@Marcie123 I bet the counselors enjoyed that essay! I’d love to read it!
Hi all. Love reading these threads for normal kids! My S17 had higher GPA, middle of the road ACT and was not motivated at all to do better on it. He absolutely refused to do a prep class. He had just what he needed to get into the program that he wanted and that was it. He hates standardized tests!
Luckily if your kids can get to that 3.5 and do ok on their tests there are a lot of schools that will give good merit. Son got great merit at Auburn, Miss. State, Colorado State, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Kansas State (all the schools he applied to) plus honors college.
His list was made because he wanted schools with vet schools not in the west or east or too far north.
Just a note to all of you. Look at schools that are right for your kid. Don’t worry about the ratings. Sometimes a school that accepts almost everyone has programs that are really great. Son’s school is great at pre-med and pre-vet and the classes are great.
To let you know how things can go. My kid who was a nightmare his junior year just finished his 2nd year in college with a 4.0 average, is president of his fraternity (a large one), has a job in the physics department (he hated physics in hs and got a 2 on his AP test), and it totally happy.
Good luck to all your kiddos and know there are a lot of us out there who have been through all this. You will make it.
@murray93 @1stTimeThruMom she’s a philosophy major (as of now) so I’m sure she had some great thoughts in it!
my scattered-s20 would have no clue who and what College Board is. marci123 - why does your kid hate it?
@Marcie123 thanks! Always good to know we’re not alone 
@bgbg4us she has a long list of grievances. Mostly with standardized testing as a whole and educational inequality. She hates that she could afford tutoring which brought her scores up a lot. But that some people cannot. She would have refused tutoring if I had given her that option. I think she may have skipped college altogether if she were not forced to apply. I told her to go out and change the world but you need to start by getting a college degree. Education reform is what I think she’d ultimately like to do
Just popping in to say hello! I’ve been occasionally reading the other years’ threads and it feels so surreal to finally be “up at bat!” D20 has about a 3.3UW/3.8W, but does well on standardized tests. No subject tests, but he has a SAT 1480 and 35 ACT, BUT he only got a 3 (yes, three!) on the writing section of the ACT. He took the test during school and had no idea a writing section existed, nor that he would be taking it that day. Getting him to communicate at all is like pulling teeth at times, so while I am disappointed, it is kind of funny, too. We are not making him retake either test since he is so lopsided to begin with. He feels pretty confident about his AP Lang exam and thinks he has a chance at a 5, so maybe that will show that he really can write, when he wants to.
We are in NC and D20 is interested in aerospace/mechE or computer science. He’s not a match for our state school that has both of those options, but is interested in UA Huntsville or Mississippi State since they have both programs AND excellent merit aid. Any other suggestions?
He is also a fly under the radar kind of kid, so I am nervous about the whole teacher recommendation thing.
@SweetSoulMusic it sounds like your kid is really interesting. I love those spikey/lopsided kids. Does your student like to create, solve problems, build stuff? Have you looked in to Olin College of Engineering. They don’t have the aerospace, but the mech e and the comp sci is there.(and quite a few kids get internships/jobs at GE, Boeing, Blue Origin, SpaceX, JPL,etc. My daughter was even offered an internship at Rolls Royce --who knew they made jet engines? --LOL) Its a tiny school that bills itself as an experiment in engineering education. 350 students in the whole school, 3 majors, a completely project based curriculum, and students can cross register at Wellesley and Babson. Its certainly not a safety for anyone, but they give half tuition to all accepted students. Let me know what you think. I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have if you’re interested.
I’m just popping back after the memorial day weekend to vent that D’s grades won’t be improving any time soon. I was away over the weekend when she went to the beach so she did not get the usual sunscreen reminder. She will probably miss the entire week due to sunburn. I never knew such a thing could happen. We’ve been in phone contact with the doctor and the school nurse recommended we keep her home.
Several years ago, she was evaluated and almost got a nonverbal learning disorder diagnosis. She didn’t quite meet the criteria, but the evaluator said she might eventual earn the label if her grades start to tank when she hits more abstract math. That seems to be happening. She has A’s in everything except math and science with a D and a C, and that’s with math tutoring. Her school requires 4 years of math so this problem won’t go away since there are no good options other than precalc. 
@MACmiracle sorry to hear about your D’s sunburn. My D16 is super fair and sunburns easily as well. I hope she feels better quickly.
@MACmiracle Hopefully she heals quickly. And hopefully she can get the help she needs with math.
@MACmiracle I’m extremely fair and got a horrific sunburn in high school that kept me out of school for a week. The only good thing to come out of it was that I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of sunscreen. It never happened again. Hopefully your daughter will be feeling better soon. I remember how miserable it was.
Also, my daughter struggled with math after algebra. She found that statistics was a fairly good fit for the required math class. It also helped strengthen her science scores. You might check out a stat workbook from your local library and see if it might be an option for your daughter before she fully commits to a class.
Hi everyone! I just wanted to say hello, as I was recommended to this forum over the generic class of 2020…D20 has a decent gpa, (3.8?3.9? UW-I really don’t know the latest) but only a 26 ACT.
I hope to be of some help to others, and learn as well…Hard to believe their senior year is here!
Just stopping by to offer some encouragement. I had an older child who was in this zone, and with the right fit for college, soared beyond my wildest dreams. So hang in there and remember that it can get much better when you least expect it. There are many paths to success and one can truly do very well from any college.
@MACmiracle ouch - so sorry to hear about the sunburn! I did that once in college (was at UCSD and loved the beach).
@engineermomof2 Welcome to you! My S20 also has a fairly decent GPA (around a 3.6 UW) but has struggled a bit this second semester of Junior year (still waiting on final grades as finals are next week). He got a 21 on the ACT and 1090 on the SAT with zero studying for either. He is taking a 25 hour Kaplan class at school in July for the SAT and will retake it in August (we’re hoping he can hit around a 1250).
@engineermomof2 welcome! My girls (19 and 20) both had 4.0s, but I’m here because both struggled on testing to varying degrees. Though D19 ended up with a 30, D20 got her first score back as an 1100 on the SAT, so this is definitely the space for her- she has some learning differences.
Well, D20 is now officially a 3.4-er. This sometimes happens when you skip class and don’t turn in your work. #Underachiever
@tutumom2001 sorry It is super hard when you know they can do better.
Our S20 has struggled a bit this semester and has had some work not turned in also. We clamped down on him a couple of weeks ago and so he is putting forth some extra effort in his final projects and working on some last minute extra credit for some classes.
@tutumom2001 I agree with you that statistics might be a better fit. Unfortunately, her school has precalc as a prerequisite for statistics which I really can’t understand. Doing a run through of stats before college would really be beneficial, too. Of well. 
Does anyone else worry that the not-handing-in-work problem might continue in college? I’ve been really concerned about that.
I really think D needs to be close to home but a small college in a rural area that works hard to help it’s students succeed would be really good for her.
All you sunburn experts, anyone get swelling around the eyes with sunburn? The doctor says cold compresses and only bring her in if it gets worse, but it looks weird. She wore sunglasses so her eyes and the area around them were protected, thankfully, but there’s swelling. It might not be from the sunburn but it could be the aloe or the other lotion she was using as a treatment.