<p>Hokiefan, take a look at Alfred University (NY). They have Biomedical Material Engineering & Science, Ceramic Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Glass Engineering Science, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science & Engineering. </p>
<p>I am taking my D there for her Freshman Year on Tuesday, so I am somewhat prejudiced!
Rural, small town, about 2200 students, good financial aid, students seemed very happy when we visited. No Greek Life, always a plus in my opinion! H & I were most impressed with Alfred! We have visited a lot of schools over the years, with putting 4 through in 11 consecutive years-two down, two to go! </p>
<p>I looked up Coastal Carolina and Oregon on our Naviance. No kids have applied to Oregon (probably due to distance) but Coastal Carolina is taking kids with a 2.8 GPA (that is weighted, as our school only reports weighted averages) and SATs in the 500s. This would be a safety for our 3.0 to 3.3 kids, unless this is very different for my school district. We have sent quite a few kids there though.</p>
<p>I’m sure my son would love Oregon…it looks beautiful…but it is a little far! Of course, if he really wanted to go far away we wouldn’t stop him, but so far he is saying he wants to be within drivable distance. </p>
<p>It depends on how low is low for the SAT…but what about Virginia Tech? Kids from our school that have gone there have a 3.1 GPA (weighted) and 1500 SATs, and we would be out of state.</p>
<p>Yes! A self-contained sub forum would be so wonderful. I don’t express myself very well I think.
But a subforum with threads on engineering schools, different regions, LAC’s etc.
My son may be class of 2012, but I’m also helping out a friend who’s son is class of 2010, so I really do have a high interest in this thread.</p>
<p>Slumom, coincidentally I did come across Alfred University this morning and it does seem like a great fit for my DS too. Thanks for the additional info!</p>
<p>RTR-I know I’ve mentioned it before, but if your S would just stretch the geograpgy a little, UKansas, UMissouri and UOklahoma have exactly what your S is looking for. They are well respected big flagship state schools in great college towns with business schools, national champion caliber sports teams and active greek systems. The OOS tuition rates are reasonable and they have rolling admissions. Admissions are purely number driven and your S’s stats meet the admission criteria.</p>
<p>My high test score, lower gpa kid has found his niche and been successful at KU.</p>
<p>Dion, you are so correct. A friend of mine hired a counselor for her B student. Mom and D had been fighting so much (normal teen stuff but exhausting), my friend said she couldnt take it anymore. Mom and Dad said it was cheaper than a shrink (only partially kidding). D is going off to a college she is excited about in one week.</p>
<p>Soozie, sorry - I didn’t mean to imply that you were in an Ivy tower with your students you consult with. I was referring to some of the other threads on CC that live in the high altitudes… </p>
<p>(Not to be nasty, my first kid was living in that semi-rarified world. But my second kid is a great kid with more “normal” grades and test scores. I participate occasionally in the 2010 thread, but I had to bow out for a while when they spent a few pages congratulating all their kids who made NMF or - oh the heartbreak! - just barely missed the cutoff. The legions of Commended AP students were a little intimidating, too…)</p>
<p>Lafalum84, I know exactly what you mean by the '10 thread. I can only read so many comments, then I have to go to another thread. (Like here!) A/P Courses, Honors Courses, Award Ceremonies, high SAT/ACT scores, National Honor Society etc, it goes on and on. </p>
<p>As my S doesn’t fall into any of these categories, I feel a lot more comfortable on this thread! But I certainly don’t begrudge anyone’s child’s accomplishments!</p>
<p>lafalum…yes, I realize there are a lot of threads on CC that pertain to high achieving kids and elite colleges! It is hard to participate on such threads if you are not dealing with that stuff. </p>
<p>While I admit to having high achieving kids, my eyes were popping out when I first came to CC and lots of what is talked about and so on. For example, we paid NO attention to National Merit! Older D did not get that but her SATs shot way up from the PSATs and she is a kid who eventually attended an Ivy League school. D2 never even took the PSATs! Also, I never read or knew a thing about college rankings until I saw how a BIG topic that is for people on CC and my kids never paid attention to that and neither did we. They just wanted colleges that fit them. That is the same goal as someone with a 3.0 GPA but simply the list of colleges that fit them was different. There are colleges out there for all types of kids!</p>
<p>ReadytoRoll…I am sorry that I have not followed all the posts and I don’t know your son’s stats…like his test scores and so on or what he wants in a college (interest area and so on) but if he is willing to apply to Indiana (good one for him I think), would he go as far as Clemson…in SC? Might be a similar distance away? That school seems like a possibility.</p>
<p>Back to the essays discussing grades…my feeling is that this is best left to the GC, who can put the circumstances (illness, death in family, student working to pay bills, ADD or other learning issues) or difficulty of course schedule into context. The key is to talk to the GC and let him/her know the circumstances, whether they merit being included in the letter and if he/she would be comfortable including that info.</p>
<p>Thanks qialah. I wish he could send his very interesting essay to someone (about the grades…but not <em>just</em> about the grades) to evaluate whether it’s appropriate, but we don’t really have anyone who would be able to make that judgment. He could certainly give it to an English teacher, etc…but they will only look at it for grammar which I can do as I write for a living.</p>
</p>