@Hoosier96 - the only way I could get my S16 to study for his first ACT was to challenge him to a competition. I told him I bet he couldn’t beat my score, then sat down across the table from him and we simultaneously took a practice test. It was actually became kind of fun, like a game. Then he taught me the things I missed and I taught him what he missed. We looked up what neither of use knew. BTW, first time out I spanked him on everything but Math, where he beat me.
Finally got my S16 to provide input into a list of schools he’s serious about. I had 21 in my spreadsheet but was really at a loss about how to proceed. He pulled out 11 and says that will go down as he narrows which liberal arts schools to take off (he says he really wants schools strong in science, which doesn’t rule out all LACS but does provide a way to compare them). He also thinks he may want to add another reach or two. But this is progress! Next up is compiling the list of essay topics for these schools. At least three are not Common App, and some have supplemental essays, so this is a longer list than one might expect.
A friend of mine does college coaching so I paid her for a one hour consultation. She suggested that he prepare more than one possible common app essay (especially ones that might fit the other schools’ topics) and we could review and pick the best to refine. With my S14 there was no way we could work on multiple options, it was hard enough to get one done! S16 fancies himself a writer so he says “No problem.”
She also recommended he not address in his essays the reasons behind his disparity in grades and scores. If he had death or health or other major disruptions, sure. Otherwise, they’ll figure him out without help.
@crowlady, I’m sure the admissions people will know exactly what’s going on when they see our S has D’s in English the last two years but a 4 on the AP. “I didn’t feel like turning stuff in” isn’t going to fly.
@crowlady @mstomper – How about an essay about being abducted by aliens (and thus unable to get homework done)?
Hey, I’m new around here. D16 has a weighted 3.45 (hopefully will squeak out a 3.5 after completing a summer class) and a 30 ACT, weak ECs, no real acquaintance with her GC, and is in a school full over overachieving types (typically 100+ graduates in a class of 450-500 have over a 4.0). Her unweighted GPA would definitely be in the 3-3.3 range. A lot of Bs, some As, 3 total Cs (two of these were a C+). Only one AP prior to senior year, but she’ll be taking 3 in the fall. 6 honors classes to date.
We are trying to identify non-common app schools with LESS holistic admissions, so maybe it won’t matter so much if she hasn’t been the president of everything, and also to avoid the school report and the comparisons to her HS’s student body that go with it. She had some issues that affected her school performance (and led to her having a weak junior year schedule). She’s not in good shape to come up with more than one teacher rec. or a good counselor rec.
Right now, looking at Indiana-Bloomington, Minnesota-TC, Michigan State, Colorado State, Florida Tech, UBC, Oregon State. She wants to work with animals, so she’s looking at places with Ag schools, and/or animal behavior programs. We visited UBC, Oregon, Oregon State, Portland State, Temple so far (last summer/fall), visiting CU Boulder and CSU next month. She’s obviously fine with moving away from VA! In her heart of hearts, I’m sure she wants to live in Portland. She would likely consider U of Vermont, New Hampshire and Delaware if they weren’t common app schools.
We haven’t looked at any SLACS yet, but those that don’t require the common app. seem to require more or less the same things (and often even more recommendations and demonstrated passion/leadership).
Any school suggestions for late-blooming kids that are just fine with being judged by their pretty good ACT score and pretty iffy grades and not much else?
@eh1234 – You’re probably aware of the CTCL (Colleges That Change Lives) schools, but in case you’re not you might consider giving them a look:
http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/map
There are a lot of wonderful CTCL schools. They’re not big name schools, although some are pretty notable. But they’re open to kids that haven’t hit their stride yet (while in high school). We have friends whose two kids went to Denison – one is now in medical school and the other has a pretty good career going in business. My S14 (GPA = 3.4) was admitted to Eckerd, and even tho’ he went elsewhere we were VERY impressed with them. And FWIW, a lot of these schools give out a lot of merit money. Your daughter’s stats would qualify her for merit aid at a number of these schools.
And you shouldn’t be put off that many of these schools are common app schools. Has nothing to do with the way that they evaluate applicants.
@eh1234 - What about Berry College in Georgia as an LAC option? They’ve always seemed like a very cool school, especially for those kids who like the outdoors. They have a BS in Animal Science http://www.berry.edu/academics/majors/animalscience/ Your D’s ACT score would be in the 75%, even though her grades are a bit lower than average. The Common Data Set (CDS) states that they do not consider rank. They give a choice of the Common App or their internal app.
Another school might be University of Wyoming. Animal Science degree with many specialities http://www.uwyo.edu/anisci/undergraduate-students/. Her scores would put her in an automatic $6000 scholarship bracket. http://www.uwyo.edu/admissions/scholarships/non-residents/rms.html. No Common App, and it looks like she could even apply right now!
