What does he want to study?
You might check out Goucher. I think his stats would be fine there. Not sure on the financial aid bit though.
VCU would take his stats, but again not sure about the financial aid component.
You could look a little further afield at NC A&T if he is interested in more HBCU options.
Thanks! Weâre thinking psychology, political science, business, or product design. I ran the calculator for Goucher. It generated $49.4K in grants. Tuition and room and board are $63.7K. A loan and/or an outside scholarship can make up the difference. I will add it to the list. What I worry about with VCU/NC AT&T is that it will simply be unaffordable. VCU prioritizes in state applicants for financial aid. And I donât think NC AT&T has the resources to meet need, even Howard and Morehouse donât.
Your brother definitely has rigor in his courses and you said he attends a competitive high school, which is good. I would suggest he takes the SAT or ACT. I know thatâs probably the last thing he wants to do, but it might open a few more doors for him. For one thing, there are schools who are test optional, but base their merit offers on test scores. If it turns out that his scores arenât great, you donât have to submit them. And there is a cost to take them, which might make it prohibitive. It might be too late to register for the ACTs, but thereâs an SAT on Oct. 2nd, which will give you your scores before Early Action. Itâs just a suggestion. Regardless, thereâs a right place for your brother!
Bowie State. â Bowie State University has been ranked as the best value among colleges in Maryland that offer undergraduate degrees by The Economist magazine. With our financial saving opportunities, state-of-the-art facilities and small class sizes, you will receive a top-notch education without the burden of excessive debt.â
Morgan State. On path to be only HBCU that is Carnegie R1 institution.
Thanks for this. I am somewhat familiar with Bowie State. I donât necessarily think Bowie State and Morgan State offer anything that Salisbury, Towson, etc. do not have. Also, I think the financial aid will be the same if not worse.
For product design especially, check out Montclair State in NJ. Great program, and I know someone with about that gpa (low rigor) who received in-state tuition there as an out of stater.
Are your Safeties truly safe? As in, based on NPC and stats, they are slam dunks and he could go there? Iâm not that familiar with MD schools so I canât say for sure, but typically the in-state publics are the best bet for both safety and local aid. If those safeties are strong, then I would say pick his favorite high reach for a try because why not and then he can really focus his effort on making the app strong. The in-state reaches seem worth a try especially if the app is not too extra onerous. I wouldnât put effort into more than one high reach because those apps are typically very extra essay intensive and the odds are long. But I donât see the harm in trying if itâs something he wants to do.
Just make sure he loves those safeties! 
I think thatâs fair. Youâre right that he can always choose to not submit the score. That being said, I am not sure that he has much time to study and get a decent score. It doesnât seem that he will be competitive for merit at any of his safeties/low matches. Iâm really familiar with the MD publics having graduated from the school district and having classmates who received merit at the various MD publics. Our strategy is to focus on MD schools and meets need/close to full meets need schools.
Yeah, his safeties are all MD public schools. They have an admissions rate of 69%+ and he is in the gpa range per the common data set and his schoolâs naviance. We have 5 MD public schools on the list(2 of which I have designated as reaches due to his GPA).
I think Towson is a really good fit in that it is central. He would have a good time there. St. Maryâs and Salisbury are a bit more isolated. But I really think he could fit in most places. The small class sizes as St. Maryâs will also be beneficial. I also believe he could potentially get admitted to UMBC and College Park. College Park gives Spring admission to a a decent amount of applicants, so thatâs always a possibility.
I believe that although UMBC/ College Park are by no means guarantees,they are possibilities. But I concur on the high reaches. I figure it doesnât hurt to try considering we do have safeties he will be okay attending.
VCU does give a $10K scholarship to out of state students with a 3.0 GPA. I donât know about the financial aid beyond that, but might be worth checking out more. I think that brings it down to more like in-state tuition, but I donât know if that will be enough for you.
TO will help at UMBC and UMD, best wishes and good luck. His high school being known to UMBC, UMD will be advantage.
Thanks for all the help and encouragement. His high school is a big feeder into College Park and UMBC. Most of the kids including the incredibly high stat ones land at College Park. UMBC may be a close second. One quick point of clarification. What is TO?
Test optional is what I meant.
For easier admit than St olaf
See Gustavus for rolling admission and free application.
Reviewing apps Nov.15
Seel list free apps and rolling admission colleges, such as at Niche website.
PS. Look at Denison.
See opinion piece by Denison leader with link to list of meets need colleges.
@bgrlqn I second @Hippobirdyâs Denison recommendation - the low admit rate is a little intimidating, but they have a very real commitment to being accessible. Free to apply, subsidizes internships and studying abroad, etc.
Congratulations to everyone who already got accepted. My high school hasnât even started doing school report yet even though I applied first week of August. I emailed common App and they said they have received transcripts from Parchment but the Counselor has to do something before they can actually release it to the colleges I had applied to so essentially my applications are still incomplete. In addition, when I reached out to my school, they said I should have waited at least mid of sept to apply? Is this usual? This is a highly competitive and busy HS and I applied early as I will be a holistic review. Am I getting anxious for no reason
Relax. Very, very few programs need high school supporting records ASAP. Nursing programs that fills seats first come first serve might be example.
I would try Mac ED, not EA, if you want a shot. Macâs ED acceptance rate is 58%. EA/RD is in the 20s% and dropping.
I have started scheduling college meetings with S every 2-3 weeks, with the promise that I will not discuss college with him at all between meetings. But he has to promise to communicate with us to the best of his ability during the meeting and follow up on any work that needs to be done. For those that are having trouble communicating with their teens, I highly recommend this approach! He has been really great with us since I started this and is just generally having on excellent year so far. (Heâs been in school 3.5 weeks already!)