New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread

<p>I’m not sure if there is tough grading or if there are just a lot of kids goofing off!!!</p>

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<p>While Naviance may be a flawed system, it does provide real data about how students from your school have fared when applying to a specific school. Clearly the GPA of accepted applicants provided by a college to US News Reports is an average of a broad range of schools with very different methods of calculating GPAs and academic standards – and of course will also include athletes, legacies and the rest.</p>

<p>Whether the standard for admission will vary hugely from one year to the next for a given school is hard to predict. As indicated in the thread on application growth, some schools this year had big increases, others did not; some saw a rise in early action applicants and not for students applying regular decision.</p>

<p>If your student’s stats are in the ballpark, do not be dissuaded from applying to a school based on gloom and doom prognostications from admissions offices and the media. Just be sure to have a broad list and APPLY EARLY to schools with rolling admissions.</p>

<p>In addition, one shouldn’t underestimate the value of applying outside of one’s geographical area. Maybe this is more true for private schools than public, but if you live outside the area that draws the majority of applicants and students to a school, your student may well gain admission where a local student is denied.</p>

<p>This is a great thread for CC’s own version of a URM! Since my son has already made his decision and the information may help other kids/parents, I’ll share detailed gpa, scores, applications and decisions.</p>

<p>S has a UC gpa of 3.1 (UC weighted). UW it was probably 2.9, he’ll have 5 AP’s at graduation and numerous honors, but had a D in HChem (which he’s retaking now) that showed on his soph/junior grades. His SAT was 1960, ACT 31, and we only submitted the ACT except for UC schools. Some work experience, minimal EC’s, decent teacher rec and essays, but not outstanding. </p>

<p>Here are the results:</p>

<p>UCD/UCSB - rejected
UCSC - accepted
Sonoma - accepted
CSU Monterey Bay - accepted
Clark University - rejected
Lewis & Clark - waitlisted
Willamette - rejected
Goucher - deferred then accepted
Ursinus - accepted w/grant $$
DePaul - accepted
Marquette - accepted with merit $$ (ATTENDING!!)
Ripon - accepted with merit $$
Cornell College - accepted with merit $$</p>

<p>Hope this helps the next group of kids. I do think uneven stats require a much wider net be cast. Also, S initially thought he wanted a small LAC, but after visits, Marquette, at 8,000 UG, seemed like the right size. Visit a variety of sizes, urban/rural, etc.</p>

<p>cpeltz…your info is really helpful for me since my son also has an uneven profile (3.2 weighted, which included some honors which are weighted one grade higher, so maybe a 3.0 unweighted without the fluff classes like gym/band, 1980 SAT single sitting/2060 SAT superscored, 30 ACT…no Ds but a C in honors chem last year and a C plus in honors English freshman year.) Unfortunately, though, we are on the east coast and he wants big schools, so your list probably won’t overlap with his interests. I wish he had applied to some bigger schools so I could see how he did…lol!!</p>

<p>I’m also struggling with whether we are supposed to send all scores…the ACT and the SAT…does it help to send more?</p>

<p>The way things are going I may have to start a new thread with lower GPA range. S started off his HS career with an A-/B+ average. Now at the end of his sophomore year we are in that 3 - 3.3 range. Exceptional test taker and will probably end up with SAT’s in the 2100 to 2300 range. Of course with those test scores I imagine a lot of schools will say there is a kid who can but doesn’t. I hate to see him blow chances for good merit money at decent schools because he won’t, but DH and I don’t know what to do. If he was one of my employees I would have put him on notice. Right now we are back to reviewing homework with him to ensure he is doing what is assigned, the way it is assigned and making sure he has studied for tests and quizes. S is taking the hardest course load available at his school, but I think no matter what his performance would be the same. </p>

<p>H feels this is due to his montessori elementary schooling where S was not graded. I think it is due to S being immature and ummotivated. He loves to learn and gets real excited about participating in heated dicsussions at school. But, he doesn’t really care about grades. He is a great kid but drives me crazy with his underperformance.</p>

