Noob needs chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi - I am trying to figure out if I am applying to schools within my reach - I have about a 3.5 GPA, but have not taken the ACTs/SATs yet. I have Asperger's and have never done well on standardized tests. I am taking them next month, but if they are anything like my PSAT or PLAN, no one will want me. </p>

<p>Community college is not an option, because I don't drive and it is an hour away, with no public transportation. I live in the country. So it's four-years or nothing, work at the Walmart cleaning toilets, I guess.</p>

<p>I have lots of ECs - all the school band/music things, I play in area youth orchestras, and I volunteer at an historical society. Also I mentor younger kids in the district who are autistic. I want to be a history and music major (or minor depending on the school). The Fairtest colleges don't have a lot of schools with good music programs, and that is something I really want, but I have a couple on there anyway.</p>

<p>I don't think I want to be at <em>too</em> big of a school, and Mom does not want me that far from home, she says maybe 2 hours max. </p>

<p>State colleges now require minimum scores, and the other problem I have with them is that they have lousy services (i.e. tutors and stuff). Also it used to be (according to my parents) that they used to accept kids into music schools before they accepted them into the college, but supposedly that is not the case any more either. That would be a big help, I play well enough to be a music major so that is not a problem, could start as a music major and add the history later. But for now it might have to be the other way.</p>

<p>Anyway, here is my list -- please tell me what you think, any feedback is appreciated!</p>

<p>Goucher
Bryn Athyn
McDaniel<br>
Penn State Berks (or Main Campus - music ? or later)
Rutgers
Susquehanna</p>

<p>Reach: American, Bowdoin, F&M</p>

<p>And:
West Chester State U
Millersville State U
Kutztown State U</p>

<p>I don't really want to go to these three, but my dad taught at a state u for a while, so I get a tuition benefit. </p>

<p>OH and please if you know, also which colleges of these give good need based aid? Because my parents are retired, and have never been able to save much because of all the stuff I needed. Autism therapies are not cheap.</p>

<p>I know Rutgers and Penn State are huge. But Rutgers' music department is all in one area of the campus. Plus they have an Asperger's program. And Bowdoin's on there just because of Joshua Chamberlain. :) </p>

<p>Before you suggest them: I don't like Elizabethtown & Lebanon Valley. Albright doesn't have much of a music program. Some of the ones above might not have one, either, but they had other things I liked.</p>

<p>Are there any I should just scratch? Thanks a lot.</p>

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<p>Oh, I am thinking Peabody and Temple could be on the list, too, although I don’t necessarily want to live in the city. Still, they are an option.</p>

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<p>Hi Kartwheelie,</p>

<p>First, there are many good colleges and universities that do not require SAT/ACT’s and where a 3.5 gpa will be just fine. Here is a link to a complete list: [Optional</a> List | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]Optional”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest) </p>

<p>Second, if I were you, I would post on the Parents Board with a heading like, “college suggestions for a 3.5 student with Aspergers.” I think you’ll get a lot of help there.</p>

<p>Third, it would be good if you would copy your chances post on the LD board where there are many students and parents with relevant experiences.</p>

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<p>Thanks. I actually posted there, to have them come here. I didn’t want to cross post. Should it matter? I do not have learning disabilities, I have Asperger’s. That is different.</p>

<p>As I said, I have read the Fairtest list and there are not that many with music programs, especially not close to me.</p>

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<p>I am not very familiar with schools in the northeast but here is a link to a list of colleges put together by an education consultant that are supposed to be good options for students with Asperger’s; it includes several on your list - Goucher, McDaniel, Temple, Penn State-Univ Pk, as well as several others in Pennsylvania/the northeast.</p>

<p>[Colleges</a> for Students with Asperger’s: The Friendly Ones | InsideCollege.com](<a href=“http://www.insidecollege.com/reno/Colleges-for-Students-with-Aspergers-The-Friendly-Ones/422/list.do]Colleges”>http://www.insidecollege.com/reno/Colleges-for-Students-with-Aspergers-The-Friendly-Ones/422/list.do)</p>

<p>Another school I would add to this list is Mercyhurst College in Erie, which recently began a program for students with Asperger’s:</p>

<p>[Asperger</a> Initiative at Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst College](<a href=“http://www.mercyhurst.edu/learning-differences/asperger-support/]Asperger”>http://www.mercyhurst.edu/learning-differences/asperger-support/)</p>

<p>University of Connecticut also recently started a program for students with Asperger’s</p>

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<p>Hi - Thanks for that first link, that’s one I haven’t seen before.</p>

<p>Erie is 7-8 hours away, so Mercyhurst is out, the parents won’t go for that. It has some good programs, it has archaeology, too - but it’s too far. :/</p>

<p>Sorry I didn’t reply sooner, this thing is supposed to email me when someone responds and it didn’t.</p>

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<p>Kartwheelie, congratulations on facing your issue squarely. I believe you will have a strong chance or a good package from Susquehanna, which is a fine school and excellent in music, although I do not know if it has an Asperger program. </p>

<p>A friend is in the Rutgers program and my sense is that it is not as much as it was advertised to be.</p>

<p>I think Goucher would be a good choice and Mcdaniel as well.</p>

<p>best of luck</p>

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<p>Hi - Thank you - I don’t care if it has an Asperger’s program, as long as I can get note takers, extended time and stuff like that. Teachers talk too fast for me to write, and then having to listen again to a tape is is tough, it is overwhelming. </p>

<p>I went to both Goucher and McDaniel and they were very nice schools, I think they even kind of look alike. I think I like Goucher better of the two. Hopefully they would have money. I don’t think McDaniel has much music, not from what the teachers I talked to said. Which is weird because they have a summer band camp. Goucher has a really cool auditorium, and I think their program is bigger. My dad said that the name on their arts building is also the name on the place the Baltimore Symphony plays. </p>

<p>Took the SATs the other day, they seemed easier than when I took the PSAT. Mom said it’s probably because I have more math than I did when I took the PSATs, that was almost two years ago. </p>

<p>That is a shame about Rutgers, we went and talked to someone there, and he said the program was new. I thought it was strange that they would start by helping you out and then basically just call you on the phone. Those are very expensive phone calls. The thing I didn’t like about Rutgers was that the history department is on the City campus and that place reminds me of Animal House. Plus there were tons of cigarette butts everywhere outside all the buildings we went into (except for Music).</p>

<p>The Pennsylvania state universities don’t have much in the way of services unless you go to Edinboro, which I don’t want to do. West Chester sort of acts like they don’t want people like me. Millersville didn’t seem that way but you just never know.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>