Parents of the HS Class of 2017 - 3.0 to 3.4 GPA

Parent Cafe
2881

LOL on the perfect record. It would be perfect if all were affordable. I believe, in S’s mind, the short list is:

UVM
Goucher
Allegheny
UPS

and then

Ursinus
Western Washington

The order of the top 4 moves around constantly and could change after we tour. He will almost certainly do an admitted student overnight at UPS, silly not to. But looking at it the one that works is Mid April. UGH. I really had hoped to be done closer to 4/1. It only matters at UVM though, and that is for getting the orientation time he needs. It is possible we will need to put an enrollment deposit down there so he can register for those dates to be safe. It is fully refundable though. Ithaca is off the list. I personally think Ursinus should be off and the kid just wants an excuse to see Philly.

@klinska S’s good friend (who was offered a tad less than S at Ithaca) received a very nice $$ offer from Lawrence so I’ve got my fingers crossed!

@93 pilots. We can’t see anything on monies either. There is a financial aid link but it says access denied lol. Clicking through it also says award info not available. They did say financial aid will not be until end of march but that merit notifications should happen with acceptance so I am hoping it is in the hard copy materials and not mid march but who really knows! I would love for it to be competitive price wise with his other options. SInce we won’t hear on music and theater till the end of march I suppose it doesn’t truly matter but it would let us know what the gap is or isn’t at least.

Congrats!

2882

son’s short list is down to:
Carthage (where we think he’ll end up but not sure it’s all around the best option. Waiting to hear about some scholarship competitions he competed in/will compete in)
Valparaiso (cheapest option at the moment and probably best for his CS major)
Elmhurst (comes and goes off of list for no apparent reason)

Since he only applied to 5 schools only 2 have really been cut. One for financial reasons and the other just wasn’t as well liked (of course they’re the ones sending him tons of mail lately so who knows).

2883

Hi @eandesmom and the rest of the 3.0-3.4 GPA crew!

We are happy to report that our trombone playing, singing thespian was also accepted at UPS, esp since it’s his #1 pick after our visit last summer, and the reports of some current students who went to our HS. Really bummed we have to wait for the paper admit to see the aid situation, though…

We will have 2 in college for the next 3 years, so S17 understands we have a budget, and is being good about staying open to other options. He’s in at Pacific Lutheran, with a nice package, as well as Luther College, here closer to home. University of Portland was definitely on his list, but they gapped us approximately $20,000, so that is out. All schools he applied to had to have strong music/theater programs, to participate in as electives and/or extra curricular activities. He loves all three - band, choir/singing and theater, so he chose not to apply for scholarships, because he was slammed first semester and did have time to prepare properly, and really could not chose which one to pursue. He definitely wants to participate in the performing arts in college and also wanted to keep his options open - depending on which school he attends. He also wants to get the lay of the land, academically, as (with our budget) S17 (like S16) will have to do work-study as well. He got all his applications in early, but unfortunately S17 had a shaky sophomore year, improved in junior year, but all his other top choice schools wanted to see is first semester grades before making a decision. Thankfully they were quite good, but he is still waiting on the last 4 schools: Willamette, St Olaf, Gonzaga and Lawrence. Fingers crossed that the good news keeps coming!

2884

Welcome @morningside95 ! YAY for trombone playing thespians.

UPS merit letter actually arrived today, not a full packet just a letter with the merit award. Which I have mixed feelings about. NPC had given us a combo of grant and scholarship as a prediction. The scholarship came in a tad higher than the NPC had predicted but, if that is all he receives (no grant or no talent monies) it is off the table. Quite frankly the slight increase of the scholarship portion is offset by the tuition and board increase for the year.

I did see someone post that they could see both merit and grants in their portal but there is nothing in S’s yet. We will keep checking. I suspect though that if he does get any of the talent scholarships, the grants will go away, and it is possible knowing that he applied for the scholarships, they hold off on the grant piece until that is in. At least that is what was implied at the audition. I also don’t know if he then didn’t continue in either music or theater if the grant (if offered) would come back. I would assume so but…it would be a bit risky. With the additional scholarships it has potential but boy I wish the merit by itself was enough.

So, we will see. We did know going into it that it had the potential to be the most expensive and at the moment, it is.

2885

Congrats to @eandesmom’s son and all the other kids with acceptances to UPS - the personal touch on music lesson/auditions make it sound lovely!

@tacocat333 - Yes! CoyoteSon did the Young Scholars Program at UMd – what a huge campus - definitely too big and too rah-rah atheletics for CoyoteSon! We had to hike through the basketball arena and past the giant football stadium every day to get from the freshman parking lot onto the central part of campus (literally a 20-25 minute hike each way). And it was hopping with people in the summer - it would be like a small city once all the students get back in the fall. Definitely not his cup of tea.

