Thank you very much @Sweetgum – you have painted great pictures of both Guilford and Elon! We have spent some time in the Greensboro area so far but not in the UNC-Charlotte area. We’ll add that to our list.
S22 has recently added pre-law as a possibility (and yes, I did explain to him he could major in most anything in undergrad and could still apply/attend law school) so the cost factors for undergrad move up higher in the must-have list.
So the school requirements are now affordable, cybersecurity major, music performance (cello) opportunities for non-majors (possibly a minor), and driving distance from northern Virginia so we don’t have to put a cello on an airplane. Then there’s the whole acceptance part with a GPA in the roughly 3.6 (weighted) range.
Y’all make me feel ok about thinking about this stuff already! My D is finishing up her Freshmen year in college and I can’t help fretting about S(HS)22’s path. I’m trying not to harass him too much- I don’t think you should always just be focus on the next step, you should have room to enjoy where you are - but you also have to keep an eye on what’s coming. It’s a tricky balance to strike! And listening to y’all is a comfort! : )
My D-22 just took the PSAT10 this past week. Looks like results will be available in April. I do not have high hopes for the math portion of this test. D-22 is reluctant to accept any help in math and manages to keep a low B average in math by doing test corrections and homework. I hope that if the score is not great that she will let us help her or do tutoring on her own on Khan Academy. It is aggravating because I know she could be a high B math student and do a lot better on her classwork tests, but she just really hates it and wants to avoid it. Sometimes you just gotta do the things you don’t like (like take out the trash). She does fine in all her other classes without too much extra effort, but just doesn’t want to try too hard in math.
Hey, folks. Hope you are all weathering this weird new world well. DD-22 just got her SAT10 scores back. I am happy for the distraction and really pleased with her scores. I knew she would do well on the Reading part, but I was pleasantly surprised with her scores in Math. Hope this bodes well for the PSAT and SAT when those come around. She is on her regularly scheduled Spring Break now, but will go back to school online on Tues.
Hi everyone. I am new to this thread and my son fits this group in a different way. His weighted GPA is a 4.0 BUT he takes no honors or AP only accelerated. Our high school doesn’t even give unweighted so I have no idea what that is. His PSAT was very low, sub 1000. He is not a good test taker and has accommodations for extended time.
He has his sights set high, wants a large D1 school with big football. We are from Texas but now live in MA and there just aren’t big football schools here, except for maybe Boston College which he would love to attend but would never be able to get in. Again, no honors and no AP classes. The rigor is not there.
We are having a hard time even getting started on a college list with him. The schools he likes I don’t think he would ever be able to get in. I’m good with him going many many states away(our D is still in Texas at Baylor) but my husband isn’t. The distance is expensive and has become a total PITA with the whole corona thing.
We don’t even know where to go from here. The whole family is polarized on where he should even look. Super frustrating.
@LTmomof2 University of Maine (closer but I don’t think it has “big football”), West Virginia University (farther, requires superscored 1060 SAT/21 ACT for out of state students)?
@LTmomof2
His GPA seems very decent, will definitely get him into big D1 schools. Michigan State, Indiana are great schools. Penn St is a little more selective with grades, and needs a decent SAT/ACT - but who knows if testing is an option this year. I have heard great things about LSU and University of SC and UCo-Boulder. Looks like the D1 big sports you will need to travel some.
@LTmomof2 I’m not sure rigor is as important as getting his test score up. Have you considered tutoring? We found a fabulous tutor (happy to share info if you pm me) and with just a few online sessions my son went from a 26 (first ACT) to a 32 (second). I think if you can get his test scores up he’d probably be able to get into some schools he’d like.
Thank you all for your suggestions. We are a house divided after COVID. As I mentioned, our D attends Baylor in Texas. The amount of PITA of having her so far away has been magnified under this crisis and changed my H’s outlook on what is an acceptable distance to have a kid away from home.
Also, my S, having grown up in the south, has embraced the seasons and snow and much to my chagrin doesn’t want to look at the southern schools that I think would be great for him. Also angry H about the distance,
I think I could pull PA and MI into the mix. Good suggestions for those states. His test scores are SO low… not sure if we can overcome that being OOS.