<p>Like many we lost a lot of his college fund when the stock market took a dive, so it would be nice if S could get some merit money at a school he would love to attend.</p>

<p>mamom…I’m not sure what I would have done differently with my son. We were (and are) very hands off, but there are gobs of parents in my town that are literally writing papers for their kids, sitting with them every night to keep them organized, and checking the teacher websites so that their kid doesn’t miss anything. My son has a good friend whose mom did all of his note cards for him!</p>

<p>I guess maybe I could have spent some time on the websites seeing what was due and reminding my son to get it done. (He definitely missed handing in things.) So I guess I wish we had paid a little more attention. Then again, he’s doing okay (not as well as he could have, but okay) with no intervention, which to me means he’ll be able to go off to college and function. I do wonder about some of those other kids! (Then, of course, there are kids that are extremely self-motivated, so I’m excluding them from this discussion…I’m merely talking about the kids who didn’t do what they were capable of doing.) Now that he’s gotten his wake-up call (from visiting colleges he may not get into), he has suddenly improved his work habits, but it’s kind of too late given that it’s last quarter junior year. </p>

<p>So maybe my one suggestion would be to take your son on some college visits this year instead of next. I never would have guessed that it would be such a catalyst for us.</p>

<p>My son, now rising College Senior (wow, first time I’ve written that!) was a B student in HS, 1200 SAT (not including writing) had Eagle Scout hook, and 3 AP’s. He was accepted at Millersville State University of PA, Allegheny College, York College, Principia College (in IL), Champlain College, Towson University and Roanoke College. He chose Roanoke and was offered substantial merit aid there. Seems like there was another College too, but I can’t remember.</p>

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<p>Hampshire College might be a prefect fit. Students receive evaluations in lieu of grades</p>

<p>~ 33% of enrolled students had < than a 3.25 gpa. Albeit SATs/ ACTs are in the upper percentiles.`</p>

<p>Of interest: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hampshire-college/672844-hampshire-college-no-grading-question.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hampshire-college/672844-hampshire-college-no-grading-question.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>My good friend’s D falls into this category. She had a 3.0, no honors or AP courses, and an ACT composite in the low 20’s. She’s going to Eckerd and is incredibly excited about it. She also got into Salve Regina, Marist, Florida Southern, Stetson, Rollins, Guilford and several others that I can’t remember. Many gave her merit aid. </p>

<p>A couple people have mentioned University of Scranton. I went there, albeit a long time ago, but the campus and city have only improved since I attended. I happened to be an A student, but there was a good academic mix - plenty of smart kids, plenty of average kids, and some below average kids. I’m not sure exactly what it is about the place that makes it so appealing. When I decided to go there my parents were totally puzzled as to what I saw in it, but once I got there I loved it. There’s some intangible factor - almost everyone I know who went there was really happy. It is also very successful in putting kids into law school and medical school.</p>

<p>Great idea for a thread. Thank you!!</p>

<p>Ready to Roll,
While I am not going to start doing his work for him we are at the point where we are checking his work to ensure it is done and done correctly. I really feel he should be at a point where I don’t have to do this, but he isn’t. It kills me. </p>

<p>He would love to go to BC, but will never get in with his grades. </p>

<p>Crewdat - He just got a post card from Hampshire College! Will have to take a closer look. </p>

<p>Great thread. We are taking a 3 week RV trip to Michigan, Wisconsin and Il in June. I will have to check out some schools there.</p>

<p>Hampshire College is good for a certain kind of kid, but I think to make it work at all a child must be incredibly self-motivated. Otherwise, you can really spend a lot of money for absolutely nothing. I took several courses at Hampshire during my time in the Five Colleges, and this is the result:
1 political science class: excellent, lively
1 music appreciation course: We listened to classical music. That’s it! No papers, no nothing. Everyone took turns talking about one composer they liked. I talked about my composer (not that I knew anything technical about WHY he was good), someone else said he sucked, and that was it.
1 science class: It was called, I kid you not, Razor Blades, Rubber Bands, and Chewing Gum. We made Bearnaise sauce and wrecked it; I wrote a paper about the nature of time. It made physics for poets look positively Einsteinian. </p>