I didn’t think to send the official UMd transcript to any of his colleges though - it was only 1 three-credit class; I was hoping getting onto the high school transcript was good enough for corroboration of the grade.

Sorry about TacoSchool not granting DE credit – my understanding though is that most colleges and universities re-calculate each students high school GPA to try to standardize them, so if DE would grant a boost like AP or honors, then the colleges should grant that boost, even if TacoSchool did not grant the boost on a silly technicality for sophomore vs junior standing.

@eandesmom - if you and E really want a peek at Philly - did you build time into the schedule to get downtown? Ursinus is definitely out in the King of Prussia suburbs, with shopping malls and highways that look like anywhere else, though Valley Forge is close by.

Loving everyone’s short list – CoyoteSon refuses to rank any preferences for schools, because he doesn’t want to choose until he knows what all the choices are. Among his acceptances, he will eliminate UVM (whew - that’s the most expensive on the current list anyway), and he’d like to eliminate George Mason too - doesn’t think the Honors College makes it small enough - so I forsee an LAC in his future…just don’t know which one. The current four are:

Juniata
Beloit
Wheaton (MA)
Allegheny

Juniata is the only one he’s seen with students, and he really loved the history class he sat in on.
Hopefully he’ll love Beloit after visiting (on paper, I think it might be a better fit for for him socially).

Of the six for which he is in application limbo, they are all either medium reaches or really big reaches – so not much point in speculating. If he gets into any of them, I forsee a couple more overnight visits to check for fit.

2886

@eandesmom - is your concern about E’s major at UVM Environmental Science vs Environmental Studies being driven by calculus?

I got my Environmental Science degree from UVA back in the dark ages, but most of my Enviro classes would not have required calculus. If that is the concern, then I would definitely suggest waiting for E to try out classes at UVM before making a switch – and then if he still needs calculus, try the summer term idea. I wound up taking Calculus in the summer, and then two Spanish classes in the next summer - which is how I avoided any 18-credit semesters, but still graduated on time!

2887

Palm to forehead. My son’s safety wasn’t asking for second semester grades. They were asking for a transcript period. I’d forgotten CA State schools you self report and only ask for transcripts AFTER you get your acceptance.

@CoyoteMom I actually went to University wanted to study Environmental Studies. Found out quickly that it was most politics and not science at the university I was at. Gave that up quick, because I do like math & science. I hate arguing politics.

2888

@CoyoteMom same story over here re reluctance to rank preferences. I foresee an indecisive spring here at casa 93pilots. I think he likes mulling his choices.

2889

@CoyoteMom , I made TacoSon live in the dorm. He kept saying he would have enjoyed the experience had he been allowed to live at home. The commute from VA wouldn’t have been impossible but definitely not enjoyable, plus the main reason I wanted him to do the program was to have an immersive experience away from home since he’s a homebody. Immersive he got; enjoyment he didn’t! The course he took was pretty specific to his business interests so likely wouldn’t transfer for credit anywhere but UMd; counselor recommended sending individual transcripts as a boost to his overall file. It’s an excellent point that colleges that recalculate GPA would/will probably give it the appropriate boost; thanks!

Well, in Struggling Sons news, I have an email into TacoSon’s counselor about his Spanish V class. I don’t think it’s likely he’ll be allowed to drop it but at least it feels like we’re doing something proactive. The problem in this class is really the teacher, not the content. He was in a state both last night and this morning.

2890

I like all of your short lists!

We do not have a short list at this time. Son17 has pretty much ruled out attending the state schools he was accepted to Umass, UVM, UNH. So that leaves 6 privates, RPI, Clarkson, Babson, BU, Bentley, Northeastern. Still waiting on decisions from 5 of those, so it’s a brutal wait. He has a shot of getting into all of them, so he doesn’t want to rule anything out at this point in time.

2891

How does everyone’s school handle missing a day due to a college event? We’ve arranged most of son’s visits so that he doesn’t miss school but there are some events he will not have that luxury. Our school gives each student (no matter the grade) 10 unexcused absences and all college events are counted under that. If you exceed that number the teachers are supposed to give you an automatic 0 for all missed work. Right now I know of at least 3 days he’s going to have to miss, but there is a potential 4th, and since he doesn’t want to attend the senior class trip (or sit in school for a mandatory all day study hall) that will be 5. The senior class trip is 4 hours of bowling and pizza - pretty lame compared to son 14’s Lake Michigan cruise. I think we’ll be fine but I’m starting to worry…

2892

Congrats @eandesmom & @morningside95 on UPS. I hope merit & other $ will make it affordable.

