<p>Have you checked out the B+ student thread on CC? <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/553940-b-student-parents-thread%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/553940-b-student-parents-thread</a>
BTW I would forget Eastern New Mexico as suggested below.</p>
<p>I have come to this thread late, but noticed that the OP had asked if anybody knows anything about West Virginia. My son will be going to WVU next year. We visited as a family, he went back for an overnight on his own, and I had numerous conversations with various people, so should be able to answer questions on WVU. </p>
<p>I realize it is not popular with most cc parents for a wide variety of reasons, but we believe it will be a great fit for our son. He had a 3.66 weighted (3.1 unweighted GPA) and 1210 math/CR score (26th percentile of the class), but WVU routinely accepts students with less than 1000 SAT and GPAs in the bottom of the class, so acceptance for your son at WVU would not be a question. Our son was accepted to WVU in September and had no interest in applying anywhere else. </p>
<p>He is extremely excited about going next year and we fully expect him to get an excellent education. He will be majoring in biometric systems engineering, which has some similarity to his brother's system engineering major at UVA. He expects to have to work extremely hard. WVU "sorts" students in engineering, so he won't be taking classes with students who had less than a 3.0 unweighted GPA in high school. There is mandatory study hall for any engineering student with less than a 3.5 GPA in college, which I assume will be just about all of them. They have a 75% retention rate for freshman in engineering, compared to a 50% rate at UVA. I believe this is because they know they are accepting students who need a little extra handholding and they deliver that support, despite the fact that they are a large school. </p>
<p>Although I'm not as familiar with the majors outside of engineering, WVU offers an Exercise and Sports Psychology major that your son might find interesting.</p>
<p>Good for WVU. I've read about how some of the top football and basketball colleges have special study support for their athletes, and found myself wondering why schools didn't offer that support to other students who might need it. It sounds like WVU engineering offers that support. What a great program!</p>
<p>Lotta, I sent you a PM. I have a son who is at WVU as a freshman and might be able to answer any questions you or the analyst have.</p>
<p>OP-Have you looked at Paul Smith's College up near Saranac Lake (northern Adirondacks)? That school changed the lives of many students I know who were moderate achievers in high school. It's not horribly expensive, and it has very interesting majors (forestry, fishing and wildlife, culinary arts, hospitality...). It is in a very lovely setting.</p>
<p>I also second the thought of community colleges with dorms. I know a few kids at Genesee Community College (western NY), and they love it.</p>