Parents of the HS Class of 2013 - 3.0 to 3.3 GPA

<p>UNC-Asheville and -W are on DS’s list. Not sure how this kid got so locked into NC schools, but we’re only a state away. UNC-W gets a fair amount of interest from our area; I like the liberal arts concept of UNC-Asheville. The other UNC campuses (well–except Chapel Hill!) don’t have as much buzz, at least not where we are.</p>

<p>@LB, I will use some stereotyping just to paint a picture of WW. This was a very liberal school! There are lots of hippies, many urban hipster/artsy kids (more like my daughter), but also just some mainstream looking students. This was actually one of my concerns going to visit. I heard it was a “hippie school” and my daughter really isn’t one. She is more the artsy type. However, WW was more of a mix of students then what I guess I was expecting, which for us was a good thing. </p>

<p>@GC, my older son considered UNC Asheville (and applied to Chapel Hill). It’s gone from a 3.8 to a 4.0 GPA avg. in the past couple years, so not an option for my D. I think Greensboro and Charlotte are possibilities for the 3.0-3.3 students (?). I have also heard that students in the 2.5-3.0 range often head to Eastern Carolina U. </p>

<p>As for summer visits, I regret doing this with both of my older two kids. I took my oldest son to see Chapel Hill, Oberlin, Denison, Duke, and Brown all during the summers (we did do some fall and spring tours though). I also took my D to see Earlham and Hiram during the summer last year. It’s just not the same when the students aren’t there in session. I know that it’s not always easy to fit in the spring/fall visits (I have two elementary age children too), but I just don’t recommend a summer visit. </p>

<p>I say this because…my son feels a sense of regret over his college decision. I do feel that if he had seen the students on each campus, that he would have had a clearer view of each school. Also, we didn’t do a formal tour at Oberlin and that’s been just a regret of mine. The other thing I will tell you now (in hindsight), from “learning the hard way”, is that if your kid is unsure during decision time btw. two or three schools, do go visit AGAIN. I could not get my son to go back to visit any of them! (Denison would have paid his way even). He made his choice based on what I think he felt was the “better school” and not necessarily where he would be happy. I have had an epiphany of sorts —I am looking for a school where my D will be happy first and foremost. I know that it’s about the education obviously, but for me, I also want a school where she will feel a sense of belonging. It’s really their decision, but they can only make a truly educated decision for themselves with all the information. Not seeing the students on the campus during visits is a disadvantage in the end --at least for an 18 year old kid, making an 18 year old decision. </p>

<p>If my D doesn’t get accepted to WW ED), then we will revisit Hiram and Earlham while in session! :)</p>

<p>@ LB, I forgot to answer your question! One of my sister’s best friends went to Warren Wilson, so I’ve known about this school for years. I would compare it to Evergreen, Earlham, Goucher, Hampshire, Bard types of schools. I know it’s in the Best 376 Colleges and in Fiske Guide, but it doesn’t rank very high in USNWR. I think in the #170’s for LAC’s, 1st tier.
I will try to get the Guilford report done later tonight, because this school is actually much more mainstream than WW. It may be a better “fit” for your S. It’s a really nice school and has a mix of students, but mostly just your average mainstream kids. I loved Guilford too and think it’s a great option for our 3.0-3.3 kids!</p>

<p>Thanks, JKIW…i guess I won’t be adding Asheville to the list, but maybe we’ll look into Wilmington. </p>

<p>Looking forward to hearing about Guilford!</p>

<p>That happy aspect is so important. When we went to my son’s orientation at Roanoke the Dean spoke to us parents about how the college realized the direct relationship between academic achievement and emotional happiness or comfort. To that end, they strove to do everything they could to integrate the freshman into their dorm life, the college and the community. Lot’s of colleges do that with solid first year programs, which is something else to ask about. Great WW review!</p>

<p>To those of you looking at public schools in NC - Appalachian State in Boone is fantastic, and is a very popular choice among NC students. A lot of kids in my area of Virginia also go there.</p>

<p>Again, JKIW–can I just send you our list and you visit and send more of these wonderful reports? ;)</p>

<p>I can sort of tell from what I’ve read from various sources that Guilford kids are probably more in line with DS, but I’m thinking since we’ll likely visit the Asheville/Boone area in the fall we might as well have a peak at WW.</p>