Thanks for the replies @AsleepAtTheWheel and @mamaduck!
Eckerd is probably the only one of the CTCL schools currently on our radar (mostly because they allow cats in the dorm rooms!). We were just in Tampa/St Pete Beach for a very short vacation, but couldn’t fit in a tour there. I don’t know how anyone gets any school work done in that gorgeous location! We might look at Goucher this summer because it’s nearby and we haven’t visited a small school yet. There aren’t many smaller schools have the major she would like (Canisius, but Buffalo is a big question mark) as well as some that are out of reach (Duke, Bucknell, Franklin & Marshall)
I haven’t looked at Berry before - Georgia might be a tough sell, but it looks like a gorgeous campus.
Wyoming would also be a tough sell - I think I’ve seen them listed as one of the most LBQT unfriendly campuses. Half of her friends are gay or bi! We might look at Wyoming during our trip to CO next month anyway, but I suspect she’ll strongly prefer other land grant schools. However, I probably will try to get her to apply to at least one or two of the non-common app schools with student-reported grades after we get her final grade for the summer class in early August.
@eh1234 I’d encourage your daughter to go ahead and apply to UVM, UNH and Delaware. I think she’d be competitive there. Not sure if you have philosophical objections to the Common App or if you are concerned about comparisons with her classmates. Unless she’s trying to get into a lottery school I’m not sure it makes that much difference. In any case, if she’s passionate about what she wants to do that will show in her essays and she will stand out. Good luck!
Breathe, my DD laid into me last weekend…about letting her complete the college application process. “I am applying to college, not you”. If her choices for potential colleges more accurately matched her real life grades and test scores I think I would be less worried. At least that is what I am telling myself!
Stats:
Unweighted GPA: 3.45
Weighted 4.0 GPA: 4.16
Weighted 6 point scale GPA: 4.68
Rank: 105/577
SAT: 1650 (560M, 570CR, 520W)
ACT: 25 (27M, 24R, 24W, 26S, 8 on Essay)
Academic Honors: HS Distinguished Scholar, AP Scholar, National Honor Society
EC:
Varsity Lacrosse (4 yrs) Defensive Co-Capt. Jr & Sr yrs:
Latin Club: Texas Junior Classical League (4 yrs) 3rd in Region for Ancient Geography (Soph) and 3rd in Region for Latin Mottos (Soph)
Marching Band (4 yrs) Pit Co-Capt Sr yr
Full Orchestra (2 yrs)
Piano & Oboe Solos #1 ratings (4 yrs)
Business Professional of America (Jr Yr) Placed 5th in State of Texas for Global Marketing
10 hours shadowing a Physical Therapist
She will graduate with 9 AP classes (AP score range anywhere from a 2 - 4) Not sure she will even take the AP tests for her senior year classes. We look at AP classes as an opportunity to “practice” what it is like to take a college class we are not looking to get any college credit for the courses.She really pushes herself to take the toughest schedule and has always taken an all pre-AP or AP classes. Except this year she is taking an regular food science class as her science. (AP Physics as a junior) simply because she is interested in food science and a floral design class because that is all that we could fit into her schedule with the other AP classes and band. She has taken Band for 4 years.
Her intended college major is: Physical Therapy (BS/DPT programs)
Possible: Music Education
Colleges (in ranked order of preference):
Duquesne University (BS/DPT)
Drexel University (BS Health Science)
Purdue University (BS Health Science)
Ithaca College (BS/DPT)
University of the Sciences (BS/DPT)-
University of Pittsburgh (Pre-Rehabilitation Science)
Baldwin Wallace (Either BS Health Science or Music Ed)
Seton Hall (BS/DPT)
Quinnipiac University (BS/DPT)
Case Western Reserve (Music Education) Dad is a Case Grad
University of Puget Sound (BS Pre DPT)
Ohio University (BS Pre-PT) Mom is an OU Gran
Marquette University (BS/DPT)
She absolutely does not want to stay in the state of Texas for college but she will apply to:
University of Houston (TX Auto Admit)
Texas Tech (TX Auto Admit)
Pretty sure that Pitt and Case and Marquette are serious reaches? But think Purdue, Ithaca, Puget Sound and Marquette are also reaches. 50/50 at Drexel and Duquesne? Have we missed anything and what would you take off this list?
Problem is DD has always pushed herself academically but really is not an “A” student. She is a solid “B” student. She likes to surround herself with people who are smart and motivated but struggles to keep pace academically. She is a good fit socially with smart “nerdy” kids. I just don’t think her grades and test scores are good enough to get her into schools filled with smart “nerdy” kids like Case Western or U of Pitt. So I don’t know how to steer her in the right direction.