The day before @tacocat333 posted about IB History paper and got the “I’ve got this” response, I asked a more generic question about IB papers (History, English, Psych, Bio, French…) and got a thumbs up response–which could either mean that they’re on track or that he doesn’t really want me to know that he’s procrastinating. I vaguely knew that he’d been working on rough drafts around the end of the semester (and thus, part of the reason for the calculus struggles) but had no idea when they were due. So, after hearing tacoson’s paper was due, I dug deeper–English and History are done & turned in, Bio is on track and not due til March, he’s finishing the discussion on the Psych experiment paper, and French is an in class thing. I think that means he’s fine?? =P~ But the bigger deal is that his huge IB extended essay is DONE and ready to be handed in–yay, the will really free up some bandwidth for him :slight_smile:

@eandesmom Sorry about the calculus meltdown, and it sounds like dropping it is best for everyone’s stress level! S claims he’s on track this quarter, but I haven’t heard anything from the teacher or seen updates on the portal, so who knows.

@CoyoteMom I feel your pain on the transcript issue–when going through this process with S15, somehow his AP Bio final grade got changed from a 90 to an 80 over the summer between Jr & Sr year. Then when the GC tried to fix it, she lost the AP weighting for it on the portal, and claimed it was just the way the portal calculated it. @-) Ummm no, and when it was weighted correctly, S15 gpa met some scholarship requirements, without the weighting, it didn’t, plus that small change bumped his ranking 4 students in a class of 145… Meanwhile, the wrong transcript was sent to 2 colleges. It was a huge hassle, but someone else in the GC office figured it out & fixed it. Luckily, no issues like that for S17…

Short list… Well, he never had a long list since S17 only applied to 3 schools, but it’s down to Albany and MSU. They’re very different campuses–MSU is spread out while Albany is compact, and the programs are different–James Madison at MSU and Public Policy at Albany, but he can see himself at either. Because it’s OOS, MSU is a bit of a financial reach even with merit $, but we can probably manage it, but it would leave less $ for law school. Buffalo was pretty much out of the running after he was accepted to Albany & MSU–the program and campus didn’t measure up in his estimation, and then they were slow to accept him (in his eyes–he thought he was in for EA, but I think some of his paperwork arrived after the deadline…). So, we’re waiting on honors program decisions and the Albany 3+3 law program before he commits to one,or the other…

2893

We have no short list really, but there are a couple of schools definitely off the list. Still waiting for Chapman and Pitt, both of which are higher on the list than the schools currently on it. Her two favorites right now are eckerd and ithaca. They both have admitted students weekends that we haven’t signed up for yet. We are holding our breath for Chapman admission and hoping they give more money than the NPC showed. I’m willing to stretch a little further financially, but with two in college, I will really be tight.

2894

@smakl70 At S school, college visits are excused, and not even really counted as absences, more like a field trip–just like a job shadow or career counseling. When S15 went on a college overnight, he was even allowed to practice for sports when he got back which isn’t allowed with absences. Oh, and the Sr trip for both S15 and S17 was 3 days at Disney World–one of which was an educational program–pricey, but the kids had a blast. :slight_smile:

2895

How are college visits counted… In CA we have a fairly rigid absence policy that our district follows. There are no limits for sick days, doctor visits eat, health of a close family. It’s fairly rigorously defined but no doctors notes are required, so it’s easy enough to say one’s child is sick and there isn’t much they can do about it.

If you are honestly with school it’s put down with their records as “Unexcused” even if it’s for a good reason. Teachers don’t HAVE to let students make up work. But most will if the students talks with the teacher about the upcoming absences ahead of time & make a plan. These Unexcused absences don’t seem to do any harm from what I can see. My son had a few to attend his sisters graduation last year. I suspect if you have too many “unexcused” absences the administration will talk with you, but I honestly don’t know what that number is… They don’t really publish it.

Unexcused is different than a “Cut/Truant”. Too many cut/truants and the kid gets Saturday detention. A Cut/Truant is one without parental approval and/or a good reason. (Like I slept in…)

2896

D17s HS allows 3 excused days for college visits for each of junior and senior years. She has only used 1 this year and 1 last year. But I could see if your kid got into a lot of schools far away that 3 would be nowhere near enough. My D has decided to stick closer to home so we shouldn’t run out of days, hopefully.

2897

Good news to share today! D17 was accepted to her first choice NYU and will be spending her freshman year abroad in Paris! She had a smile ear to ear last night for 3+ hours and now her face is sore lol.

2898

Congrats to your D, @Fishnlines29 ! Such great news!

2899

Wow, @Fishnlines29! Congrats to your D! She has an exciting year ahead!

2900

Congrats @Fishnlines29 --how exciting for your D!