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

Parents Forum
3621

@CoyoteMom In the case of WWU I suspect their 4 year grade rate is due to a lot of local kids transferring in from CC and taking an extra quarter to graduate, their average is 4.25 years. But yes, there is certainly loss and drop outs for whatever reason.

I am fairly sure E1 would rather spit nails than deal with an organizational coach. LOL! I have thought about ADHD coaching but wish we’d have done it last year, I think we missed a window there perhaps. In researching the ADHD support services at both, UVM definitely wins…at least on paper. But at WWU he’s got support at home if needed at least on the medical side.

Clear cold logic is not what happens in my 17 year olds brain but one can hope! Love the wheaties//wheaton box!

Good luck on the full pay versus not. Not a fun conversation but worthy of having! I’m ready to make a call, pay the money and move on to planning! Or buy a sweatshirt, or whatever. LOL

3622

Transfers are not included in the statistics, but 4.25 is nothing. My daughter will be either a 4.5 or a 5.0 since she took a semester off and has changed majors, and while she may take a summer class, she’ll still be a little behind. The semester off didn’t cost me anything, so why do I care that she took some time off?

My other child is going to be an ‘8 straight semesters, no breaks, no drama’. Boring.

3623

Transfer ours are considered a non graduate are they not?

Agree that 4.25 or 4.5 is nothing :slight_smile: unless it does cost more. 5 could be a problem for many. Time off is different. But some awards are for 8 consequetive so folks should research that as time off may not be a realistic option.

3624

@CoyoteMom will let you know how it goes, though I’ll warn you in advance I getting detail out of my S can be a challenge! Hope the visits provide some clarity though. He is in PNW this weekend for Puget, Lewis and Clark and Reed. I am so grateful to those schools for scheduling their events in a way that dovetails with each other instead of creating a head to head conflict.

@morningside95 I think you are right about the LMU questions. Even though the actual questions are pretty secular (I think my S wrote about climate change?) the quotes from Catholic leaders that accompany the questions definitely set a tone. And it’s a long essay! Had my S seen the questions in advance (not saying they weren’t available, just that he missed them) I am not sure he would have applied. It’s kind of funny because most schools seem to want to make it super easy to apply, to get their numbers up supposedly, this is a move in the other direction for sure.

3625

Wow, there’s still so much “mulling over” going on here. I’m following closely to see what all your kids decide!

3626

@CoyoteMom , I love the Wheaties! I’m a big believer in schools’ marketing approaches and that’s one of the most clever I’ve heard.

We’re in the final planning stages for a couple of deciding visits and (perhaps a little late in the game) contacting the schools’ music departments about playing opportunities. We’ve had one very promising exchange that makes my heart flutter; stay tuned.

3627

They just aren’t included in that statistic, just like waitlisted students aren’t considered rejected. “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics” If someone transfers in as a junior and has been in community college for 5 years, why would/should that statistic be included with students who have been at this school for 2 years? It’s no reflection on THIS school. I think that if a school like WWU has a 4.25 year grad statistic it means a lot of students are getting out before 4 years, probably using AP or dual enrollment credits.

My daughter’s merit award is for 8 consecutive semesters too, but they made an exception. Also a reason for longer grad times, and common in the NW, is a student taking a break to going on a mission. Her school is about 10% LDS . Military service requirements also get extensions on the 8 semester rule. There are reasons for students not graduating in 4 years that have nothing to do with my daughter, and aren’t because the traditional students can’t get a class or spend too much time partying. My daughter taking the extra semester has nothing to do with whether the other students will need more time.

I just don’t think a public school can be compared to a private on the 4 year grad rate. Too many kids have money issues and have to take time off to replenish the bank account, may have a family to support, may be going less than full time because of work or medical reasons. The average age for a public school student is higher than a private school where most students start directly from high school.

3628

@CoyoteMom It looks like CoyoteSon is weighing 3 schools that are near me. If I can be of any help, let me know. I know several students who have attended all 3 schools.

For now, I’ll just say that if remoteness is a concern, I would pick Beloit over Lawrence. Beloit is 1 hr from Madison, 1 hr from Milwaukee, and 2 hrs from Chicago, so it will be easy to get a big city fix and to fly out of reasonably sized airports. Lawrence is an equally good school, but it is 2 hrs from Madison, 2 hrs from Milwaukee, and 4 hrs from Chicago and the Appleton airport is tiny (though my in-laws fly out of it frequently). As far as “fit”, while both schools are “liberal”, Lawrence is in the very conservative Fox River Valley and Beloit is in the more liberal south-central part of the state. I wanted D to apply to Lawrence and Beloit but she rejected both of them for being too close to home and for not being in bigger cities.