Just checking in on this thread. D22 has registered for classes for next year and will be taking her first 2 AP classes (APUSH and AP Lang/Sem). Hopeful that school will be back in session but not so optimistic just yet.
I have been reading a lot on CC and in the news about touring and testing and how so much will change for this year’s HS junior class. It’s too far in advance to know how all of this will play out for our current Soph kids but I don’t see how all the fallout from what is currently happening will not spill over into our kid’s application cycle by the time they get there.
If most schools continue to stay test optional or get rid of test scores all together, that will be just fine with us!
Just checking in so many months later as S22 is midway through the first quarter. His school is all virtual, although some of the younger kids are going to go back in small cohorts in October.
S22 is registered to take the SAT in November, but I am guessing it will get canceled. His school is offering the PSAT to all juniors in late October.
Checking back in after a long while. Ramping up the college process for D22. The big drama (aside from the distance learning) so far this year is my D22 moved out of honors English to regular English after the first couple weeks. She was doing fine, but it just provoked too much anxiety for her. Not worth it. But … it was her only honors class. It is looking like her course load overall will not be so rigorous. D19 GPA ended up at a 3.38 but she had 2 honors and 2 AP classes (a decemt amount for our high school who won’t let kids take honors or APs until junior year). Curious if anyone has advice on how we do we figure out how rigor figures into developing her list?
Hi everyone! I’m happy to find this community for my D22. I was a regular on the 2018 board during my D18s process and then I took a break for a few years. Now I’m back with a completely different kid who is probably going to fit into this group better. Both girls aim/ed for schools that fit this group because we are full pay and they like LACs. So we go for merit aid that seems to be more available in this tier. Not sure if I’m saying that right but we love CTCL schools and similar!
My D22 is an introvert who isn’t sure exactly what she wants but she loves writing so I have focused on looking for programs with creative writing as a major along with plenty of other options. My concern is that she has the ability to choose writing if that’s what she wants but also the opportunity to try other things if she changes her mind.
@1822mom Do you have Susquehanna on your list? My D is a junior, though an ES major, but I’ve heard great things about their creative writing department.
Thanks @taverngirl I’ll check out Susquehanna. I’m not sure if it’ll match mostly due to location. We’re in TX and I think travel to what looks like rural PA might be more than what she is willing to do. But I think it’s worth the investigation!
S22’s grades just keep going down… I’m concerned about his ability to “do” college. He is very motivated with music but uninspired when it comes to the rest of his academic classes.
I feel like I’ve identified some colleges that have low academic admission standards and high caliber music programs, so I’m fairly confident he’ll get in somewhere. His musicianship is high enough that he should get talent scholarships as well. We have some wealthy relatives that are providing full funding for him, but I worry about his ability to step up and do college-level academics. He says he wants to go to college, but his grades don’t reflect that desire. He really is a good kid! He just doesn’t like to work hard in classes that don’t interest him.
@murray93 – is your S22 seeking to major in music? My oldest was a fan of some academic courses (like history and science) but not.so.much the required courses. She’s now studying for a BFA.
My S22 is in the “that’s good enough for me” camp. His SAT scores came back today from the Nov 7 test and he says he is happy with them. They are not stellar and would not help him get into a tippy toppy school, but he does not want a tippy toppy school. So he’s a one-and-done kid.
He plans to get a BM in percussion performance to avoid taking too many academic classes. My D20/24 is also doing a performance BM, but she had better grades and wasn’t sure on her major so went the SLAC route.
I’m not worried at all about the SAT, I’m not even sure he’s going to need it depending on what happens with testing next year. So many schools are going the test optional route. Congrats on being done with that step already!
@murray93 – he decided on the November SAT date as he would be prepping for the PSAT (in school in October) anyway. He gets so anxious and isn’t able to sleep with standardized testing, so why subject himself to another one.
We are chasing merit $ (which is tough to do in this grade range to begin with) so he needed some sort of test for merit reasons.
@OrangeFish I suggested to my son that he take the SAT in May as he will probably be most prepared math-wise at that point. He started laughing and I said what? And he said oh, I’m just thinking of me taking the SAT and it is really funny. Poor kid, testing and education in general for him is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. So he’ll definitely be one and done as well.
as S22 is midway through the first quarter. His school is all virtual, although some of the younger kids are going to go back in small cohorts in October.