<p>I am new at this. My son is a Sr. this year. We have tried to guide him through high school to prepare him for college and it is approaching fast. We thought he would end up at NY State SUNY college because his grades are average BUT he has taken a PACKED schedule since 9th grade. Here are the stats:</p>
<p>H.S. Average - 83% (high 80s and low 90s in math and science which he loves)
All High school classes have been all AP or COLLEGE CREDIT and he will graduate this year with over a 1/2 semester of college credits. He has had 4 years of Spanish - this year will be a college credit, 4 years of Math, 4 years of science, 4 years English, 4 years of social studies and for electives he has taken extra science classes.</p>
<p>SAT - 1600
BIOLOGY SAT - 710</p>
<p>Extracurricular - Trombone in JAZZ BAND & CONCERT BAND, Piano, Varsity Soccer</p>
<p>Several hours of Community Service Work</p>
<p>He is interested in dual Bachelors degree in PHYSICS & ENGINEERING which may be a 5 year program.</p>
<p>Our school does not weight AP and college classes differently from regents or non regents diplomas for ranking which stinks......kids that take an easier coarse load can have a higher average and class rank.</p>
<p>We figured the only school he could get into with his GPA of 83% would be a state school but this past week we started getting letters from private schools like Hofstra with waiver of application fees. Is it possible he could get into a private school? I don't want to set him up for failure but we are new at this and have no clue if a Private school would actucally accept him.
Any advice greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>When you say “SAT = 1600”, do you mean Critical Reading plus Math? Or are you including the writing score?</p>
<p>There are plenty of private schools who would accept a student like your son, I think. Private does not necessarily equal higher statistics/quality, though. </p>
<p>yes - critical reading and math - cost is always a concern but we will get some financial aid and most likely loans for the rest. I realize private does not mean better but I might have limited his search because I thought his GPA was too low to shoot for a “better” rated school and there are plenty in NY like Rochester Institue of Technology and a few others we might have considered but now it is already fall and we have only set up a visit for one SUNY… Are we getting these letters by chance because he is a Sr. or are they getting some kind of profile on hiim? His larger plan would be further schooling after a four year but I know job opportunities are better coming out of better colleges.</p>
<p>@Desafinado: Cornell’s an ivy, so he probably won’t have a chance with an average that isn’t even an A-.
Also, “(high 80s and low 90s in math and science which he loves)”
If he’s majoring in a mathematics-intensive major, he BETTER get those grades up because colleges, if he puts down an intended major, will look at the courses related to that major, so you would usually need like 95+s in those.
I would take the SAT IIs in Math I and Math II + a few math APs because if a college sees an 800 in the math SATs, they’ll think the problem was with the course, teacher, and/or whatever rather than the student. (Same logic with a 5 on a math AP)</p>
<p>To answer your specific question: the letters you receive are the dead tree equivalent of Internet spam. Colleges buy lists of student names from College Board and do mass mailings. Don’t infer anything from them about your son’s chances at any specific college. My under-3.0 GPA daughter has received at least 5 mailings from UChicago, a school where she would stand no chance (and has no interest in). </p>
<p>Agree that the mailings do not mean anything. But many posters on CC have found that they get as good a financial deal from privates as they do from public colleges. With perfect SATs, it does compensate some for a lower GPA. Try to squeeze in a few visits to other colleges he is interested in, fill out the FAFSA and any other required financial aid info, apply, and see what happens. With his GPA he won’t get into a top tier (ivy or top 20 university/LAC), but you might be surprised at what happens in the mid-tier range of schools.</p>
<p>Thank you for the responses. How do Is the best way to determine mid tier range schools for him in the major he is looking at? Engineering & physics - we are behind the 8 ball…also how do I tell if schools offer merit based scholarships…? I was not joking when I stated I am clueless - I only attended a 2 yr school & just want thebest opportunity for him. again, thanks to everyone that took the time to answer.</p>
<p>You should check out RPI (in-state but big $), Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland at College Park. All have solid reputations in engineering. VT and UM are more reasonable in the $ department.</p>
<p>Go to the thread on guaranteed merit scholarships, and that might help you get started. Also, what is his actual GPA? 3.3? 3.5? It might make a difference.</p>
<p>The SAT is great, but the GPA is going to hurt for top schools.</p>
<p>The problem that I see is that financial aid is often inadequate at the schools that are not the “better schools”.</p>
<p>41Mom…How much can you pay each year?</p>
<p>Have you determined what your EFC will be?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend taking out big loans when a SUNY wouldn’t require those. Even if you borrow $10k per year, that’s $40k by the time your child graduates.</p>
<p>We have gotten very good information from the Fiske Guide to Colleges book. Once you identify some target schools, go to the financial aid portion of the school’s website (often under the “admissions” tab). They usually will tell you if they give any merit aid. Also, if you go to the forums for those colleges here on College Confidential (go to colleges, then you may need to click on the alphabet letter the college starts with to find it), there are often threads discussing merit aid at the schools. </p>
<p>Also, how are his AP test scores? That can be useful if he has done well on those (4/5 scores), another thing that can help compensate for a lower GPA.</p>
<p>Perhaps I am wrong but I think the OP is not aware that the score has three parts. I have trouble believing 1600 for CR+M and an 83% average. I think it’s more likely CR+M+W for the 1600. If that is the case a SUNY is more appropriate and Less Expensive. If the scores are CR+M then Bing would be great.</p>