<p>In short, I think I’d rather let my kid go to Homeschool University and wreck sauces and listen to music in my own damn house than spend $200,000 on that kind of nonsense!</p>

<p>Above all, I am struck by how so many of the parents on this thread–Bassdad, Kitty and many more–are so much more helpful and well informed on this subject than the overwhelming majority of both books and high school guidance counselors.</p>

<p>Although, because this thread is not limited by geography, we all have to wade through many posts helpful only to those who live far away from our personal target areas, it is a great contribution–for example, Scranton, which many people have praised, is not even listed on CC.</p>

<p>Bassdad, I am interested in how your son’s decisionmaking process worked, as I am looking at all those schools.</p>

<p>Finally, some PA/NJ schools that I have heard good things about from graduates (some mentioned already) are Bloomsburg, Caldwell, Juniata, Montclair State, Scranton, Lycoming, Stroudsburg, York, Hobart and Fairleigh Dickinson.</p>

<p>yabeyabe2, Susquehanna had some major advantages in his mind from the beginning. First of all, he had gone there for a one-week summer program at the business school between junior and senior year in high school. He had a great time and wound up working on a couple of projects that impressed the teachers. Second, both his mother and his uncle went there and he has heard good things about the school from both of them. Third, he is interested in playing guitar and writing his own songs (as a hobby, not an academic major or minor) and SU has a pretty good music department including a guitar teacher who plays the kind of music that he likes.</p>

<p>One of the advantages of being a legacy candidate there is that you can apply with the Early Decision pool and get a decision by early December, without having to commit to attend if accepted. That puts you at the head of the line for financial aid and housing choices. He still applied to all the other schools, because we did not know what the financial aid situation would be like and we wanted to apply on the early side at rolling admissions schools. Once he was accepted by SU, however, it was pretty clear he wanted to go there. Once he knew he had that option, Fairleigh was too close to home, and Albright and Moravian were not quite as interesting (and did not offer as much financial aid). He liked Hartwick for the option of living in one of the cabins by the lake after freshman year, but ultimately thought Susquehanna was the better fit and had a bit stronger academic program.</p>

<p>Results from the field. DS at competitive suburban NYC HS with a 3.2 GPA, including non- core classes. No APs, no honors. handful of C’s. SATs of 1260/1830. No SAT IIs.
In at USF, UNCW, CofC, Chapman, UofA, Arizona, Utampa. Some small merits. Waitlisted than accepted at UMiami, Waitlisted at Tulane. So no rejects at all. The only suprise was Miami. Others on the longer list, but did not apply, which were pretty reasonably sure (matches and safeties) bets were American, James Madison, UScarolina, Rollins, Syracuse</p>

<p>flyaround, seems like he did very nicely! </p>

<p>Re: C of C, how is housing there? Do most students move off campus after freshman or sophomore year? How large are the largest freshman year/core classes? Does one need a car?</p>

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<p>Not surprising at UMiami. It is not the same school that it was 20 (or even 5) years ago. My daughter, last year, graduated with a 3.6 weighted GPA, 1 AP (Psychology), half honors/half regular classes and an 1140/1800 SAT. We did not file a FAFSA or apply for aid. She was outright rejected at U Miami. It is definitely not a B student’s school today. She has just completed her freshman year at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Incidentely, it is a huge but wonderful school for B students with many majors available.</p>

<p>Re flyaround’s son being accepted at Univ of Miami with a 3.2 GPA - the 2008 edition of the Princeton Review shows an average HS GPA for freshmen of 4.04 - one example of why Naviance is so important as a second data point.</p>

<p>We were suprised he was accepted at UMiami. It was the reach school. The only school taken off the list as too high a reach was USC.</p>

<p>OOHHH. I misinterpreted. My bad.</p>