3rd quarter grades here too. A bit irrelevant really as none of his classes average, it’s a running total although the AP Physics grade for can bump up a lot if he does well on the AP test. 2 A, 1 A-, 1 B+, 2 B’s and… a C-.
Sigh. Still it is an improvement over the semester end.
Our profile sheet is medium boned. Lists all the AP/Honors options but not how many take them or test scores. Average gpa and test scores only. No weighting or ranking. No deciles.
Which honestly…helps my kid as he does at least get the “most rigorous” check box.
Grrr. This weekend has been a microcosm of S19’s school experience. He currently has straight Bs but very high Bs, within striking distance of As in every class. He scored a big win on his March SAT and clearly understands how much a big jump in grades might help with admissions and merit. And yet . . . this weekend I allowed him to work on his homework upstairs, why, I don’t know. And discovered he had managed to route around his phone restrictions, reinstall Netflix and binge watched “The Office” while he pretended to work.
I know it’s his eternal struggle with procrastination and task initiation, exacerbated by anxiety. I know. But his GPA will actually go DOWN this semester despite the fact that he is finally turning in all his assignments and has started learning to manage his own academic life. His teachers love him and his two AP teachers have sought out the school GC to volunteer to write his recs. What a triumph, especially since I had to plead for the school to allow him to try AP Calc this year as a junior because he was so lackadaisical in Precal. But it seems like he is trying to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. GAAH!
Sorry, @fwtxmom – I can empathize with your situation and understand your frustration, if that helps you feel any better. We’re traveling a similar path with D19 as she sometimes tries to boil the ocean vs focus on The Simple Task At Hand. (Infuriating.)
You’re not alone, @fwtxmom. Replace “the office” with video games and we had pretty much the same experience here with my S21. Argh.
@fwtxmom Agreed that you are not alone. And thank you for sharing because these comments/this thread are some of the few I’ve read that make me feel like I am not the only person who has a child like this on college confidential, lol. Replace The Office with RE-binge watching Dr. Who and you could have been describing the weekend at my house (actually, the past two years, but this weekend as well).
I so feel your pain. Our house as well except it’s Executive Functioning with a side of teen boy.
Sigh.
And hugs.
Toured Seattle University today. For those who do not know it is a mid sized Jesuit College. About 7400 total, 4700 undergrad. Only about 30% identify as Catholic and there really was zero religious overtones/feeling, but a lot of focus on social justice and overall ethics which sat well with him. For anyone wanting a mid sized liberal ish but not overly so University in an Urban setting, it has a LOT going for it. Middle 50 is 3.3-3.9, ACT 25-30, SAT 1070-1290.
He sat in on a class, “Health as a Human Right”. They discussed a reading, watched a video and apparently he actively participated in the video discussion, it’s a 3rd quarter sophomore year or junior standing core curriculum option class. Although not at all in his major area of interest he really enjoyed the class and shared some takeaways. He liked the professor, the class size (15), the actual class, and connected with a sophomore CS major who shared their experiences so far.
He also had a 1:1 with a CS professor (ok 2:1 as I was there too lol), who’d spent 20 years at GA Tech prior to SU. Really great engaging guy. Shared a lot about the program. About 200 in the UG CS program in total, it’s software engineering BS focused with a general option or a math or business track that includes a minor.
He was very interested in the business track, with either a minor in international business or an innovation/entrepreneur option. There is also a BA option and a 5 years BS/MS option. Senior year includes a 3 quarter, year long, research project where teams work with local companies (both big and small) that sponsor the projects. Some are hired out of the projects. Big push on the study abroad, according to the professor, with his AP credit’s he would likely have a lot of schedule flexibility to fit that in if he wanted (or graduate early). On paper it’s a match due to his GPA but according to our naviance which has decent data, it is a safety and the professor said based on his course load alone (rigor) he’d be admitted no problem lol. We do send some kids there every year but not so many it would feel like HS. Admission is to the overall college, it is not different stats per major. Which is REALLY nice in CS these days! There are major pre-req’s to declare/direct entry as well as min test scores but he is fine. 13 faculty right now with 2 more planned additions.
He loved the urban, compact campus, and the size of the school. Food was decent (had lunch with provided vouchers) and the dorm rooms just fine. He could commute the last 2 years if he wanted and save a ton of $$. We did chat about rooms. He’d like to try having a roommate and thinks it would be good for him socially. He would likely qualify for a single with his diagnosis but we will reserve that option on an as needed basis at schools if rooming with someone else doesn’t work out. Support services (at a glance) seem really good, I’d dig into after admission as we narrow things down.
He decided to copy his brother. If he likes a school and intends to apply, he wants a hat as swag (even though they gave a free tee for touring. So, we have our first official hat school! It has moved up in the rankings (tied at #4) and for me is a solid safety I feel good about given his particular needs whereas the other safeties do not give me that comfort level. There is nothing he “didn’t like” in his words. He just thinks he likes other things about the top 3 more. I’m ok with that. I think it should be a solid #4 not a tie but that’s ok lol. Lots of family history here, my father taught here for years and many cousins attended although none recently.
