Parents of the HS Class of 2019 - 3.0 to 3.4 GPA

Parents Forum
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By popular (2019 parental) demand I am starting up the 2019 version of this thread.

I started the 2017 one and found it an incredibly enriching experience and very helpful with my S17 who is now a happy freshman after experiencing a successful application season.

This is from the original post that kicked of the 2017 thread and I think it all still holds true.

As a guideline, this is not a chance thread for students. It is for parents of kids roughly in the B to B+ range with any range of test scores. Of course, all parents are welcome, but it is not meant for the top of the line, applying to Ivies sorts of dilemmas. Advice from parents of other years is definitely appreciated!

Things to talk and think about now

  1. Test Prep
  2. School Visits & casting WIDE nets
  3. Fit & LOVING ALL OUR SCHOOLS
  4. Possible Financial/Merit aid
  5. Books to assist our quest of the perfect school for our children.
  6. Requesting LOR's before school gets out

And as we get close to and into senior year:

  1. Applications (EA vs. ED vs. RD), essay prompts, etc.
  2. Auditions (music, dance, theatre)
  3. Senior year visits & overnights
  4. The Waiting Game of acceptances
  5. Reviewing award letters
  6. Committing and sending in that check!

So, pour another cup of coffee (or tea), bookmark this thread, and start posting!

I will post an intro to get us started and then updated links to resources the 2017 parents used as well as our results thread. It was a very successful season for the 2017 kids and I expect the same for our amazing 2019’ers!

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Related Threads

The final outcome list for the class of 2017 can be found here. They rocked it!

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20605533/#Comment_20605533

Current 2018 thread may be found here

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1951765-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2018-3-0-to-3-4-gpa.html#latest

“Main” 2019 thread

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1732893-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2019.html#latest
There are a few others out there but they are pretty outdated at this point

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YAY, I’m first!

OK, I’ll reiterate my D19’s situation here, even though it’ll be old news to the folks on the regular thread.
She’s young - still 15 – and got a couple of Cs in freshman year and too many Bs, so she’s probably about 3.1 unweighted GPA right now. She’s taking two AP classes this year - first ones, as school doesn’t offer them before junior year. School doesn’t rank.

She got an 1180 on the SAT in August and will try to do better on the ACT in October, as her practice score on that test was the equivalent of about 100 points higher, SAT-wise.

We live in PA and won’t qualify for financial aid with an EFC of probably $30-35k. Well, we won’t qualify for financial aid at the schools likely to admit her - put it that way. But we’ll be seeking merit and probably falling back on the in-state PASSHE schools (Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education), which are schools like West Chester, Bloomsburg, Slippery Rock, Millersville, Kutztown universities. Fine mid-tier institutions, but we are hoping to aim higher.

Has expressed interest in majoring in theater tech and enviro studies, but is undecided. She is really good at English and average at math - it’s a very wide gap. We are pushing her away from English-type majors, though, as that area is what both of her parents are in and we don’t want her to be unhappy and struggle all her life to make a decent living :slight_smile:

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@Gatormama my daughter is a 14 year old freshman - her stats will be much higher than those of her brother who is currently a freshman at Rowan. She has to break our hearts and declare she’s majoring in Creative Writing!!! LOL

I thought my son was going to end up at Millersville - we all loved it! Bloomsburg was also in the running, but the most expensive of the PASSHE for us. Kutztown was never on the radar but at the last minute a crazy discount to NJ residents got our attention. In the end, he’s full pay at Rowan and thus far is doing great and loving it!

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We will be looking at Stockton, @NJWrestlingmom - we have a high-up connection there that might get us some merit. I’m not sure when we’ll visit but it’s definitely one of our top choices.

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By January we will know if we belong here or not. for S19. unweighted currently at 3.4. D17 was in the 2017 thread and did very well. Her GPa did finally hit 3.5, and her ACT did finally get to 29 after blood , sweat, tears. (25/28/26/29-1st to 4th try) She got into 5 of 7 schools , one being her dream school. For all of you here, the whole package matters. EC’s, essays, etc. Not just GPA and test scores. Also picking the right schools.

