New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread

Parents Forum
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<p>mom0809 - Our plan was to have a rolling admissions school, but none of the schools that my son is applying to have rolling admissions. Also, we are interested in Berry College. </p>

<p>SLUMOM - I’ve been trying to schedule a trip to Alfred. I was thinking of going there first and the visiting Hobart and Ithaca. Alfred is about 7 hours away. Most of the schools that aren’t within an easy driving distance that we have looked at so far have an airport near by. Any near this region?? Are you worried about your dd getting snowed in for the holidays. Although, we are from New England I really don’t like the now.</p>

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<p>Warriorboy, Rochester has an airport, so does Buffalo. You would be better off to just drive! I know you are tired of driving! Comfort Inn in Hornell, NY has free breakfast & indoor pool. :cool:</p>

<p>I am in an Alfred Parent Google group & I have already met so many wonderful parents whose kids all have cars & live in the New England area. So I think the D will have no trouble getting a ride back & forth for the holidays & spring break etc!</p>

<p>If you are going to visit HWS & Ithaca, go visit Wells College-small, not far from Ithaca, about 550 students, went co-ed in last few years so they need males. It is on Cayuga Lake so they have their own waterfront. Students may cross register with Cornell and Ithaca College: vans go back & forth to Ithaca almost on a daily basis. </p>

<p>I guess as far as winter is concerned, I am from Northern New York (notice I did not say “Upstate”) so snow doesn’t seem to bother me nor driving in it! My 4 kids don’t seem to mind our New England winters, ski, skate, snowboard, snow shoe and so on!</p>

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<p>Warriorboy - Berry College has rolling admissions. Do you know anything about the school other than what is on their website? </p>

<p>SLUMOM - is the weather at Alfred just as bad as Rochester?</p>

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<p>I would say yes, mom0809.</p>

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<p>JohnnyDoe, has she thought about Santa Clara? Willamette? University of Puget Sound? Lewis & Clark?</p>

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<p>Hi what are saftey schools in this gpa range? I have 3.5 weighted gpa so its drops to around 3.2 3.3</p>

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<p>for those looking at Connecticut College, it is now test optional
[Connecticut</a> College : Admission - Standardized Test Policy](<a href=“http://www.conncoll.edu/admission/5690.htm]Connecticut”>http://www.conncoll.edu/admission/5690.htm)</p>

<p>Before this year, it required either ACT or SAT IIs but explicitly not SAT I.</p>

<p>At our school, the avg acceptance GPA is B+, but with the lowest regular decision at straight B and lowest early a C+/B-. Also, I think boys would have an advantage as their gender imbalance is more than similar LACs.</p>

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<p>lilmom - I will PM you.</p>

<p>Cardinal Fang - Yes she has. We have some experience with Santa Clara. On paper it looks like a good B+ candidate and it probably is. Unfortunately, they seem to wait-list many B+ candidates, which makes for a nail-biter come decision time. Isn’t Willamette a bit of a stretch? It looks like > 53% have GPAs better than 3.75. </p>

<p>Fortunately, my D is only a junior this year, so we have some time. We’ve only taken a practice SAT not the real deal, and she still has interest in both big schools and small schools.</p>

<p>Other candidate small schools - </p>

<p>University of Portland
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle University
University of San Francisco
Gonzaga
Chapman (uses only sophomore & junior year grades to calculate GPA)
Loyola Marymount
Point Loma (didn’t know much about this one, but a recent campus tour put it on her list)</p>

<p>If she goes for the big school, Tulare is right - University of Oregon in Eugene is beautiful and certainly a candidate for a B+ student. I’ve heard Western Washington U is also a beautiful school and a candidate for B+ students. We are from CA so we have most of the non-impacted CSU schools as safeties. There are a few UC schools within reach as well (like Santa Cruz), but I don’t believe they are at the top of my D’s list.</p>

<p>When we went through this process with my older D, we found it is very important to directly contact your student’s admissions counselor (or rather, have your student do it) and understand the specifics of the decision process for each REAL candidate school. </p>