I am relieved. I have been hoping he would like it but trying not to play it up too much as he would like to go away but…this gives me some peace of mind as a solid option that we’d all feel good about (ok maybe not financially but we will see, it looks like it will be in range but lopsided makes it a bit hard to tell). He does need to do some homework on jazz opportunities there but we know there are options so will dig into that later. He was very anti any kind of religious ties to a school and we all leaned on him to give a chance. Very glad he did.
@fwtxmom S19 has spent way more time (re)watching The Office during his junior year than he has studying for tests or that sort of thing. I don’t restrict his phone or monitor him so there are a lot of Bs that could be As. He wouldnt study if I took away Netflix anyway.
Except none of his teachers are begging to write recommendations for him as far as I know, so be thankful for that! It’s must be a wonderful thing to hear and should go a long way along with the strong test scores.
Thanks, @eandesmom for the review of SU. We were there last fall and really liked it. My kids were not raised Catholic, but felt very comfortable there. The campus has a nice contained feeling within the larger city and is easy to get to from the airport since that would be how D would get there. I felt that with her solid GPA if she could bring up test scores a bit, she might qualify for a small merit, and SU’s COA was lower than most LAC’s we’ve seen.
@fwtxmom We’re in the same boat - maybe we can share a life preserver? Our S19 has a couple grades in the high 80s and if he just pushed himself he could easily have those be As but I often catch him watching Parks & Rec on Netflix (he already went through all of The Office last year). His M.O. has been to squeeze out decent grades by 4th quarter but it would be nice to see him putting in a little more effort as I don’t anticipate his ACT score from April to significantly improve from the 25 he received on the February ACT. It’s nice to know we’re not alone and also that kids think The Office is hilarious (as I was big fan of it).
Hi all - I’ve been reading these posts with interest as my D19 will fall into this gpa range. However, what finally made me create an account was all the parents with kids who are “The Office” and “Parks and Rec” fans! Add my D to the list, these are her favorite time wasting shows. She is also one of those maddening B+, 89.9% students who if she would just put in a teeny tiny bit more effort could get the A-. My husband and I have much grey hair over this. So I’m delighted to have found my tribe! 
D19 is interested in a very specific art related major/BFA so I’m not sure how much our school search process will help others, but I will share where I can. She will likely apply to a few regular colleges as well as art schools. D19 also took the April ACT, so we are waiting for scores from that. On practice tests she scored anywhere from a 26 to a 30 so who knows where that will end up. She also had a huge split between the English/Reading Comp sections and the Math/Science, so I’m not sure what schools will think.
Anyway, nice to “meet” you all!
Welcome, @golden3 . The more the merrier! I, myself was a high B+ kid, and now I have one, so I guess what goes around comes around. You will find lots of great advice and support here.
@Acersaccharum the vibe at the info session seemed to be if you were at the low end of the middle 50, assume 12K, high end, assume 24k. Plus 9 full ride competitive scholarships per year ( we will not be asked to apply to that lol!) . How true that is, who knows but their calculator does predict the named scholarship based on stats. You just have to look at the site to see the current amounts as the amounts in the NPC are last years but the names are the same.
SU offers better merit than the other Jesuits in the area (Portland U and Gonzaga) and I am not quite sure why. Portland has a nicer more traditional campus setting and Gonzaga definitely has the powerhouse sports rep (though SU is decent in some, our D14 would have loved to play soccer there but they had zero interest in her).
@golden3 welcome!!! We have some art and theater major kids here (dance maybe this year?) as well as some who have it as a desired EC so while we may not all be of help, it’s a very welcoming and supportive group!
Visited SU and UP a couple weeks ago. Son attends an urban high school and didn’t care for the hardcore urban neighborhood at SU, he is looking for something different. Talked with the regional Adcom and she was very open and forthright with her answers, wonderful person. Got the red t-shirt. A nice school for the right student looking for a urban campus, much like USF. Very liberal school even by Jesuit standards.
UP has a wonderful campus, they need more students. They are known to throw a lot of money at kids coming out of Catholic high schools. UP is Catholic but are of the same order of The Holy Cross as Notre Dame, not Jesuit (but I loved UP anyway!). This school has been described as “Santa Clara University 10 years ago” and I can see that. This looks to be a school with BIG upside. Two of their largest benefactors past away this month including Allen Lund the named party on the brand new Lund dorms.
Both schools are very big on demonstrated interest. Both schools are right in the wheelhouse of the 3.0-3.4 student.
Hi @golden3 - welcome! my S19 is also going the BFA route. It makes the college search a different animal to be sure since so much rests on the audition (or portfolio review for visual artists).
@eandesmom, really good for your description of US. After sending some emails to admission officer of different colleges, we estimate my D19 GPA to be around 3.5 (conversion IB grade score in HS to US GPA). With my D narrow down/change her major choice to Criminology/Sociology, it seems the Washington State University fit her profile, except it is in rural/ college town setting. Do you have any insight about WSU? Also, University of Seattle also seems fit, but its a bit out of our budget!
UP is lovely, we know happy kids there. Very well regarded locally. They also seem to reward lopsided kids (Hugh test scores). I couldn’t get S19 interested in it but the CS program seemed stronger at SU anyways so I guess that’s ok.
I would like to look at USF for S19 as if we toured Santa Clara it would be easy enough to tack on but it hasn’t seemed to pencil. Maybe I should relook.
Ugh I hate posting from my phone!
High test scores, not Hugh. Lol!