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@Gatormama we have a friend who works at Stockton as well. My son was accepted there but refused to visit. Our friend told him if kids get accepted at both Stockton and Rowan they usually pick Rowan because it’s higher ranked and there’s more to do. That was the end of Stockton! We didn’t get merit at any of our state schools (his stats were less than impressive - we were more surprised with the acceptances than the lack of merit!), but the cost was still slightly less than the PASSHE’s since we were out of state for those.

Stockton does have good science programs.

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I’m in. Currently S has a 3.1 uw GPA, 3.6 weighted. I am anticipating test scores of approx 1200 SAT, 25 ACT.

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Thanks for creating this @eandesmom!

To sum up D19 – she’s young (just turned 16) and has had two rough years in high school, mostly due to her struggles with ADHD and anxiety, with a dash of perfectionism thrown in. She has a 504 Plan for accommodations in school and has College Board accommodations, and took the ACT (no writing) two weeks ago with accommodations. She scored ACT composite of 30 (E 27, M 28, R 34, S 30).

She has a mix of majors she is interested in, but right now she is centered on theatre tech and digital media. She has a 3.0 unweighted GPA and is taking three AP courses this year, all of which she loves (AP Studio Art, AP Env Science, and AP Human Geography) along with some honors and on-level courses.

Our EFC is super high and our budget is about $25K less than what FAFSA says we will contribute. So we are on the search for schools with merit. We have some strong in-state (Virginia) options, but the GPA may be a problem at some schools.

We have the start of a college list of roughly 20 schools (including some super reaches) and we have visited half of them. She has a strong portfolio she has been sharing with faculty members of some of the colleges we visited.

I am thankful for this thread as D19 is a great kid, a smart kid, and a creative kid – she simply will not be competitive for academic stellar schools.

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@Gatormama I grew up in PA in the dark ages and the PASSHE were where most people in my class went. I feel like some of them have made great strides since then. (A friend of mine has taught at a couple of them)).

I’ll be reading both 2019 threads for now. S19 is a lazy A- ADHD kid who could easily decide that a B+ is also fine. (Currently has a 3.65 unweighted). He’s taking four honors and 2 AP this year (his first), while many of his peers take 3 to 6 APs. He had a pretty strong PSAT but won’t prep for the SAT, etc. My D16 was firmly in the 3.0 to 3.4 range and I don’t think S19 will aim much higher than she did in terms of schools. So we’re probably looking at schools with acceptance rates in the 40-80% range.

He likes math (but is not on an accelerated track with honors pre-calc this year) and music. He has no idea what he would major in, what type or size of school he would like, urban/suburban/rural, etc. We’ll look at some of the in-state publics (VA), but not UVA or William & Mary. My mental list includes VA Tech (reach), George Mason (just down the road), Pitt, Delaware, NC State, maybe Temple. Kind of interested in Vermont and Charleston based on their nice “medium large” size, but they might be too far away. Open to LACs, but I feel like not too many of them would be a good fit.

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Oh, and I was terribly remiss in my first post and can’t edit anymore: thank you so much to @eandesmom for once again creating this thread. I have learned so much from your 2017 journey and I am selfishly thrilled that you’ll be along for the 2019 cohort as well.

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Welcome all !!!

An intro and a thread “philosophy” statement if you will :slight_smile:

CC is a funny place. It is self selecting and often filled with extremely high achievers which can make it challenging, discouraging and depressing for those of us with average average kids (versus average excellent for folks who follow that thread).

That said. It is my personal hope and belief that this particular thread is welcome to all, regardless of whether a student “strictly” fits within the GPA range above.

As no student is the same…neither are gpa’s and test scores. We’ve got weighted verus un, scales that go to 4 or 6 or are done on a percentage basis. California schools that do gpa’s that only include 10th and 11th.

GPA is only one item in the mix. Some kids are lopsided. Great GPA, terrible test scores or vice versa. Some have learning challenges, health or other issues, or good numbers but low rigor. Some might be limited on their EC’s or whatever. Or simply…they might not be at all interested in the super selective schools or the parent wants to hang with a group focused on helping their kids be their best selves, while acknowledging the challenges that particular student might face.

