meet with her counselor. Before school let out they could not tell us who her counselor will be due to quite a number of the counselors getting pink slips. (the counselor assigned to our letter of the alphabet has been pink slipped)They had hopes of rehiring them but I don’t think that will happen.
I am still questioning my choice of this high school. I think at the other two high schools they would go on the recommendation of her 9th grade teacher and put her in GATE. The high school she will attend is the highest scoring school in the district. They have not been helpful or welcoming in any of our dealings with them so far. They seem to have a bias against kids who have not come up from their “feeder” schools. I do know that parents of kids who attend this public school have been extremely happy with the academics. We will give it a try for this year. If it doesn’t work we will look into different options.</p>
<p>Hi parents,</p>
<p>I was wondering, are there any good schools out there for IR (besides your AU, GWU) that do not look at test scores and/or weight them less than transcript, ECs? I have a solid GPA (3.5), but my ACT scores have been less than stellar.</p>
<p>sushi_error,</p>
<p>Take a look at Dickinson; Clark; Goucher; Catholic U. Also, find schools that match your other criteria–location; size; etc and then check out their IR departments. GW, for example, has always had a high rate of kids transferring out–your search should focus on much more than the major–and the best teachers ar eoften not the most renowned scholars</p>
<p>Dickinson? I feel that Dickinson would be a little of a reach for me due to test scores, mainly. Yeah, Clark is definitely in my top-5 and I’m not too big on Catholic U, but would appreciate if any parents could give me input on CUA.</p>
<p>Also, would it hurt your application if you chose not to submit your test scores to schools that are test-optional? I understand that in some schools it could hurt, because you may not be eligible for merit aid. In general, does it make a big difference? I know I will be in need of FA and def. merit aid, however, my scores aren’t that high and I’m worried if I do not submit scores I will not be able to receive any aid.</p>
<p>Even if you have sub-par stats relative to what people post here, you should at least try and not low ball yourself. I never made an A my entire HS career and have mediocre SAT scores and got into Vandy and Emory</p>
<p>To SchoolMom and other parents with underachieving students, I would just like to say don’t rule out large state schools. I was an academic underachiever (barely a 3.0 GPA in high school w/ next to no ECs), earned a 31 on the ACT, was admitted and attended Auburn University. It was a great experience for me where I graduated with honors in four years. My point is don’t rule out state schools. Auburn was an amazing place for me where I really found my stride. I am sure there are other large state schools that can do the same for underachieving students.</p>
<p>user name and AU tiger, thanks for your posts. Its nice to hear from the “underachiever” that did well in college. Perhaps, our kids aren’t underachievers but “late bloomers”!</p>
<p>AUTiger, thanks so much for your reply. Could you tell us what you think helped you to turn things around?</p>
<p>Lilmom, I think calling me a “late bloomer” is very accurate…and sounds so much better than “lazy” (which was the term my mom used to describe me).
Schoolmom, in all honesty I think what really helped me was the structure of college in general along with the atmosphere at Auburn.<br>
My big problem in high school, and I think I’ve seen some parents mention this in regards to their kids, is that I absolutely hated homework assignments. Nothing bothered me more than having assignments to turn in everyday, it just seemed like busy work to me. I always did well on tests in high school, but because I didn’t like/didn’t do the homework assignments my grades suffered.<br>
The structure of college was a better fit for me because it tended to be a handful of tests/quizzes/papers/group projects to determine your grades. I didn’t feel like my time was being wasted on busy work, which I appreciated. When it was left to me and I didn’t feel like someone was hovering over me I was more inclined to study because I felt empowered. I studied because I wanted to do well, not because I had to turn in something the next day. Not having to sit in class for 7 hours straight each day also helped.
I will also say I was very unhappy in my high school/the town I grew up in. I didn’t have a lot of friends and just wanted to get done with school for the day and forget about it. Auburn really felt like home which I think helped a great deal (really speaks to how important it is to find a school that is the right ‘fit’). I had an extremely active social life (fraternity, university program council, student government, etc) and found that I actually worked better/more efficiently when I had a schedule that was crammed with activities and I had to manage my time wisely. I know fraternities catch a lot of heat, but the mandatory study hours my pledge class had during freshman year really helped me and got me into the habit of blocking out time to study.<br>
Auburn, and I am sure there are similar state schools out there, is big but doesn’t feel that way. It met my desire to have that big college sports culture experience while still feeling small enough that I never felt like I was just a number. I knew my advisers and they knew me by name, my professors were always willing to help. It was just the perfect blend of big and small with a very collegial culture.