<p>GCmom–I really wouldn’t drop UNC-A from the list based <em>solely</em> on GPA. My first two did not have great GPAs (I’m sure nowhere near what the admitted students average was) but did have pretty good SATs and that can really make up for a lot. They both did really well with admissions–only one flat-out rejection each and merit aid from many schools.</p>

<p>To all first-timers, I also recommend a second visit if your S/D is still undecided in the late spring. DS#1 re-visited his first and second choices in early April his senior year and came away with a clear preference; DS#2 re-visited two schools in late March of his senior year and that cemented it for him. And both put a <em>lot</em> of stock in the kids who were walking around campus–it was either a group of kids he thought he’d fit in well with or not. Both have stayed at the schools they started out at.</p>

<p>And while we seem to be all over the NC schools, DS will also apply to Appy State (reasonable OOS costs and kids seem to really like it there) and Wofford (in SC but not far from NC) based on his counselor’s recommendation.</p>

<p>Great timing mamaduck! Would love to hear any thoughts/impressions of Appalachian State. As I said, we’ve heard very good things about it.</p>

<p>Appalachian State-yes, thank you for the reminder there. Definitely one to check out. </p>

<p>And OK, maybe we don’t have to remove UNC-A right away based on GPA. We’ll check it out…thanks!</p>

<p>Oh, yeah, Appalachian State! Good suggestion. </p>

<p>Here’s the Common Data Sets for UNC Asheville for this year. Still may be worth a shot for some of your kids, but my D’s stats put her within only about 2% that were accepted. UNC Asheville is another good option for some though.</p>

<p><a href=“Log In ‹ UNC Asheville — WordPress”>Log In ‹ UNC Asheville — WordPress;

<p>@ heavylidded, thanks for the Earlham report. Earlham will remain at top of my D’s list of RD schools if she doesn’t get into WW ED. I really love the faculty at Earlham --they are SO available to the students. There is also more diversity at Earlham than Warren Wilson. That was noticeable. I know WW is working on that aspect.</p>

<p>@LB, what is your S’s list? I may have very well visited all of them, lol!</p>

<p>jkiw–so far I’ve sent two to Ohio but this kid swears he wants to go south; hence all of the NC/SC schools (we are in VA). He’ll throw in a couple of apps out west just for fun–how would you like a trip to Montana?? :)</p>

<p>Glad to see App State mentioned here–my 2012 D will be attending in the fall. Slightly below 3.0 but very good standardized test scores–OOS costs deemed very reasonable
by our family. She really likes the outdoor aspects and enjoyed the opportunity to speak
with dept heads and professors during an open house last fall. Never did an overnight and
didn’t particularly care for the dorm we toured but in the end decided it is the school for her. </p>

<p>When we did our tours, I felt like the students were overall pretty content there although it’s impossible to tell just walking through a group. Campus had a smaller feel to it than enrollment might suggest so kind of getting the advantages of both larger and smaller environments. She will be living in an LLC (living/learning community) so will have an immediate group with which to identify. As far as we know, no one else from high school
is attending so she’ll go in cold. </p>

<p>I also have a 2014 S who also falls into the 3.0> gpa pool so will be hanging out here next year too and will be glad to share impressions/experiences as App State becomes more familiar to the family.</p>

<p>Hi all. Been following this thread. My S2 fit it during h.s. so it’s been interesting reading. S2 is now a senior graduating from East Carolina University this weekend. My family are all lifelong NC residents and products of NC universities. S1 and DH graduated from NC State University. I split my college career between ECU and UNC Charlotte. I’m pretty familiar with the NC schools/areas both private and public. I’d be happy to answer questions of I can be of any help.</p>

<p>I’m an App State alum- both undergrad and grad. It has been decades, but I loved my years at App and feel it was a quality education. The school’s reputation has grown along with the campus. Weather is not typical Southern. When I questioned my D about her desire to go to school in cold Chicago, she reminded me that I went to App. Not quite the same - Boone is about 10 degrees warmer than Chicago in January (highs of 39 instead of 29), but I’d bet the wind is comparable. We used to joke that it never snows vertically in Boone. Asheville is warmer than Boone (Jan highs average 48 in Asheville). We spent many evenings on the ski slopes (icy) and spring and fall on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Students back in the day were very friendly and down to earth - I don’t know if that still holds true. My nephew (NC native) wanted to go to App but was denied - he reports that it’s very popular among his friends. My niece goes to UNC-Chapel Hill, but has said she would have been happy at App and visits there often.</p>

