Parents of the HS class of 2015 - 3.0 to 3.3 GPA

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
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<p>kmanshouse,</p>

<p>A few thoughts… </p>

<p>Many of the Minnesota State schools are suit case campuses with many people leaving on the weekend so look at them closely.</p>

<p>University of Nebraska, you would need a 24 ACT to qualify for a scholarship…</p>

<p>With a 24 ACT and 3.0 gpa
Tuition $19,808.00
Fees $1,580.00
Room & Board $9,532.00
Total $30,920.00
Ruth Leverton Scholarship: $9,000.00
1st Year Total : $21,920.00 </p>

<p>U of Wyoming…nice campus with pretty solid programs in writing and wildlife. Small town and cold in winter.</p>

<p>With a 3.3 and 22 ACT, tuition and fees would be about $11,500.</p>

<p>I have a brother with a fish and wildlife degree that has worked in the field for many years although not as an officer. So some thoughts on that field…</p>

<p>Hiring is almost always done from programs within the region. If your son goes to Mississippi State, odds are that he will need to stay down there to get a job. </p>

<p>Jobs are few and very competitive. Your son will likely not be able to spend any summers at home even after frosh year, but will need to get all types of experience in the field. Non-permanent positions after graduating are the norm until you can find a full-time permanent job. </p>

<p>Don’t major in law enforcement as that limits future employment prospects. Major in fish and wildlife biology, that way son can apply for both officer positions and wildlife management type positions. Our state prefers officer candidates to have a degree in fish and wildlife over law enforcement.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the comments. Well aware of the MSEP. The Minny schools, while likely fine, didn’t appeal to us. The only school way up north that hit our list was Northern Michigan, which is clearly VERY cold, but at least in a gorgeous spot. Was hoping to not have to go all the way to North Dakota. UW-Stevens Point is in the MSEP, which is great.</p>

<p>Nebraska is on our longer list - found that Ruth Leverton discount, which is very nice. It’s a decent option for my 2nd son. Thanks.</p>

<p>As for the comments on Wildlife LE - yes, the fisheries and wildlife jobs are extremely difficult, pay little, and require rough working conditions. My 1st son listed is VERY interested in the LE aspect. He attended a youth police academy in a large Illinois city and loved it. </p>

<p>The dept guy at Mississippi State actually said in Wildlife LE specifically, the jobs are much easier, because very few people are going into that specific field nowadays. He said they have a 90% placement rate from that program, in jobs all over the country. Showed me all the business cards of their graduates, many of which were in the PNW. </p>

<p>Of course, he could have been blowing smoke up my butt, but it left us pretty excited about those prospects.</p>

<p>We spoke with a straight wildlife bio professor at Murray State. Awesome guy. Told us incredible stories, but also said you pretty much need a masters, minimum to get gainful employment, doctorate preferred. That turned us and my son off to going that route.</p>

<p>With wildlife LE, he could simply become a cop as well, and go that route if he wants.</p>

<p>Keep the ideas coming! Especially for Son 2!</p>

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<p>Don’t know if any of the schools below has the majors you are looking for but here are the minimum requirements for the merit scholarships consideration.</p>

<p>Saint Louis University-GPA 3.0, ACT/SAT:23/1050</p>

<p>LSU(LA)-GPA 3.0, ACT/SAT:28/1250</p>

<p>University of Tulsa-GPA 3.0</p>

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<p>Awesome. Thanks. Knew about LSU but not the other two. Will take a look.</p>

<p>For others interested, the MSEP also applies to both the major Kansas schools (KU and KState). The reviews I read say that K STate is a much friendlier school and generally prefered by most, especially for non-greeks. But both are large Big 12 institutions with huge alumni bases. </p>

<p>The catch is for both, there are min GPA/ACT requirements to utilize the MSEP. I believe K State’s might even be 3.5. But their tuition is pretty reasonable anyway (although slightly out of our range).</p>

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<p>Thought I would post an update.</p>

<p>After talking more with Son 2, he says he doesn’t want a huge school, or a tiny school, or a school where partying dominates the recreational activities too much.</p>

<p>Given that, we’ve narrowed it down to Bowling Green State U, Murray State and Northern Michigan. </p>