We toured Carleton but D rejected it partly for not being in a bigger city. (Although she said the smell of Malt O Meal in the air was a big plus!) She chose to apply to Macalester instead (and was rejected). A family member retired as dean of admissions from Carleton and still lives in Northfield, and another family member is an alumni, so we have been on campus and in Northfield with some regularity over the years. I always thought D would apply there (as did our family members with Carleton connections), but in the end she decided to only apply to schools in bigger cities.

It sounds like you live in or near a big city on the East Coast, so for CoyoteSon, spending 4 years in a small Midwestern town might be a nice change. But for D, escaping from a small Midwestern town to a bigger city is the change she craves.

3629

“What I don’t want him to do at this point is simply focus on program versus program as one will win. There are many other aspects about the other school that “win” in my mind and he needs to really really evaluate the big picture. At the end of the day, I’ll support either choice.”

This!
Well said @eandesmom

3630

Just found out that S17 was awarded one of the $4k/yr scholarships given through my work. B-) It’s kind of competitive and required an essay, grades, scores, ECs, etc. It was definitely worth his time to spend a bit of his Christmas break on that application!

3631

@twoinanddone gotcha, I’d always thought transfer outs were considered part of the grad rate, much like they are part of the drop in retention.

I agree that you can’t really compare public to private.

@93pilots he’s getting some classic PNW weather, which means it’s a bit of everything! I can’t wait to hear how the visits went, 3 very different schools.

@MSU88CHEng Wow! That’s wonderful. I wish either of our works offered scholarships, S did apply for an alumni one though my mom’s HS but it’s small and he will need to reapply each year.

@Hankster1361 honestly I flip flop on this all the time too. I want to be very careful to provide guidance and support without telling him what he has to do but some days I feel like I can’t win on that score. He wants to be told…but I don’t want to be resented one way or another lol!

@morningside95 by all accounts Ireland was amazing. I wasn’t there, sending 2 kids on that trip was enough. But our thrown in without a ton of notice drum major did an amazing job and the kids came home with lots of awards.

@tacocat333 oh you are killing me with the playing opportunity comment! TEASE!

3632

Well, we appealed D’s merit aid award from Willamette and got the decision yesterday-no increase. We knew an increase was unlikely because she had already been given an amount that was near the top of their merit aid award, but we figured there’s no harm in trying. This afternoon she comitted and we made the $500 deposit. Feels good to have comitted!

3633

@NolaCAR congratulation on the decision!

@MSU88CHEng More money is always a welcome thing! Congrats!

@eandesmom hang in there. It’s hard trying to keep things to yourself and not steer them. He’s got great options and he’ll figure it out! Plus he’s got your amazing spreadsheet now (or soon will).

Everyone Else: Good luck on the remaining decisions and congratulations to those of us who have submitted that deposit!

3634

@NolaCAR it never hurts to ask! No harm no foul in my book. Heck, if S ends up committing to UVM and has a great end of year report card…I’ll be asking!

Congratulations!!! Wonderful school. I am so ready to send somebody some money. LOL.

3635

My D just heard from University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She applied there back in October and was waitlisted in January. She’s now on an extended waitlist at both UMN and the University of Wisconsin. Both said they would get back to her by mid-JUNE. What a PITB. We are visiting Iowa State which is currently her 2nd choice school this weekend. Keep our fingers crossed that she likes it!

3636

UGH @rbc1999 Hopefully she likes Iowa enough to commit, move on and then if one of the WL comes thru it’s a bonus prize.

3637

@twoinanddone - thanks for sharing that it is possible to get an exception to the “consecutive” nature of the scholarship, by negotiating with the school if an appropriate reason for delaying a semester comes up. Definitely good for me to know, am happy with the son I have (though every once in a while, “boring” (your description for getting through in straight semesters), like your other D sounds really good!

@eandesmom LOL on just wanting to buy the sweatshirt already! Your know, I think your amazing spreadsheet can really make a case for either WWU or UVM - and you are doing a great job sitting back to let E1 own the decision (ha ha again on “not wanting to be resented” for giving advice). I know you’re ready to move into planning for the actual college stage, but how will we on this list manage if your Son decides while some of the rest of us have 3 weeks of uncertainty and drama to go? Your additions to the discussion are really fun to read!