<p>TERRIBLE SOPHOMORE YEAR! D had undiagnosed depression and ADHD until about 2 months ago. Grades were in freefall. She is an honors/AP student who will be lucky to scrape a 2.8 uw by the end of the year…worst grades Alg 2 hons & Physics hons. Medication is helping and her grades have improved significantly for the last marking period but the damage is done. GPA at the end of 9th grade was 3.2 ish uw/3.6 ish w. PSAT scores this fall 174 (no prep at all). D was always a good student but disorganized…and got worse as workload increased. She is a good kid, strong volunteer ec, plays an unusual sport on a great hs team (but not recruitable). Wants to apply to studio art programs. She will do 2 APS next year, we are not sure yet about honors or college prep in math/science. Our instinct is that she would benefit from taking a gap year before applying to college/art school. She hopes to continue on an upward swing Junior & Senior Year based on how she is performing this marking period and thinks her cum. GPA both uw and weighted will look much stronger if she applies in the fall after senior year. She will do 2 or 3 SAT subject tests and probably will end up with 6 to 7 APS (but not math or science). She’ll probably have a very high SAT CR score…who knows with math & writing. ALL ADVICE WELCOME!! I know that this thread is for parents of current juniors but we just would love any suggestions/advice. Our GC is useless.</p>

<p>Jackman, I hope that your dd is doing better and that things continue to improve for her. Colleges are not insensitive to health problems and if she is doing well now, that’s most important. You will need to submit a one page supplement with her applications explaining the circumstances if you want the adcom to see the whole picture. Do you have a 504 Or IEP? Her disability case manager can assist with the supplement.
If your dd is open to it, a gap year, or a 5th yearhigh school program could help, provided that your dd uses that year in a way that is positive for her. Another option is cc and then transfer, which is what my friend’s son did in a similar situation. He is now thriving in a great school and the cc time allowed him to better identify interests and find the right school.</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>

<p>@jackman, are you certain that the damage is done? Many school districts (if she’s in public school) will allow her to retake courses during the summer and often drop the lower grade from her transcript. Ours does this and the lower grade is gone forever after the student writes a petition to the school district office. Her counselor can help her do this if this is an option in your area. If it’s an option, then get her registered for a summer course or two right away. Plan B, sometimes community colleges have a dual enrollment agreement and you can transfer the credit (ours offers US History, Govt., Calc. etc…ALL transferable as dual enrollment HS credit/cc credit!). Talk to her HS counselor right away and get all her options confirmed at least. </p>

<p>I also agree with annie, get an evaluation done now and start the IEP process which can take many months to get in place --starting now is the best thing you can do for her. </p>

<p>Gap year? Maybe…it’s just too soon to tell. Your D has another year until the SAT’s and subject tests. You may want to start deciding now whether her course load choices are just too much. Sometimes it’s better to take less AP’s and “protect the GPA”…every kid is different and it’s better not to push her if she’s just not capable. Do not continue “as planned” if this isn’t working in other words. I had to come to that conclusion with my own D and it’s not easy to accept initially. There are many good options though, so read through this entire thread when you have time!</p>

<p>Oh, shoot, I just saw that you said your GC is useless! Okay, this is going to complicate matters a bit :(. Hmm…you may need to do this research on your own. Look up the dual enrollment through your local cc for summer coursework. It took me only one day to set this up for my D --a placement test and a couple forms is generally all that’s needed. Then go to your school district website and search under “make up work” and “summer school” to see what’s available. Call the person in charge of this program and speak directly with them about the options to drop grades from transcript after work is completed. We had a useless counselor at both my older kids’ schools. Kind of part of the reason I found CC in 2007, lol!</p>

<p>jackman–there are 1000’s of colleges where your DD can get into and if she upward trends junior and senior year along with getting good test scores she will be very attractive to almost every college out there. It’s frustrating when you see kids with huge potential not getting the grades you think they should but she has time to correct that. Also, writing an essay about her late ADHD diagnosis and how she overcame that could help tremendously in the selection process. Sure, it’s going to be next to impossible to get into HYP, etc. but then again, friend’s DD with 35 ACT, 2380 SAT, 4.0 graduating #1 didn’t get into any of the Ivy’s she applied to either.</p>

<p>Does anyone here have any info about U Mary Washington? DD has been looking at it and talked with an adcom at a recent college fair. They’re pretty affordable for us, so they could be a good financial safety, but I’m not sure how strong their academic programs are - especially sciences.</p>