<p>Visiting BGSU in 2 weeks.</p>

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<p>Good morning all ~~ D15 had her first official college visit Friday to Missouri Western in St. Joseph. It was nice. Smallish campus but with nice/newer facilities, some interesting/impressive facts, etc. D15 liked it, but is leaning toward this one anyway. I finally convinced her she had to visit others too just for comparison !</p>

<p>They have a lot of free services, which I am not use to with S10 attending Mizzou. For example, free student parking, free admission to ALL home sporting events. In fact, 4 of your immediate family can also attend for free as many times as they’d like. Students also get limited free concessions while at the games. Tutoring is always free. (Mizzou parking pass is $165…football only season pass was about $180…or around $60 per ticket for us. Limited tutoring. Only thing free is the women’s sporting events.)</p>

<p>They are an ‘applied learning’ school, so the students work/volunteer in places related to their major from the beginning. A lot of hands on opportunities.</p>

<p>Anyone take the ACT this past weekend? Midwest schools prefer the ACT, I don’t know of anyone at our HS ever taking the SATs, etc. D15 is in the ACT prep class at school now, so thought we’d try the one in December. She typically does not do well on tests. This could be rough. </p>

<p>I accidentally popped in on the ‘other’ 2015 thread, quickly realizing it wasn’t this one. :slight_smile: I realized it when our son was looking at colleges but had forgotten…the college process is really complicated in other locations. Missouri has A LOT of simple 4 year colleges and several private ones too. We have a few larger universities. Most of the kids here attend a LAC - which isn’t really local - about 2 hours away or so.</p>

<p>They take the ACT a couple of times, visit a few schools, and apply. Done. They do apply for various scholarships too, but none of the ED, etc that everyone stresses about. They take the required HS classes for College Prep. A few will have Dual Credit. Our school does not offer AP courses and only sometimes dual credit classes. </p>

<p>It’s just a lot different here. We have smart kids too but just not the pressure I’m reading about in other threads. Even in my 2010 thread, the process was much different for my son. He applied in September & was accepted in October. Done.</p>

<p>We do occasionally have kids go out of state…Welsley, Nebraska, K-State, Purdue, Oklahoma, and a few privates like Benadictine & Graceland.</p>

<p>Glad to hear everyone is doing well and moving along. It’s going to be a busy couple of years !</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for this post. We (suburban Chicago) actually received Missouri Western literature in the mail, and I found it interesting. The tuition is REALLY affordable there. But a smaller school (maybe 5000 kids?) so it’s hard to find out much about it. So your post was very interesting to me personally. When my first twin S15 was originally thinking about going into Wildlife Conservation, we considered visiting Missouri Western due to them having that major and the cost. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Funny you mention wildlife conservation. My S10 at Mizzou is majoring in Fisheries & Wildlife. Originally he was going the Marine Biologist route but is now going Wildlife Biologist. The last year of Fisheries & Wildlife they make you pick your specialty and take specific classes for that. I did see that Missouri Western had that major, according to their website, they have a lot !</p>

<p>It is a smaller campus, but clean. A daughter of a friend of ours just got a teaching job at our elementary school this year. She loved Missouri Western. St Joseph is also a nice town. Very easy to navigate. Within an hour to Kansas City and the airport. It has a mall, movie theaters, ice skating rink, roller rinks, mini golf, etc. A lot of shopping, dining, and things to do. Downtown, they have events throughout the year like Art in the Park, shows at the convention center, summer concerts, etc. You can access St Joseph by 4-lane highway or interstates. </p>

<p>You should visit. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. And yes, they do have very reasonable tuition. </p>

<p>Which suburbs of Chicago are you in? I was by Juliet/Aurora (I think) last Wednesday. We made the 7 hour drive and bought a car. :)</p>

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<p>We live in Naperville, so near Aurora. We visited Bowling Green last weekend, and the tour was fantastic. Campus is pretty (fall colors helped). Tour was well organized. There were 60 kids on tour that day. I called the School of Art and asked for a private tour afterward. The director spent an hour with us, explained the options to my son, and then we toured all their facilities. Very nice. They have an Arts Village there, where kids majoring in art related fields can live in one dorm building. He liked that. </p>

<p>It is a clear front runner now for him. Though he still wants to see Northern Michigan.</p>

<p>BTW, if anyone is interested, Bowling Green said their average incoming GPA was 3.31. Average ACT was 22.7. My son will likely be 3.2/25 or so. Good academic match.</p>