I want to celebrate success here and collaborate together. And to provide hugs when tests don’t go well or homework isn’t turned in or whatever challenge our kids face. That could be for a student that has a 2.8 with a 1500 SAT or a 3.7 kid with a few F’s or D’s. The important thing is that we recognize there are hundreds of great schools out there and a “fit” for every student. It’s not just top 25 and the rest are irrelevant.

Ok. Off soap box.

My S19 is one of those Jekyll-Hyde kind of kids. Split personality if you will. If he’s in, he’s all in and if not…he is not. He is on the upper edge of the thread with an UW 3.4 . Our school doesn’t weight or rank for which I am grateful. Very bright, either motivated…or not at all, especially if he doesn’t see the point. As a result, there are far too many C’s on his transcript. 6 to be exact, not that I am counting. 1280 on the PSAT and a 26 on the first practice ACT. So nothing earth shattering from a starting point. I do expect improvement on the tests…the gpa remains to be seen. Against our wishes to some degree, he’s taking a very difficult course load with 5 AP’s. Not that he’s not capable of it but…he will have to turn in homework and that’s a challenge. ADHD and possibly on the Aspie side of things. We have a high EFC with 2 kids in college and a stratospheric one for his last 2 years when we go down to one kid (he’s our 4th to go through).

The EFC with 2 is the absolute max we will consider and our budget really is less, preferably at our flagship price point but it’s probably a pipe dream (both for actual end price and him getting in…not to mention it’s probably not the best fit). As such no super selective schools here, we will very specifically be targeting schools where he can get merit and have a chance at hitting budget. At the moment he has visions of going out of state but I question how well he will do on his own. He is NOT one to seek out help when he gets in the weeds and that makes me nervous. This year will provide some clarity. He does take ADHD meds as of mid last year and we have started working with a therapist and he is scheduled to hopefully have an academic coach from the school that works with the therapist but we will see if that really pans out, lately it’s been impossible with XC and Marching Band to schedule anything.

He is also, quite frankly, a very typical white boy without the outstanding grades or test scores to go with it. High rigor but typical EC’s…wind ensemble, trumpet, cross country and scouts. Oh and he founded and is president of the Philosophy club. Runs a lot for leadership positions but never wins. As such we will also be targeting the more holistic and less stats based schools, a strategy that worked well for his brother. He has a working list of 28 schools that meet his early criteria…and have potential according to their NPC, published merit info or my working knowledge of other offers kids have received in his stats range. Interests at present are all over the board, Computer Science, Physics, Screenwriting, Philosophy and well,…other things I am sure I am forgetting as it’s a moving target. He needs to be somewhere with flexibility.

Looking to start test prep next month, Dec ACT and then maybe mid winter and spring break visits to start to get a feel for school type and then go from there. Many of the remote schools we will not visit until after application and acceptance for cost reasons. If that hurt him, so be it. I personally believe there are many ways to show interest and it’s not all in a live visit.

Right now all I care about is a decent first quarter and seeing that homework turned in. He’s on top of it so far BUT it’s a LOT of homework and I can see is sliding. Easily. Makes me nervous.

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Hello, everybody!!! I don’t have a 2019 kid but I have a D20. So I will follow along for her, just like I followed along the 2017 thread for D18. Thank you @eandesmom !

I expect D20 will end up at CC which right now is fine with her. But who knows what might happen so you can keep me informed with your experiences.

I’ve been on a merit hunt for D18 because she had good enough stats for that, but it will be very different for D20 who has significant EF problems. :((

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@Gatormama Welcome! and awwww. thanks!

@MACmiracle Welcome! I suspect you’ll find folks with EF issues here that may have some amazing insight and help.

@sdl0625 even if you hit that 3.5 you are always welcome here! As you may recall S17 ended with a 3.49…
It’s like really dude?? LOL

@me29034 Welcome!!! I can’t agree more about the whole packaging mattering. S17 did well because his whole package told a story and he targeted schools that it worked for. Maybe I should title this “yes you can get merit with a 25 ACT…”

CC can be a perfect transition for many kids and a fine option both by itself and as a gateway to a 4 year.

