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

<p>Joisymom… I don’t know if you can answer this but did you get any kind of impression of the theater and vocal music program at Gettysburg? My DS14 wants a thriving theater program and also wants to major in physics. I have a friend whose daughter is at Gettysburg and LOVES it.</p>

<p>Both the music and theatre programs at Gettysburg are strong.</p>

<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>

<p>D1 just graduated from Lafayette. I would say that chance of admission for a B-B+ student is generally limited unless the student has strong test scores and is on an upward trajectory. D2 will begin classes at Franklin & Marshall in August. She was not the academic star that her sister was. Through sophomore year she was a B+ student which is how I originally discovered this thread. Although she came on strong the past 2 years her stats wouldn’t blow anybody away, which is why she applied SAT optional. F&M was impressed with her interviews, teacher recommendations, rigorous course selection, supplemental materials and leadership. I expect F&M will be an academic challenge but D2 has usually responded better when challenged than when things are made easy.</p>

<p>5boys - The dog ate my notes. I’m serious. But I do remember (because my d is interested in participating in theater) that non-major often participate in productions.</p>

<p>5boys - also remember that there is a music conservatory and that many students participate in music programs.</p>

<p>Thanks Joisymom and Kat :-))</p>

<p>I thought they might have a music conservatory because my friends daughter was a fantastic musician and singer. My DS thinks he wants a urban/city location but I am just not sure. He is considering trying out for some BFA and also BA type acting programs but because he loves physics he is still on the fence about that. I think he would thrive in a small LAC with a strong theater and music program where he would also be able to take physics classes. He has a LD and a definite learn by doing type. I just finished with my 2012 DS, and he ended up at a perfect school for him… but unfortunately my DS 14 does not share 1 school the same as his brothers so we will have to start all over again with a totally different list.</p>

<p>I am trying to steer him away from the audition based acting schools, but theater is his passion… not MT, although he can sing, and would absolutely love a capella. I knew that he was going to be a tough one.</p>

<p>No tests scores yet… and god only knows what those will look like., and around a 3.3 GPA. but he is only a rising Junior. So far he has Oberlin, Oxy, BU, Kenyon, Lawrence, Skidmore, Muhlenberg, Carnegie Mellon, Vassar and Elon as possibles. We will readjust as 11th grade grades are in and testing is done.Will definitely check out Gettysburg though.</p>

<p>Look at Green Mountain College in Vermont. My friend’s son sounds just like your son in that he is very bright and loves the outdoors but a traditional classroom setting was not for him.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info on Dickinson, F&M, Lafayette and Gettysburg. Naviance has no info on students from DS high school, no one has applied since at least 2008. DH told my son this morning that Hamilton was out of his reach and we wouldn’t be visiting (not very tactful of him), DS was a little insulted but OK with it. I told him he needs to narrow his list because we can’t visit all of them and that he should check out their websites carefully. He informed me that the websites were carefully orchestrated “Sales Pitches” and that he needed to SEE the schools.</p>

<p>bsgetdegrees
The summer course you describe sounds intense but if your son is up for it I’d have him do it, then he would be on track to take Calculus his senior year.</p>

<p>Rubytuesday- you could also check out Siena College (Albany area). Definitely less competitive to get in and they were generous with FA for my D in the 2011 season. When we went to accepted students day it was nice to hear about the support they give students (and parents). Not sure I would call the dean to find out if my student was going to class or was making friends, but some folks liked that this presents a bit of a soft landing for students that need it (certainly not all).</p>

<p>Would anyone be willing to check out Juniata on Naviance and tell me how low the accepted GPA goes at your h.s.? I know it will vary school to school but the the only applicants from my d’s school were high GPA and I don’t want to visit another reach school. We have enough of those! Please let me know if the GPA is weighted or not. Thanks!</p>

<p>Juniata: average accepted 3.85w, 3.27uw, SAT 1900, ACT 29-- from a suburban public</p>

<p>Sorry Joisymom-nothing on Juniata from my son’s school.
Kinderny I checked out Sienna and it looks like something my son would definitely like.
Has any one looked at Hartwick? They are also supposed to be generous with aid.</p>

<p>Thanks 2college but could I trouble you for the low end accepted GPA’s? Averages can be so misleading!</p>

<p>There is only one outlier: one student with a 2.5 uw, 850 SAT was accepted. Other than that student, every kid with a gpa of 3.0 or above unweighted/ 3.5 weighted or SAT above 1800 was accepted. One student was accepted with just under a 3.0 gpa but had SAT scores around 2200.</p>

<p>Thanks so much! That green lights Juniata!</p>

<p>@joisymom… My S and I researched Juniata and everything about it looks fantastic. He also took a serious look at Allegheny in PA, which is another fantastic school that takes B students. I think they both give great merit aid too. Allegheny has the pre- FA form that you can fill out and send it in and they will give you a good estimate of how much FA and merit they will give you… I think a little more detailed than the net cost estimators. They were going to give my S almost a full ride with merit and need based aid awards. But, in the end he fell for a few other schools harder and we just didn’t have time to visit so many schools, as we live in CA and it was just too expensive to fly across country all the time.</p>

<p>Joisymom,</p>

<p>At my S’s school, a NYC public, there have been 13 apps to Juniata that show on Naviance. The lowest accepted GPA is 2.5, with SAT’s just above 1200 on the 1600 scale. The lowest SAT was about a 900 with a 3.25 GPA. I can’t tell what year these students applied. Interesting! </p>

<p>This was a fun assignment!</p>

<p>@Ruby Tuesday - another upstate NY school worth considering if you are looking at St Lawrence is Clarkson University. DS applied to their early college program and they were very generous with financial aid. The school emphasizes internships and real world experience as part of a college education, so it would be good for a student who doesn’t want the ivory tower experience. The school is known for engineering, but has strong departments in communications and many students either major or minor in the latter. We were looking at humanities and liked how small the classes were and thought the professors would be good teachers.</p>

<p>I highly recommend reading Colleges That Change Lives by Loren Pope. Many of the schools discussed recently are in the book (Juniata, Allegh) . It gives a more in-depth look than the Barons or Peterson’s guides.</p>

<p>There is also a website, but that does not provide the in-depth look of the book.</p>

<p>Many of the schools do provide merit - I’d go as far to say “tuition discounting” at some.</p>