<p>Missouri Western is something we still may check out for my other son. Thing is, he wants the law enforcement aspect of wildlife. Not many schools have that. But Central Missouri does. As a Missouri person, is there anything you can tell me about that school?</p>

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<p>BHG found her in-state safety–a public LAC ranked in the top 10 public LACs across the country.</p>

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<p>Hi, everyone & Happy New Year (almost)! I haven’t checked this thread in forever & see that I could have responded to Sunnydayfun re: drive from KU to MU. So I will do that now. I see Sunny has pushed visit to Spring Break. (Sorry I didn’t see your question & respond earlier, Sunny.)</p>

<p>The drive from Lawrence, KS, (KU) to Columbia, MO (MU) is approx 3 hours on 1-70. It’s basically a straight shot. So yes, one could arrive in Lawrence on a Thursday night, tour KU on a Friday, drive to Columbia on Friday night, and tour MU on a Saturday. To me (espc because I’m getting old…) this would be <em>a lot</em> to take-in over 2 days, but it is do-able if you’re up to it. Not sure when Spring Break is in your area, but the only consideration here in the Midwest could be a snow storm that would slow drive-times. It doesn’t snow much here after early March, but we had snow on May 2nd this year in Kansas City…so anything’s possible.</p>

<p>Since KU & MU are rivals, and since DH & I are KU grads, I will spare any comments on MU here :wink: However, both are very good schools so your DC could not go wrong either way. If you have questions about KU, you can either ask them here or PM me. I would highly recommend KU to anyone from out-of-state…or from a smaller school district in-state. KS has a few large school districts (we live in one) and I have mixed-feelings about DS going to KU with 1/2 his HS graduating class. There will be thousands of other kids there too - I know this - but I’ve heard many stories verifying my concerns. This is probably the case in any state where a good % of students from large districts migrate to the flagship.</p>

<p>In general, my DS 2015 is plugging along. He did well this semester, but his classes pile on the homework and are stressful in-general. I’d love to see him take a Gap Year and we are starting to look into it. However, he would need structure, a PT job, and would need to continue language & music studies. Not sure it will work out. So much to consider! I need to hire BunHeadMom who - from this thread and the other 2015 thread - clearly knows what she is doing!! DH & I feel clueless and DS is too wrapped up in getting through HS to focus much on college at this point.</p>

<p>Again, Happy New Year to all!</p>

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<p>First semester ended on a good note *** took the ACT and did well; hopefully the next semester goes as smooth-- don’t want to jinx it lol. Second semester has always been her nemesis. Lol. She has pick out 8 schools apply to and excited about the new adventure awaiting her-- we see if she continues be this excited next year when she writing all of her essays. I lurk every day and have enjoyed all the information obtained.</p>

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<p>Welcome, GoAskDad & Hoosier96!</p>

<p>Check out [Home</a> | University of New Orleans](<a href=“http://www.uno.edu/index.aspx]Home”>http://www.uno.edu/index.aspx) as an OOS safety. The university waives the OOS fee with a 2.5 GPA and 23 ACT. The campus is within a nice area of New Orleans and all the dorms and apartments are singles. If UNO awards an OOS freshman the above mentioned waiver, they also get $2K off freshman year’s dorm fee.</p>

<p>Scholarship information: [Aid</a> and Scholarship | University of New Orleans](<a href=“http://www.uno.edu/admissions/aid_scholarship.aspx]Aid”>http://www.uno.edu/admissions/aid_scholarship.aspx)</p>

<p>Instate Tuition: $6662 (for academic year after OOS waiver for 15-17 credits each semester)<a href=“http://www.uno.edu/bursar/TuitionFees/undergradfees.aspx[/url]”>http://www.uno.edu/bursar/TuitionFees/undergradfees.aspx&lt;/a&gt;
Room: $3075 (for academic year & after $2K freshman year room scholarship --4 bedroom suite in dorm, 1 & 2 bedrooms are more, of course) [Costs</a> | University of New Orleans](<a href=“http://www.uno.edu/housing/cost.aspx]Costs”>http://www.uno.edu/housing/cost.aspx)
Board: $2950 ( for academic year for 15 meals per week, plus $250 semester declining funds)</p>

<p>Total before books, travel, misc: $12, 687 for academic year ( $14,687 after freshman year)</p>