@OrangeFish welcome! So happy to have you here and really thrilled for your ACT results! That makes me like Ursinus for her a lot with that amazing black box! :slight_smile:

@eh1234 Welcome! I can relate to the A- who might decide a B+ is good enough…or vice versa! Also happy to provide input on Vermont. We should have another 2019er showing up here who also has a 2017er at UVM.

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So some of you on here know me from the class of 2019 (and 2017) thread, My D19 is one of the weird ones—she actually has a pretty high GPA that makes it seem like she doesn’t belong on this thread, with a 3.7, but that’s a 3.7 with a lot of As, a few Bs, and a couple Fs. Basically, if she’s motivated about a class she does great, but if she isn’t she checks out completely.

We don’t have any test scores yet (probably taking the ACT February-ish), but she has a history of serious test anxiety, so we don’t have high hopes. She’s interested in industrial/manufacturing engineering (calculus and chemistry are among her favorite classes ever, she likes the elements of design involved, and her mom’s an engineer so she knows some of what being an engineer means), so that limits her initial list of schools at the outset (most of them big Midwestern state schools, which is her preference anyway). She’s got it down to ~50, and the next cull will be once she’s gotten her ACT score, when we’ve mutually decided that she and I will go through the list together and figure out which schools she can get at least a little merit money out of.

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@dfbdfb welcome!!!

at least the list is under 50. LOL!

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I had to pause and reflect on your “typical white boy” description @eandesmom. Mine has decent grades (He seems to aim for the 89.6 to 92.4 in every class, but sometimes sneaks in an actual A), decent test scores, so-so rigor, but no variety in his ECs, no leadership, and no sports (which is another reason I think I’ll be spending more time in this thread - from a holistic standpoint, he’ll look very “blah” compared to others with similar grades, even though I personally think he’s great). He has orchestra, jazz band, pit orchestra, takes lessons, does some music tutoring - that’s it. (And jazz band might not even work out due to conflicts with orchestra).

I suppose that he may decide to pursue music somewhat seriously in college but the music major forum here is not for the normal “very good but not performing solos at the Kennedy Center” type of high school musician - they really only talk about top 10 programs, but that is not where he would be looking.

@dfbdfb Your D is lucky to have a parent who is an engineer - I think a lot of students go into it without much concept of what it will be like. S19 has given me the “What do engineers even do anyway?” question and I told him to ask Google.

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Hah. Engineers. My dad was a rocket scientist. My brother works on deep black stuff for NRO. Both are engineers and I have no earthly idea what they actually do.

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Thought I would add more color about my kid. Some of this I’ve posted on the main 2019 thread.

S has two passions: basketball and current events. These two things pretty much dominate his life. If he’s got free time and he’s not paying basketball or working out, he’s watching the news. He knows more about what’s going on in Washington and who’s who than most adults. His only EC is basketball, though he plays on multiple teams so we can probably work it into a few lines on his app. He is not planning to play in college beyond recreational so we aren’t doing any recruiting activities. He told me he joined one club this year because his GC told him to but to the best of my knowledge he’s never been to a meeting or participated in any activity, so basketball is it.

S does not like school much. We have talked about whether he should go onto college, but he seems to recognize the value of college and has assured us he wants to go. His favorite class is AP Gov. Every chance for electives he fills with something history related. He will have 5 full years of history by the end of junior year. I’m not sure what he will take next year as he’s just about exhausted the offerings at his school.

We’ve just started looking at colleges. He’s not sure what he wants to study so we aren’t targeting specific programs. He is warming to the idea of UMass Lowell as his instate match. It doesn’t fit the definition of a safety but our Naviance seems to indicate that its a sure thing. We have also discussed SUNY Albany, some NYC area schools (Manhattan College, Iona, St John’s), and Philadelphia area schools (Temple and St. Joseph’s). He really doesn’t want to look much farther away than that. His main stated criteria - in a city and not in VT, NH and ME.

I’m glad this thread is now going. Looking forward to the journey with this kid.

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Wow, @me29034 - seems like you should push your son to consider a school in the DC metro area, if only for the political contacts and internships. I’m sadly ignorant about all options there so I’m not of much use beyond the initial suggestion.