I hope this helps. If you need more clarification or have other questions I am happy to answer.<br>
I’d also like to mention that I have completed one master’s degree and am beginning a second one at the end of August at two prestigious universities. My point is that a lot of B/B+ high school students end up doing very well. Like me, they just need to find their stride and I think that happens for a lot of kids during college.</p>
<p>Can some parents give me advice on schools like Washington & Jefferson, Franklin & Marshall, and Dickinson College? Are these schools a good match for students with a 3.5, but not great scores? </p>
<p>I am really interested in many of the small PA LACs, but besides GPA and test scores, I’d really like to attend a school with a lot of diversity. And a lot of these schools (based on stats) don’t really have that much diversity it seems.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re looking at the wrong schools then.</p>
<p>Well. it has been a busy few weeks. We have visited a bunch of schools. I think the effect of my son’s lower GPA is sinking in to him. Most of the schools that he is interested in are going to be reaches. I think it is going to be difficult to find safeties. (What’s the saying that I don’t want to be part of the group that’ll have me.)</p>
<p>We’re visiting a bunch of schools in Penn in August. Hopefully, a couple of those will be safeties and schoolsthat he likes…</p>
<p>Sushi_error, if your shcool has a tool like Naviance, you can see how prior applicants with your numbers did. My guess is that 3.5 and not great scores would make F&M and Dickinson reaches (but not hopeless) if your classes were not honors or AP; you do not have impressive ECs; or you are not a URM. Applying EC might help. W&J would be easier.</p>
<p>Diversity, unfortunately, is not a strong point of most LACs, especially those not near large cities, for various reasons. </p>
<p>Warriorboy, hang in there. I am sure, too, you are having a hard time not screaming “I told you to work harder!” now that he sees the consequences. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by some of the PA schools and hope you will share your reactions to them.</p>
<p>Warriorboy, do not lose hope-your S will end up at a great school where he will be happy. I just went through this process with D#3 & it seems to me that D#1’s road trips were a similiar situation to your S’s. D#1 is a UCONN alum & has a good job. </p>
<p>I hope you will share your impressions of some of these schools with us!</p>
<p>Okay…for those of you in CT (I think this is a CT only website), has your child signed up for ctmentor.org? The reason I ask is that it has an “evaluate your chances” section for various schools and it just seems like it’s not right. Schools I would have thought were reaches are matches, and schools I would have thought were matches are “possibly nots” or something like that. </p>
<p>In starting the application to UConn, we were required to use the site…that’s how we found it.</p>
<p>Anyone have any feedback on it?</p>
<p>Haven’t looked at that website, yet, RTR, but D is planning to apply to UConn so perhaps she will see it. But we are in MA, and if it’s a CT only website…?</p>
<p>Hey Warrior – If it’s worth anything I had the same panicky moment when the only noticeable effect of our first EIGHT college visits were to take all 8 of them off of his list, including the one that I thought looked perfect on paper. But he eventually found a few schools he really liked, and another few that were more safeties and super-safeties where he knew he would be comfortable (if not thrilled). </p>
<p>I know you did a VA/NC/SC tour recently, did you happen to stop at Bridgewater in VA? My review from several years ago can be found here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/221336-bridgewater-college-va-visit.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/221336-bridgewater-college-va-visit.html?</a></p>
<p>Bridgewater was the first true safety school for my son that really got his attention, to his and our great surprise. You just never know. Good luck to your son and to everybody’s kids. Can my DS really be heading into his Junior Year (in college?) Could I have possibly been posting here since he was a HS Freshman?</p>
<p>
In the couple of visits we’ve done so far our son’s reactions have been very all-or-nothing, either infatuation or loathing. So I’m curious to see if he’s ever going to finish a visit and just say, “this place seems OK, I could go here.” </p>
<p>Interesting about the one that looked perfect on paper. There are a couple of schools that I just have a positive gut feeling about for him, and I’m trying not to broadcast that, because it’ll probably backfire. (But I’m not above little tricks like setting up the itineraries to make the schools I like best come at the beginning of the trip, before ennui sets in…)</p>
<p>To be honest, it wasn’t just one “perfect on paper” issue. Seems like we went through a whole series of them – maybe 3 in a row. But in my defense, he did fall in love with the fourth “perfect on paper” school, where he now attends!</p>
<p>Lafalum…I’m not sure. I’m at work right now so I can’t poke around too much. I can’t imagine they would have different websites for in-state vs. OOS. Check it out as if you are setting up her app and let me know! </p>
<p>(BTW, we didn’t have to fill out the stats section for the application…it was specifically for the section on matching with schools.)</p>