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<p>Happy New Year to all!</p>

<p>Thank you, GoAskDad for the info. We will be visiting KU in March. It is an eight hours drive from where we are. Plan to visit 2 or 3 schools along the way there. We’re probably not going to visit Mizzou. It does not have S2’s intended major. </p>

<p>My H and I were clueless about college applications process when S1 was in HS. I did not even know he should take SAT/ACT when he was a junior. Anyway, everything worked out fine in the end and he is doing well at our state flagship. </p>

<p>S2 finished the semester with 1A, 3Bs and 1C. (Gasp!) It could be worse. This is a kid who works hard, does well in leadership role and speaking in front of others but is just not a good test taker.</p>

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<p>BunHeadMom that is great info on U of NO. Wow. My first twin S15 got exactly 3.0 this semester - his GPA is 3.05 now. Hanging on. Other twin S15 only got a 2.9 this semester but is around 3.25 cumulative. This is nerve-wracking!</p>

<p>Anyone following this board with juniors…are you having your kids take the ACT in Feb?</p>

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<p>Semester grades are in and they are the best they have ever been for DD! Already took the ACT in December–will retest in February. Will be taking the SAT at the end of January. The stress of Junior year has finally set in, she met with her college counselor. Has done the naviance online survey and her initial list of colleges.
The ride has been a bumpy one and I’m sure it will be a ride to remember when it finally is over.
Not to much action compare to the 2015 board–I prepare to lurk rather than post.</p>

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<p>@Kmanshouse-- BHG will take the ACT w/writing in April as mandated by her school for all HS students in grades 9th thru 11th. She’s already sitting on a 31 composite from last April, and if she can increase her science subscore, icing on the cake. She’s also going to take the SAT, but not until June. I already paid for her to take the Chemistry SAT II, and she’s going around and around about sitting any AP exams since her school does not offer any AP designated classes, although most juniors and seniors take the exams. We shall see.</p>

<p>BHG’s first semester does not end until 1/24/14, so finals this week and next week for her. According to Power School, and if she does not mess up on any finals, projects or papers, first semester should show an enormous upward swing in semester GPA. D is looking at a semester GPA north of 3.7-- crossing fingers, arms legs, toes, and any other body part I can cross. UGH! It takes so much to inch that cumulative GPA up a notch. </p>

<p>D have a list, and the increased GPA will not change it for the most part, as she needs merit money, and she is also taking fit along with possible majors into consideration. Each school affords BHG to change her major at least thrice without having to transfer to another institution. </p>

<p>Our issue is that her semi-professional dance schedule may keep us from visiting several schools before next fall–not happy about it, but will see what we can do with summer visits, which I do not prefer.</p>

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<p>BunHeadMom, I think you are pricing yourself out of your own thread!! Most students in this GPA range thread aren’t taking ACTs their sophomore year and getting 31s. We’re just hoping both our sons can keep the 3.0 and get 25-26s. I wish we had your Ds options. Good luck.</p>

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<p>DD will be above the average for testing for the 3-3.30 student, but due to a rocky high school start her grades will solidly be in this group. I enjoyed the 2014 and 2013 B group because the focus was on fit versus name. This semester she ended with 4 A’s and 2 A-; we keep telling her that the college admission likes upward trends ;/. We are happy that she finally has the confidence that she is capable of doing well. She has kept trudging along and to be honest with myself this has cause me to know that what ever comes her way she is willing to stay the course and persevere. That makes me a proud mommy.</p>

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<p>DS will be taking the Feb 8 SAT, kmanshouse. I’m afraid he won’t be very well-prepared, as he’s taking the SAT Jan 25 (this Saturday - yikes!) and his energy is focused on that. Then he will turn quickly to the ACT and we’ll see how well he does w/it. I’m sure he’ll have to take both tests at least one more time. He did take the ACT in 7th grade for Duke TIP, and he took a retired ACT at our community center two summers ago. From what I read, the thing one has to do to best prepare for the ACT is take sample tests, so as to get used to the quick pace of the test. </p>

<p>My biggest goal is just to keep DS healthy for all these tests. So many kids at our kids’ schools are sick. Ugh. DS just cannot get sick! Wish I could send him to school wearing a face mask ;-)</p>

<p>Good luck to those testing on the next round of the SAT and ACT!</p>