<p>We are just an hour from U of Mary Washington and toured it last summer. The campus is really lovely and historic. I know that their website doesn’t do it justice at all and I should have taken some photos. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming at UMW! We walked by a game of ultimate frisbee in their quad and my daughter plays, so her first impressions were very good. However, the draw back for us was when we saw their art department and music department buildings which were very poorly maintained. Every other building on the campus was clean and well maintained…but the art department pillars had paint literally peeling off of them. It wasn’t that we were so picky (many art departments are messy inside), but it left us with the impression that this school wasn’t even remotely interested in providing a nice facility for their art majors. It was crossed off her list after this visit. However, there are plenty of strong programs at UMW and it’s worth a visit. I have a friend who’s son turned down Virginia Tech last year for U Mary Washington. His older brother had already gone to UMW and loved it! It really is a beautiful campus. I wish I had more info on their science programs for you.</p>

<p>@mamaduck, I’m kicking myself for not stopping to see App State while in NC. I think my D has already made up her mind about applying ED to Warren Wilson, but App. State seems to be a good fit and it’s an affordable school. I’ve only heard good things about this school --great one to add to this thread. </p>

<p>Guilford visit report…</p>

<p>We had a 10:30 a.m. visit on Sat. scheduled for Guilford. I wish it had been a weekday, but I still felt as though we got a lot out of this visit regardless. Their semester was ending, so some students had headed home after they finished exams, but the majority were still there on campus we were told. It was of course somewhat quiet since many were sleeping in after exams (and Friday night probably celebrating the end of those exams). By the end of our tour though, there were more students walking around on campus (we left around 1:00 p.m.).</p>

<p>The area around Guilford is busy roads of typical fast food chains, a Starbucks, grocery stores, etc. Oddly, even with Guilford right near this intersection of two lane traffic, once we were actually on the campus, we completely forgot! It felt quiet and peaceful immediately. This campus is SO well landscaped and maintained. I was really impressed and have to admit that I didn’t expect it to be so nice of a campus. It was lush, green, and flowers were blooming. The buildings were all cohesively alike --traditional brick with the large white pillars. It was really a lovely school.</p>

<p>The students were also very friendly at this school. While were were waiting for our tour, some students stopped by the admissions office to say “hi” to their friend who was working the front desk (and chatted about the end of exams :). The other thing that struck us was the diversity of this campus. Lots of mainstream looking kids, but some with dread locks and more artsy. And the racial diversity was especially nice to see. It seemed to be a school for everyone and had a very inclusive feeling. </p>

<p>Their brand new science building was impressive. The lab facilities stood out and they built a Planetarium within it(!). Our tour guide told us that sometimes they showed movies on it’s ceiling, lol! They also had a student run coffee shop where students could come for casual performances of all sorts (poetry readings, music, etc.). There was a Special Olympics event going on during our tour in their gym and it seemed to have a lot of student involvement. This is a school where everyone seems to be involved in something. Guilford has a great vibe. </p>

<p>The dining hall! :). Probably one of the best dining halls I’ve ever been in. Our guide told us that they used to have a contract with a company that supplied them with very poor food. But…once that contract expired a couple years ago, the students were very involved in the choosing of their new catering supplier! They picked VERY well. Brunch was being offered at the time, and they had a make-to-order omelette station, a make-your own waffle station (guide said you can make a waffle any time of day, lol), and the entire spread looked like something offered at a country club (eggs, bacon, sausage, oatmeal, home style potatoes). The salad bar had some of the freshest looking offerings I’ve seen. It wasn’t just what they were offering, but the presentation was noticeably different from other schools (garnishes, lettuce beds, etc. --more like it was catered than dining hall food). </p>

<p>In addition, there is a cafe downstairs where the students can order smoothies, milkshakes, or paninis (nice during hours where the dining hall is closed). They can put in an order online and even have it delivered to their dorm, lol! The guide said that it’s nice to have as an option when you are sick or are very busy studying for exams. </p>

<p>The library was beautiful! They still maintain the original library, but only for historic preservation. They have built on an extension to the original library on the back and it’s very modern, very clean, and well stocked. It also included an art gallery. Just like Warren Wilson, they have a consortium for holdings and students can request books and journals from nearby colleges. Guilford is a great option for our kids! Loved this school too and have been telling friends all about it since.</p>