Parents of the HS Class of 2018 - 3.0 to 3.4 GPA

Ohio State gives some nice financial aid based on ACT/SAT scores. Main campus is very competitive and a low GPA might not get him there (most of the incoming freshman are top 10% of their class) but if he wants to be a Buckeye Ohio State Marion campus which has open admissions may be worth a visit. About a thousand students and a couple thousand more at Marion Technical College which shares a campus. OSU Marion is expanding its engineering program and has the first two years of engineering curriculum for most disciplines. My son is also interested in EE and has taken engineering fundamentals in Marion. My daughter also started at Marion campus (her experience there was the theme of her diversity essay to get into the Biomedical Engineering program which only accepts 70-80 students).

I’ve even heard that OSU Marion offers special scholarships to those that apply early decision listing OSU Marion as their top choice for early decision, but I’m not exactly sure how that works or if there are similar funds at other branches.

After earning a certain number of credits and gpa students are eligble to transfer to main campus. Although most branches (Marion, Mansfield and Lima) have some 4 year degrees that can be completed at the branch. My daughter knows someone saving for medical school by taking the first 3 years at Marion Technical college, finishing 4th year and starting over with a clean gpa slate at OSU Marion.

I also have a niece (Class 2018 Gpa 3.0-3.4) that I’d like to see go to college so Marion Technical College - OSU Marion path is a plan she’s considering. She’s had several moves/stressful family situation during high school (her parents are not helping her with college bc they did just fine w/o a degree so why would anyone waste money on that? ugh, that’s probably a different thread) Anyway - we know her gpa even with her musical talents probably won’t get her to main campus right away (and even if it did she really isn’t ready yet for it, nor does she have enough money). She’ll need to prove she’s college material and doesn’t have access to any college credit programs or A/P classes where she is now so the smaller classes/more individual attention and extended family support here is the current plan. Though I’m still encouraging her to do auditions and seek out music scholarships (fingers crossed something may surprise us)!

So many anxious math-challenged girls! The ACT isn’t available around here till next year, I presume (no dates given at the moment), but I think dd would do well since she generally does well in and likes science. She isn’t generally fast, but she does seem to be able to process those long texts fairly quickly.

Thanks @MACmiracle ! Interesting. I have never been to New Jersey. How is the weather there? Love your allusion to a shopping mall food court! I noticed today that every time I look up a college on Google maps, there’s a Chik-Fil-A (which I still pronounce chick-fill-uh 'cause I have no clue) marked on the map. Cracks me up! I also appreciate your evaluation of the sidewalks. Does your dd skate? Mine has two boards but rarely skates. Those $100+ boards sitting there kinda bug me. But since it was her money…
Finally, those are all very good questions you are asking about Hamilton et al; I have many of the same.

I finally took a good look at Juniata after reading about it so much on here. I have to say it might be the first school I’ve looked at where the kids look really normal. I could totally see my dd there. Has anyone here visited?

@ MACmiracle

Have you looked at Wright State in Dayton? (they have open admissions) I was very impressed by my visit there in 2014, at that time they offered part-time internships with local industry so kids aren’t putting off their graduation date while still building their resumes.There is a lot of aviation research in the area so she may find an angle (they just built a Neuroscience building in 2015) that supports air force. They also have a medical school on campus, guarantee a seat in med school to enrolled students with a certain gpa and MCAT score, will fund masters degree for students with certain gpa (3.5?). My daughter was a low ACT/SAT scorer but also a hard worker that excelled in classes, you can apply and get into selective schools if they have a holistic selection process. All schools that are part of the Common Application agree to be holistic in their acceptance process.

Wright State is worth a visit, if you go, don’t miss the National Museum of the United States Air Force nearby. https://www.wright.edu/ http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

@Kardinalschnitt - I graduated from Juniata and really enjoyed my experiences there. Unfortunately I haven’t been back in years.

My S18 did better on the ACT. His SAT score was a 1220 and his ACT was a 29. There also seems to be more ACT practice tests available online than the SAT. Timing is the key with the ACT. If you are self studying we have also found tips on youtube for strategies to be more efficient. Not every tip will work for everybody but its good to try them out on practice tests to see if it works for you.

