@MomStudent2017 : what you quoted is likely as well. You should see the spread of grades of the little green squares - that may be more informative. For example, for U Penn, my school’s Naviance shows only top grades, as expected. But for middle of the road colleges, I have seen many acceptances in the below 3.0 range. So it’s important to see the scattergram in Naviance, not the just the numbers.The GPA is really dependent on your high school’s rigor .
@mathprof63 it’s very interesting. This is so new to me that I didn’t realize the correlation between rigor and the Naviance results. That makes sense. What the data suggests on the compare me section of Naviance versus the actual scattergram can be somewhat different and I think you still need to look at schools stats as a whole, not just your own schools results. But it is helpful to see.
What was not so helpful was realizing that my son’s GPA is not correct in Naviance. It doesn’t look like ours is pulling in current cumulative includng 1st semester junior year, only through the end of Sophomore.
Thank you very much @mathprof63 , @am9799
@eandesmom : I will look at all the search engines and make a list, thx
@SlackerMomMD , I read all the posts from the thread you posted, it sounds so much like my story…the college list and the happy ending truly helps, thx much!
I had always assumed my S would go to a UC until an event in Sophomore yr changed everything and his GPA went into downward spiral, so I had saved up enough…I can afford $35K/yr, would there be any possible private colleges that I might be able to afford?
@StressedinCA there are a ton of factors here in terms of what schools might be a fit for your son and for your wallet.
I believe the Cal schools do their own weighting on the GPA and that is sophomore year onwards which unfortunately is not a great timeline for your son based on your post… You should be able to calculate what his gpa is, according to their system and that can help let you know which schools within the UC system he might have a shot at. That SAT does help though.
There are definitely mid/lower tier Cal State schools that he should have a real shot at. Monterey Bay, Sacramento, Humboldt State. I assume you are in state in CA? Out of state and private can cost more than 35k so you’ll want to see if you qualify for aid first to see if that can help things and if in CA you can look at Western Exchange schools where you may get a break on tuition and participating schools.
To answer your question, yes I would think so but it gets back to you coming up with a list. With 3000 colleges out there, there is something for everyone in the right price range and for various gpa’s and test scores but I’d find that list of schools that match your kid first before just picking a school based on whether he can get in or not or the price.
How is he doing junior year? Is the gpa stabilized or is he taking any honors or AP classes? Colleges will look at all of it.
My boy certainly wishes he had the lopsided gpa/test score situation! He has a 3.3 uw gpa and a 1590 on his first try at the SAT (old test). Interestingly, and very unusual for him, he was disappointed with his result and is keen to retest and improve his score. He prepped a bit for the first go but not very much, and getting the benchmark seems to have really motivated him to prep hard and do better.
He has expressed interest in physical therapy, or possibly environmental science, but I think the real answer is he is undecided, so he needs to keep his options open. He has indicated he would ideally like to stay within a reasonable driving distance from home, say 5-6 hours (we are in NY). Smaller is better than larger, and Catholic schools are also very much on the radar.
He is a two sport varsity athlete, football and basketball, and wants to continue with football in college. The football is actually proving to be a very tricky thing for the family to navigate. His parents would prefer he leave it behind in high school and focus on the academics going forward but he has persuaded them to let him continue. The fact that he is good at his sport and it will be an asset for admissions has helped his argument. He is also a super high energy kid. He really needs regular, intense exercise just to calm down enough to be able to sit still and focus. There will need to be some sports in the picture whether or not he continues at the varsity level.
He has quite a few schools on his list right now, and will be starting visits in earnest next week which will hopefully give him a better sense of what he likes. The schools within a reasonable range as far as his stats: a few of the SUNY’s, Ithaca College, Hobart & William Smith, Assumption, Stonehill, Allegheny, Susquehanna, Duquesne. There are also a few others which are actively recruiting him and would probably otherwise have screened out as too reachy for him stat wise. Most would likely be untouchable without the football and even with it some are still a big stretch - Fordham, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Bucknell, and Rutgers. Academic fit is very important for this family. A situation where he will have to race just to barely keep up with the other kids is not a recipe for success. On the other hand, there is something to be said for being around people who bring you up, and you can’t have a top half of the class unless there is a bottom half… Who knows? Right now, it is all fun and all options are on the table. I worry he may be in store for some disappointment down this road, but it will be manageable and everything will be ok in the long run.
Focusing back in on the immediate issue – what test prep materials are people using? We have a way to go before the free College Board materials are exhausted, but I am very curious about the Prepscholar course. The online reviews are very mixed, but most of the negative ones seem to be either from people who have very high scoring kids to begin with or others who are having trouble with the money back guarantee. Our goals are more modest and I do know a few people whose kids have had good success with the course. Does anyone have any thoughts or other recommendations?
@oldbrookie, is Marist a possibility? One of my nephews went there and did crew.
Hi @oldbrookie , My S used prepscholar for preparing for his SAT and it proved to be very helpful, Essays ans critical reading were his weaknesses, at prepscholar for each essay he would send they would give a detailed feedback and what he could have done better, it helped him a lot, he got a 10/12 . Also, while the child is preparing they keep on serving the modules that the child needs help on till they master it, the dashboard gives you a quick at a glance understanding of the progress and the areas the child need to focus on. I highly recommend it. Please message me if yu have any specific questions.
Yes, @rosered55, Marist is on the list. I just missed it for some reason. The Old in my moniker is there for a reason.