<p>Some don’t care at all about the weighted GPA; some do. Some use the total GPA right from your HS transcript; some use an academic GPA only. Some schools just use 14 or 16 specific courses to calculate GPA. Some view the weighted GPA differently if there are no accompanying AP test scores or poor AP test scores. </p>

<p>At some of the very small schools, we found that the counselor for various parts of the country (in our case CA) is the first one to review the applicant’s file. He/she then makes an accept/reject recommendation to the admissions committee. It’s, therefore, important to understand the hot buttons for that specific admissions counselor.</p>

<p>It seems the process is different for each and every school. Many use the common app, but the admissions decision process varies.</p>

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<p>New question for parents on this thread: Have you looked at your school’s profile…the one that they send to the college with your son or daughter’s transcript? If so, I’m wondering what your school listed as its average GPA for the senior class last year. Please specify whether its weighted or unweighted.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>lilmom,</p>

<p>I tried to PM you, but it didn’t work.</p>

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<p>RtoR - I just checked out our school profile. It does not list GPA at all. Our average SAT scores around 500, the ACT is a 23.4. The interesting thing is that it says that grades reported on the report card and transcript are unweighted. I asked the GC and she said that it was a weighted GPA.</p>

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<p>SLUMom, a question about Alfred’s rolling admission…does it start any time in the fall? Meaning, your child heard within a week, does that happen after a certain date or anytime in the fall. (I understand that perhaps not everyone will hear within a week!)</p>

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<p>Thanks to all for the input on Conn College. We will visit in September and see if we can get a sense for how desirable they will find S.</p>

<p>University of Oregon, mentioned a few posts back, is a good B student option. They prefer a GPA of 3.2, but will consider lower GPAs. GPA of 3.4 (if I remember correctly) is an automatic admit and students making that cut-off don’t have to write the application essay. They have rolling admissions, and don’t set a higher bar for out of state applicants.</p>

<p>From our high school, Santa Clara has been more of a B+ school. In terms of ease of admissions (from S’s school) Seattle U easier than Puget Sound, which is easier than Willamette, which is easier than Lewis & Clark. Not that many data points, though.
Many B students have gotten into Loyola Marymount.
B/B- students have gotten into Whittier.</p>

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<p>I’m looking for some advice. My son’s top choice school has nonbinding ED. His GPA is low for the school, but his test scores are on par. They admit a lot of the ED kids but not all. The school also gives all the FA info before you have to committ in Jan. I’m wondering if he should apply ED or wait to see if he gets good grades the first term? I believe that he also adds some geographic diversity so maybe that could help. They have an Open House in Sept that we will probably attend just to see the school while it’s in session.</p>

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<p>GCMom, I believe it was in January that this ocurred. Maybe in the fall it would be busier and it would take longer than a week.</p>

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<p>warriorboy, when does your first term end, and when is the ED deadline? I believe in most cases the ED deadline is for the student to get their part of the app in. Some schools may hold up on making the decision until they get a transcript with the first term grades. In our case, D’s EA deadlines are 11/1, but her first quarter ends 11/6, with report cards (and I assume transcripts) avail on 11/17.</p>

<p>Wait, now that I think about it… I was going to have the school wait and send the transcript on the Nov 17th. But maybe we’re supposed to send a transcript before 11/1 that just goes thru the end of junior year and send a follow-up on the 17th… ugh, another question for the GC! Or maybe I’ll have D email her top few school admissions depts and ask them.</p>

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<p>thanks, SLUmom!</p>

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<p>Lafalum,</p>

<p>At our school, once you apply to a college they send a transcript, and then automatically send quarterly grades as they become available.</p>

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<p>They don’t list an average GPA on the school profile, but the transcript will say what the child’s rank is. (Based on the weighted GPA.)</p>

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<p>Profile lists unweighted GPA ranges and % within those GPA’s but only for junior year: overall GPA is not calculated, nor is rank…avg GPA junior year for class of 2009 was 3.0-3.24 based on the percentages listed…</p>