S18 officially signed up to try out for Drum Major in his HS band! fingers crossed He wanted to try out last year but he had another opportunity come up that had him missing the first week of summer band so he had to pass on it. A lot of his fellow band members were disappointed last year that he didn’t try out and felt he had a good shot so I’m hoping that it still the case. It’s so nerve wracking! But he said if he doesn’t try he has a 100% chance of not making it!

@Kardinalschnitt , I think the weather in NJ is comparable to Germany with four seasons. I’m thinking middle west and not Bavaria. My memory tells me Bavaria was colder in winter. Summers can be hot and humid, and winters are cold with occasional snow.

I would like to take a trip to Juniata. If we can manage it, I’ll post a review. All I need is a free weekend and a full tank of gas!

My D is normal looking. Not very fashion conscious, not grungy either. Not a social justice warrior. She has diverse friendships and helps those in need through volunteering or in more personal ways without making a political issue of it. Our family has been very hurt by a relative with a substance abuse problem so she is very uncomfortable with drugs and drunkenness. She likes to be active but is not an athlete. She likes music and plays an instrument well but isn’t a virtuoso. She puts her time into school work, music, and community service based on genuine interest not hours. She loves nature. There’s got to be a college that fits!

And she uses her board often. She’ll use it riding around our neighborhood alone or with friends, sometimes dangerously, by making contraptions to pull it with a bike or the dog.

@buckeye mom You just mentioned all of dd’s interests in one post! Just looked. Very interesting. Is the campus urban?

I can’t pull up Buckeye Mom but thanks for the info about Wright State and the new neuroscience building.

@Kardinalschnitt We visited Juniata last weekend. It’s D18’s current favorite. Our student tour guide was a graduating senior that was very open and honest about her time there. She mentioned how great the resources were there - great tutoring and access to professors. Also mentioned how there were some really interesting classes that she got to take outside her bio and psych double major. We didn’t see a whole lot of the student body, as it was earlier on a Saturday, but what we did see was a fun mix. There was one guy walking around in shorts and a tee in 58 degree weather, barefoot. They were setting up for a Bolivian-fest, so there were alpacas on the quad. Many of the students we saw looked studious - working on their laptops in various nooks and crannies on campus. Admissions meeting was very informative and answered a bunch of questions relating to GPAs and various programs (psychology and pre-OT for my dd). It’s a gorgeous campus with a home-like feel; it was very comfortable for all of us. They seemed to have a lot of activities for students (our tour guide was in at least 3 or 4 clubs - very actively) and it does seem to have more recreational activities for outdoorsy types.

@AnxietyMom , What is the student center like at Juniata?

My daughter definitely felt that the ACT was more suited to her strengths, which surprised us. As I wrote earlier, she has anxiety and and perfectionist tendencies which made us initially believe the ACT would not work for her. ( I swear that these perfection tendencies are why she loves ballet;) Her tutor has definitely helped her feel comfortable with the test format, but more importantly, he has given her strategies for HOW to take the ACT. He felt very strongly that it was critical for daughter to only study for and take one of the tests. He told us that he preps kids differently depending on which test they are taking. He is now working with our daughter’s friend and she is studying for the SAT.

I would be interested to learn why people might not value helping their child raise their score? It allows our daughter to look at different colleges and to be competitive for money. She raised from a 21 (baseline test given by her school) to a 26 and will get back to studying this week for the June test. I love reading about the different approaches people are taking to testing and applications. It’s all very helpful.

Maybe it is because she is looking at schools with a BFA in Dance and has to get applications in early next fall (to be allowed to audition for the BFA) that we are focusing on this issue right now. She can take it one last time in, I believe September, to use for her applications. I’m not certain I’d want to deal with this in her senior year, anyhow. She will work on the applications and essays this summer. I guess our process is just pushed forward because of her program and I don’t always realize that we are a bit early.

@amom2girls I absolutely agree that its good to prep and try to raise that score. It could mean thousands in merit money. I’m looking at a 5 hour prep class that is being offered on the other side of town by Prep For the Future. It’s only $89 and they say most students see a 2-4 point increase. They are supposed to do practice questions for each section and go over strategies. I figure that could potentially be $89 well spent! May as well give it a shot right?