@tacocat333 - thanks for the “teaser” – looking forward to hearing how the music “plays” out.

@MSU88CHEng - very cool on the additional work scholarship! That reminds me that CoyoteSon has to apply for one too, though I think the deadline is May 1. Every little bit helps!

@NolaCAR - thanks for the insights – you are correct that Lawrence is too remote for CoyoteSon - he never even applied - but I did find their marketing message really stood out. CoyoteSon and I both really like Beloit already - if it does come down to Beloit and Carleton, I will definitely contact you for the insider scoop from your family members on Carleton - so far, my son has been a bit of a slacker in some subjects - and I am at least a little worried that Carleton will mean a bigger adjustment to keep up with the college-level workload. And yes, I think using college for a change of scenery is a good growing experience - so yay that your D is going to a bigger city, and we’ll see if CoyoteSon does indeed decide to head out to the Midwest (though schools in CT and MA are not out of the running yet).

So glad that so many people on the list with kids who have already settled on a school are still here, cheering on the rest of us!

3638

I actually thought my daughter had her ‘internship’ leave approved (she worked at Disney, but it was not an official internship), but of course, nothing goes smoothly. She has some learning issues so doesn’t always understand everything. She did ask at FA and they sent her to the registrar where of course there is no problem taking a semester off. She went back to FA but things didn’t get handled right and the woman who was supposed to approve it didn’t get the final form. I didn’t follow up. So in the fall, no merit scholarship. All the emails were wiped out of her student account, I whined a little, and they reinstated the scholarship. That person has been the only one at the school who has given me any grief at all, everyone else is always nice.

Honestly, I don’t think it is a bad thing for college kids to take a break. I know the colleges want them to keep going as statistics show they might not go back if they leave, but my daughter really benefited from the break. She learned that working for $9/hr with deductions for housing and fines and all the other Disney costs is not as much fun as it sounds. She learned that some roommates are no fun. She’s happier being back at school now.

The other one, Miss 8 straight semesters, can’t wait to be done with school. She can’t believe students go on to grad school. She is ready to be done done done.

3639

@rbc1999 that sucks.UMN and UW seemed hyper-competitive this year. My D was also waitlisted at both schools and got the same email from UMN yesterday. She declined the invitation to stay on the waitlist since she has committed to Willamette. I hope something comes through for your D that she can be happy and excited about. Maybe Iowa State!

3640

Now that D has committed, here are her final results for @eandesmom’s list. I tried to do it so you can just cut and paste.

Willamette
Accepted & Committed
NolaCAR’s D - RD GPA 4.0 uw, ACT 29, SAT 1360 superscore
Biology/pre-med
Other factors: 3 AP’s, 3 college classes, 4 years band, lots of environmental service, attended an environmental semester school, job, no interview
COA: $61,017| Actual merit $23,000

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Waitlisted
NolaCAR’s D -RD GPA 4.0 uw, ACT 29, SAT 1360 superscore
Biology/pre-med
Other factors: 3 AP’s, 3 college classes, 4 years band, lots of environmental service, attended an environmental semester school, job, no interview, in-state, legacy
COA: In-state: $25,294 Out-of-state: $47,544

University of San Francisco
Accepted
NolaCAR’s D - RD GPA 4.0 uw, ACT 29, SAT 1360 superscore
Biology/pre-med
Other factors: 3 AP’s, 3 college classes, 4 years band, lots of environmental service, attended an environmental semester school, job, no interview.
COA: $63,884|Actual merit $19,000

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Waitlisted
NolaCAR’s D - RD GPA 4.0 uw, ACT 29, SAT 1360 superscore
College of Biological Sciences
Other factors: 3 AP’s, 3 college classes, 4 years band, lots of environmental service, attended an environmental semester school, job, no interview.
COA: $26,719 In State, $36,383 OOS

Macalester
Denied
NolaCAR’s D - RD GPA 4.0 uw, ACT 29, SAT 1360 superscore
Biology/pre-med
Other factors: 3 AP’s, 3 college classes, 4 years band, lots of environmental service, attended an environmental semester school, job, on-campus interview.
COA: $64,595

Lewis & Clark
Accepted
NolaCAR’s D - RD GPA 4.0 uw, ACT 29, SAT 1360 superscore
Biology/pre-med
Other factors: 3 AP’s, 3 college classes, 4 years band, lots of environmental service, attended an environmental semester school, job, off-campus interview.
COA: $61,536|Actual merit $18,000