@titan431 Welcome! Do you have any preference of size or location of school? Are you looking or a Ra-Ra sports type schools or more of a quirky or studious type school? These might help us guide you.
Also - search for the 2017 version of this thread - there is a comprehensive list of results from kids that graduated last year in there that might give you some ideas.
@titan431 http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1871275-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2017-3-0-to-3-4-gpa-p266.html should take you right to the beginning of the results listing
I think I would like a more smaller school that does not base all merit and worth on parties and greek life. Thanks for the help guys, I just got done speaking with another user who said I would likely not be accepted by any schools and that has me very worried.
Ignore that poster. There are tons of colleges that will be happy to admit you. Are you going to get into the Ivy League?Nope, but neither are most other students including, most probably the user who told you you werenât getting accepted anywhere.
The funny thing reading through the 2017 thread with acceptances is that most of the kids had GPAs greater than 3.4, with many in 3.7/3.8 range, which makes a huge difference.
Grrrr. People like that poster annoy me to no end, both in reaction to their own cluelessness and to their ability to create unnecessary angst.
Iâm faculty at an open admissions college. That means that if you are on track for or currently hold a high school diploma or the equivalent (and, in some cases, even if you donât), youâd be admitted here, as long as we still have space available in the incoming class. (Caveat: We do have different cutoff standards for out-of-state studentsâbut theyâre still pretty minimal, and youâre more than above those.)
And hereâs an important stat that so many on CC seem to be unaware of: The majority of seats for students at colleges across the country are at open (or nearly-open, AKA minimally selective) admissions colleges.
Some of these are rip-offsâyou shouldnât overpay for college, no matter what, and you should avoid colleges that are struggling to maintain accreditation, and you should more than avoid for-profit colleges. But public regionals (like the one I work at)? They can be a pretty good deal, as can a good number of the private colleges out there.
So donât buy into the negative hype. You have options. (And as mentioned above, the results posts from last year are a good place to start, plus talking to your own guidance counselor if thatâs a viable option.)
@DCNatFan that is true - but most of those kids with slightly higher GPA were chasing merit. So the schools on that list will probably still be possibilities for a kid with a lower GPA, just the merit $ might not be there.
@stlarenas Got it. Thanks for the clarification.
GUYS!
GUYS!!
I JUST GOT ACCESS TO NAVIANCE.
@taverngirl - Alleghenyâs been on the list from the start. Not high atm, but itâs solidly there.
@Titan431 Look at Marist. I know they have great Sports Management program and Communication as well.
[dfbdfb glares daggers of jealousy in @Gatormamaâs direction]
D is flat-out refusing to consider small LACs now. âI want a big school. I donât want to be a big fish in a little pond anymore.â Her senior class is about 75 students, so I can understand this.
But I worry sheâll get lost in a big u.
Are there big Us that have small LAC possibilities within them? I know that once youâre in your major college, it gets way small, but thatâs not until several semesters along, maybe not till junior year.
Reminder that we need merit and arenât tippy top, stats-wise. Right now I have schools like OU, WVU, Bowling Green, Stockton, U. New Mexico, West Chester on the list. Worried that none of these has a LAC feel within the bigger U.
Any of them have honors colleges that she might get into?
@Gatormama we are in AZ and so one of our options is ASU and Barrett Honors. Part of Barrettâs pitch is that it is sort of like an LAC within a big university. Barrett has its own dorm and dining hall. https://barretthonors.asu.edu/about/facts. ASU has a scholarship calculator: https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator. The website says that the average Barrett GPA is 3.78 uw. My Dâs GPA is more like 3.5. Also when they say GPA they are actually looking at the unweighted GPA of the core academic classes required for admission, which in my Dâs case may be more like 3.4 because she tends to get Aâs in electives and Bâs in some of her academic classes. Anyway, because weâre local our Naviance has lots of data on admission to Barrett so I am pinning hopes on the fact that I do see some 3.4 GPAâs being admitted.
Thanks, I think thatâs an excellent way to approach this. I donât have certainty that sheâd qualify for any honors college now but Iâm gonna take a harder look at them.
Btw, this is where Naviance really fails us. No data on aid at all.
While youâre looking at AZ, @Gatormama (not that youâre actually looking at AZ yet), Northern Arizona University now has a new residential Honors College (https://www.nau.edu/Honors/Program-Overview/Admissions/). Maybe the GPA might still be an issue for your D, but the ACT/SAT scores are probably lower than ASUâs. Might not be as big as ASU (not much is), but at 22K students, itâs not much smaller than WVU.
What is it that she likes about the bigger schools? Sports, more majors, more course selection? Just doesnât want to be in a tiny town? (BTW, I agree with her. We looked at some really small schools and I knew my kids would outgrow them in a year. I felt claustrophobic in them).
Wyoming doesnât cost much and gives merit scholarships to OOS students. The Dakota schools are a bargain. My favorite âhidden gemâ is U of Utah.
Lots of large schools have some kind of living learning communities or themed dorms. These can be international, environmental, arts themed, engineering, outdoors, sports, LGBTQ. And thatâs just a few of them. A good LLC can really make a big school cozy. Also a smaller major can make a big difference. A campus faith organization or an intensive club can also be greatâŠ
My D15 went to the affordable school not the best fit and has never ever regretted it. She just had to be proactive about making it her home despite the fact that the overall vibe of the place is totally not her. It has challenged and stretched her in all the best ways.
D16 choose the small LAC and has struggled much more with relationships and fitting in. Part of that is her but part of that is a smaller pool of people to really click with. If you are a quirky kid bigger can be a lot better.