Hi everyone, It’s been awhile since I posted, think maybe page 2? My son is a quiet, nice kid with a gpa that started in this range fresh and soph year with higher test scores. This year he is doing surprisingly well which would pull him over, but we are looking for merit and definitely feel welcome in this range of schools. We visited Muhlenberg, Dickinson, Ursinus, Butler, Juniata, and Wooster over the last several weeks.

@Kardinalschnitt Juniata was a school that my son wasn’t sure he wanted to visit given the location. He is really preferring to be closer to a city/town either within walking or driving distance. However our tour guide and students we met left an impression. He said he felt he could see himself there. He received a follow-up call to invite him to First look Friday over the summer that includes activities in the area. Might be something to look into?

absolutely agree @TexasMom18 ! We had to go with a private tutor because our daughter dances 6 days a week and we could not fit a class in to her schedule. The tutor comes to our house and that just made life easier. Our daughter would NOT have self studied. We bought her books last summer and she opened them and just stared, lol. If you are already struggling, it can be difficult to understand HOW to study and apply the information. Plus, the tutor is able to break down her practice scores and focus in on her weak areas.

It is important to know your child and I know she was NOT going to do this on her own.

@amom2girls D is in an unusual position, perhaps. We are low income with a house and some savings. We have two more kids with special needs who will need our help and very limited retirement resources from having lived much of our adult life abroad.

D is already at the top level for the automatic scholarships at most of the colleges we are looking at, regional publics and less selective privates.

Investing time might make her a stronger candidate for the few competitive full-tuition scholarships but she probably wouldn’t ever be a top candidate.

She could get into more selective schools but the merit would never be enough to make the cost realistic for us.

It would be different if she could get into one of the very selective schools that offer 100% need but don’t include home equity and limit the hit on assets for low income people, like Princeton and Hamilton. Their costs are realistic for us but admission isn’t. I don’t see her thriving in those environments either, but we might try a few just for the sake of having reaches.

Ideally, I’d like to see her bump up on the SAT for the full tuition at UAH. That is a realistic goal for a guaranteed benefit. We are using a tutor, but unless the time to practice is there, it might not amount to much.

@MACmiracle, it is always interesting to read about specific situations and how to approach the process. Like I said, our situation is guided by the audition process. The ACT 26 puts our daughter is the median or above for the schools that she is currently looking at, but we all would like her to be eligible for whatever money is out there. We are stuck, in that Pennsylvania State schools do not offer good BFA Dance programs. (except Temple, which has a solid Modern program, but it is in Philly and daughter would like to at least look at other schools)

@amom2girls

Does Montclair have the dance you are interested in? I remember seeing something here about their arts students get in-state tuition.

@amom2girls I suppose we are like @MACmiracle ? We just can’t pay for a tutor or special class when we are already paying a ridiculous sum to send her to school. When we arrived in our current city the French school that my younger dd attends told us they didn’t have a space for older dd (they told us to have her commute to a city more than an hour away). So she attends a school that costs more than three times the tuition. We also own a secondary residence because we wanted our girls to have a home base (we have lived in 7 countries), so have to pay part of our rent here (part is covered by dh’s employer) + mortgage for the home. Extras like clubs or sports (which all involve extra costs for trips to neighboring countries) and test prep are just pretty much out. So while it seems we would save in the long run, we just don’t have the cash to cover the tutor (and unlike pretty much everyone else in the world these days, we don’t operate on consumer credit). Oh, and @MACmiracle, yup, funding the (French) reitrement fund from abroad is expensive!

@AnxietyMom and @jcmom716 Thanks for the info on Juniata! It feels very right. Tonight, though, dd said she’s liking a school in England. Perhaps we’ll visit that one this summer.

Montclair was not on our radar, but I will definitely take a look…thank you!

@Kardinalschnitt , I moan and groan about finances but we have zero debt. I also think I would appreciate what we have more if it weren’t for the fact that everyone around us is much better off… but they have debt! And after living in abroad, I am happy to own a home, have central heating and air conditioning, hot running water, a car and a sofa to sit on even if they are used!

My dh was not a US citizen so when we moved here, we mostly had to start from scratch.