I am never sure which weighted GPA she should report on her apps? Her school uses the 4.68 for ranking purposes? Is she better off reporting SAT or ACT Scores? (They are essentially the same in my book)
Is National Honor Society an academic honor or an extra curricular?
Breathe…Thank you for letting me rant. We shall all persevere!
@labegg Drexel isn’t that hard to get into, can’t say much about the rest. She seems to be pretty solid, I wouldn’t think she needs to apply to so many unless she really wants to. I took a quick look at http://www.act.org/aap/concordance/estimate.html and her ACT score might be better than her SAT to report.
That’s an awful lot of schools. I told S he could apply to 10 simply so we didn’t have to do choreography with the FAFSA. (Actually, what I said was I’d pay for ten, and he could pay for any over that, so we have a list of eleven and he’ll probably drop at least one depending on how his EA turns out. D had, at last look, six. And wanted to know if she could have the money I wasn’t spending.)
If she’s keen on doing it herself, I think I might tell her to pick X number each of reach, match, safety-- and then let her have at it, researching Common Data sets. If she has more than your number in any one category on her list, she can pay the application fees. It tends to lend perspective, at least IME, when it’s her own and not Mom and Dad’s money on the line.
Isn’t this process fun?
My son received his first college acceptance certificate! Longwood University offers immediate decisions after the tour. It feels good to know that he has a good option as he enters his senior year. 
@labegg, Marquette, Case Western and UPitt are the only 3 that may not be sure bets. Especially CW, from what I’ve seen in the stats profiles… But the rest of her list seems fine.
My D is also applying to Ohio U. It is one of 2 favorites (out of 8 schools that we visited this past year) for her.
@allboyz, Congrats to your son!
I just read my son’s essay and I love it. He struggled with coming up with a topic, but it worked out. One obstacle down, so many to go! @allboyz great news!
Congrats @allboyz and @ThreeRedheads! Great to have some wins so early in the season.
We, on the other hand, seem to have a loss. If rumors are correct, my S16 has missed National Merit by 1 point. He likely wouldn’t have made finalist, given a lot of C’s on his transcript, but even NMSF might have helped. Suddenly it becomes even more important for him to bring his SAT score up to demonstrate that he DOES have the potential that his GPA doesn’t show.
He has drafts of two different essay questions but (in my opinion) they need a LOT of work.
Though he started the school year strong he’s already lapsed into old habits. It’s going to be a long semester.
@crowlady, that’s tough missing by a point. With a good M+CR on the SAT he’ll be fine. Our son has talked about retaking the SAT, but with huge gap between his GPA and SAT there’s not much point. His SAT score is already high enough for the top scholarships at places he wants to go; it’s the GPA that’s holding it back.
My D received the AP Scholars with Honors award today, in the mail.
I guess this is just for bragging rights? Do schools even ask about this?
Well, my husband and I are proud of her, anyway, and we told her so (and, hopefully, she can actually get college credit for some of those AP scores…)
I’m also happy to report that - so far, anyway - D is making the effort to turn over a new leaf, in terms of homework.
We had some issues with her procrastinating last year…
She’s agreed to be at the public library every Saturday between 2 and 6, and has agreed to be at her desk at home - newly cleared off - every day after school between 5 and 7pm (our family dinner time), and then back to her desk until she’s done with the hw. Every night except one - in which she had band practice between 6 and 9 - she has completed the hw before 8 pm. I think she’s been pleasantly surprised about having a couple of hours of down time before bed AND completing her hw! I think she may finally get it! - I hope.
Anyway, I hope she sticks with this and doesn’t slide back into her old bad habits… I think it helps a lot that she likes all of her classes this year.
@labegg I know the most about Purdue, Pitt. Case and Ohio U. Of the 4 OU seems to fit the best academically and interest wise. My D is also interesting in studying PT. She has looked at each of the other schools mentioned. OU will be a safety for our D but it’s also her first choice. It just fits her degree interests, EC interest (she is a dancer) and she felt most at home on the campus. Of the others I would consider Pitt and Purdue low reaches for your D. They both put a lot of emphasis on rigor of curriculum. While her grades and test scores may be a bit below average her course rigor may help her application. Case is a pretty high reach and she is most likely not going to get a scholarship if they were to accept her.
One other thing to consider. Getting into a DPT program is somewhat like getting into med school. It is very competitive and the top two considerations are grades and GRE scores. Attending a school where she will be competing grade wise with stronger students may make it more of a challenge to achieve the grades needed to be accepted into a DPT program. It is also pretty expensive so if money is an issue its best to spend as little as possible for her undergrad degree. Good luck.