@StressedinCA your boy’s test scores are a powerful recommendation - Thank you!
mine is deciding between Rollins College (pre-engineering 3/2 program) and Baylor University (mech. eng). quite different, but those are the final contenders!
@oldbrookie I completely agree that there is something to be said for being around people who bring you up. Our feeling quite often is that S17 would be a b+ student regardless. That’s his level of effort. He just works harder to get those B’s in the more rigorous classes and easier classes have in the past, actually created bigger issues as he gets bored. He is also a miserable test taker and while I don’t want him to be barely keeping up and stressed, I don’t want him to settle and be at the top of that B market either in a school. A fine line for sure. I have a kid who needs to be active too, not football but I can respect trying to find a happy medium there. My SD is playing club soccer at her college and that’s been a great fit. Best of both worlds. Still affiliated with the school, still competes nationally but without all the pressure of a D1 team and sitting on the bench and trying to survive classes at the same time. That said, she’s naturally a much better student than S17 is.
We have used a local test prep group and are focused on the ACT as diagnostically (at least with the old SAT) that was a better fit. We plan go to back as we get closer to the June test, post spring break. Semi similar, we pay very little for continuing to try to improve (just a couple of 1:1 tutor session) although without the 4pt “promise”. It will ramp up once we get through the AP tests too. Other than that, just the free tools. He bumped up 1 point on the first retest but we are hoping for more. Not sure if we will keep going after that if it doesn’t move. At this point for his list, I am not sure it will impact admissions at all, but it definitely impacts merit.
@nettiK4137 does the 3/2 concern you? We’ve heard that often kids do not end up following through on the engineering aspect as they are pretty settled into the LAC and unwilling to actually move on when the time comes. S17 has a few of those on his list and we’ve been focusing on the non 3/2 options at those schools as a result. If S17 ends up wanting engineering, then they will come off our list entirely I think but we really won’t know till after spring break tours which way he is leaning, exploring it all right now.
@eandesmom: I know you said your son isn’t interested in CA but is there any chance you can get him to look at Chapman University? They have Environmental Science, CS, give $ and it’s a medium sized campus that seems to be a supportive environment. FWIW my DD14 is a tree hugging, PNW loving, liberal vegetarian and she’s loving Los Angeles. My kids say they want to eventually live in the PNW as adults. I’ve told both that this is their chance to live somewhere else on someone else’s dime. 
@Agentninetynine I’ve tried with Chapman. We know several kids there and they all love it. One of SD14’s best friends is there and got a huge merit offer. Granted, she is a tippy top kid so I don’t think it’s a great comparison but I know they didn’t qualify for need. One of his close friends has it as his second choice so if he ends up there, that could definitely be a draw, they made him a very nice offer. They may qualify for some need, not sure but I don’t think he is a tippy top kid, likely more in S17’s range. S is so anti LA it’s hard to budge him but my strategy right now is to just see how these few visits play out and then go from there as it will tell us a lot program wise. If he goes for renewable energy or environmental engineering it wouldn’t work but for the environmental policy route, it would. There just really isn’t all that much out there focused on sustainable/renewable energy engineering specifically in undergraduate programs. Or at least that fit him academically, fit his narrow geography requirements, and aren’t huge state rah rah football schools that are OOS and not in the WUE lol.
I LOVE the idea of them living somewhere else on someone else’s dime. Our D14 is loving SLO but it’s our dime. LOL!
Still, with his current stats it’d be a reach school.
It’s 2 dimes for us since DD14 is in L.A. and it’s not cheap.
I heard over and over on this forum and from friends that their kids had various changes of heart between junior and senior year about many factors. Proved true for us as well. Fingers crossed that your son finds the right place. I was going to suggest SLO. Is that not an option?
Lol, @Agentninetynine no, LA is not cheap. Neither is SLO. He has zero in interest in CalPoly. Partially due to location but I think the fact that DSD is there is a factor. He wants his own thing and just sees their “things” as being pretty different on the vibe scale. I’m not sure that he is right or wrong in that one but I can see where he is coming from.
The fact that you do have to declare your major at application and core is first, transferring majors is a reapplication to the new school making switching gears very hard, those may not be ideal for him either as I fear he may change directions and hedging bets in his case seems prudent. In other schools you may not have that kind of “penalty”. Not to mention his stats for Engineering at SLO make it a stretch. He would have a better shot at ENVS but that’s still a reach.
You never know. She absolutely loves it there, it’s been a great fit and luckily the major has stuck. We were really worried she picked it for all the wrong reasons and made a major “fit” but it’s worked out fantastic so far.
S17 has the same feeling for Reed that SD had for Cal Poly at this point in the game but wow…that’s such a stretch and we aren’t convinced at all on the major side that it’s really a fit. We already have one LAC kid not using their degree…not to mention Reed (if it actually became a real option) would have to come with money and it’s hard to imagine that happening.
Mine is really interested in Chapman too, but she’s not likely to get any merit money, so it’s really a financial stretch.
@“Queen’s Mom” unless they offered money, Chapman would be an absolute no go for us as well.
It is interesting but the most money my kid got was from the school least expected to give it. After that I am now a believer of you never know what will happen with merit.
Oh, we will definitely be applying to Chapman. I just hope she surprises me and aces her SATs or raises her GPA.
I love surprises! We are hoping for some too!