I think Cornell would be fantastic for my S. He is a musician, though, and needs someplace that’s known for music. I’m glad you are looking at it for your D. The campus looks gorgeous!
Thanks for the glimmer of hope on the grades. I’m in agreement this year needs to be over ASAP. (After all the missing work gets turned in, though!)
Yeah I don’t know anything about music programs or their relative quality, just saw that they offered music/music performance degrees and figured might fit!
Would you mind if I PMd you? I have a college freshman that just had an abysmal year (sorry all, that’s probably not what you wanted to hear) who has ADHD and anxiety. He got through high school okay (tried meds for a short time and but didn’t like they way they made him feel and also didn’t think they worked well) but had a bad first year. I think he would’ve had a tough time in the best of situations (engineering major) but would’ve probably gotten through okay if not for Covid. Most of his classes being online and his roommate leaving midyear were hard for him. We didn’t realize how bad it was until he got home and started sharing with us, then my D told us that he would call her in full blown panic attacks. He is now trying meds again, a higher dose, but I’d love to talk to you about what your S is doing to combat the ADHD and anxiety. S has one more semester to get his gpa up or he’ll lose his scholarship, at which point we won’t be able to afford his school. We want to help him figure things out over the summer, but I’m not really sure what we should be doing.
For all of you that are struggling. My S17 was a terror in his Junior year of HS. He did not want to study, did not want to even think about college, made some BAD decisions, etc. Scored a 2 on the Physics AP test (wouldn’t study). Some how his GPA stayed up though. When I took him on some college visits it was a nightmare. During the summer I don’t know what happened. He went away to be a counselor at camp and some of the other counselors talked to him. He came back a different kid! More like himself. We did more visits in the early fall and they were totally different. He knew what he wanted.
He got into a great program (at a school he wanted not a top school but great in what he wanted), great scholarships. 4.0 for 3 years, top grade in physics and became a physics TA for labs, president of his fraternity. Just finished his first year of vet school (which he entered after his Junior year in college) with top grades and is in a summer program for research they only accepted 12 students into.
Just letting you know that things can get better. Hopefully next year will be a better year for all. Good luck with the applications!
Please do message me @taverngirl – I would be happy to share!
@murray93 and @OrangeFish …thanks for the posts. I can identify with both of your situations.
My D22 has had a rough Junior year with ADD, eating and anxiety issues. It would be easy (and convenient) to blame everything on COVID; but unfortunately that just isn’t the case. Thankfully, her doctors have not diagnosed her with chronic depression. She received treatment for her eating disorder, and the doctors tell us her medications make her ADD and anxiety “manageable”. However, she sometimes complains of migraines even though they seem to only manifest themselves when she doesn’t want to do something.
I would not consider her a bad student…just a disengaged one.
She is an academic enigma…at the beginning of this year she was in the top 15% of her big suburban high school class…she is an IB Diploma candidate and scored a 4 on her AP History exam. Neverthelss, she shows no real intellectual curiosity and just muddles through her course load. We offered (many times) to let her quit IB and go into “regular” classes. However, she gets real defensive and upset if we suggest she cannot handle the work load. She now refuses to talk about her grades or how she is doing in school even though she says how much she loves the IB program.
We paid for an SAT/ACT tutor which she did not use. She scored an 1160 on her SAT and a 25 on her ACT. Although she says she prepared, I am certain she did not. She is scheduled to take the ACT again in June, but I doubt she will prepare for that either.
It seems the further along she gets in high school the less she wants to talk about ANYTHING that relates to college. If she talks at all about a college it is to tell us why she doesn’t like the campus, the size, the town, etc.
I, like @murray93, am concerned about her going anywhere at this point. She seems to have millionaire dreams with a minimum wage work ethic. Even the mention of going to community college or the local state university is met with contempt.
School finishes on Friday, so I am going to have to talk to her next week about what I am willing to pay and what my expectations are moving forward. I am divorced, so I am going to have to make sure we (as parents) are both in agreement about what we are willing to contribute.
I appreciate the encouragement from @momocarly. I keep waiting for a smart, engaged young woman to emerge any day now instead of the surly, morose child that seems to always prevail.
My D20 is now at a SLAC on the west coast and doing far better than she did in high school, academically speaking. She was a 3.6w and just very uninspired and going through the motions. Now, in college, she’s enjoying the educational process and has blossomed intellectually. So there IS hope! Maybe our kids are actually ready for the next step and they’ve outgrown high school?
I can relate to so many of the recent posts.
DD22 still is pretty firmly attached to the idea of going to the UK for college. It is relatively affordable compared to US schools (around $35k) but it has been like pulling teeth to get her to stay on top of her work this year. Powerschool is still showing missing assignments that she says she’s turned in and the teachers just haven’t graded yet. I don’t know. Maybe so?
I am okay with her going to the UK if I can be confident that she is going to be able to deal with the workload and the way that you are more independent over there (classes don’t meet as often, not as many assignments, big tests at the end count for most of your grade). But I’m just not confident. I am willing to be happy and surprised by an improved work ethic, but I just made her cry by telling her she needs to do her work, so not sure if that is going to happen. I hate feeling like a mean mom.
She is doing a summer camp this July at Hollins so I am hopeful that will help get her on track.
I can so relate to this.
I lived in the UK for 12 years. My oldest was born there. There is zero hand holding whatsoever. Students are expected to have the skills to live and study independently, with little support. They either perform or put up with the consequences. I would be very hesitant in your case too.
I so do hope that’s the case. My kid has managed to keep a high gpa, but it has been a very rough ride. She was diagnosed with ADHD last year. There were subtle signs well before but I missed them because she kept pushing herself and compensated that way until she no longer could. Right now, she fluctuates from feeling burned out and not caring about anything to reaching for the stars. I hope she blossoms at college when she is focusing on the things she loves.
Yes, it is definitely a concern. She really wants to study Creative Writing, though, so not as intense as a big History exam or whatever. I believe they have more contact hours and meet more often. But still, she’s gotta show she is ready to be an adult and take care of stuff on her own (including her studies). Hope she is getting that message, but I’m not sure.
S got his SAT score back. This was his first go at it because he was quarantined during the in-school test in March. I think he did well enough to use it for the “close to open enrollment” safeties he has. He wants to take the in-school SAT this fall which I’m happy to have him do. But I don’t see putting much more effort into it than that when all his top choices are test optional. He has turned all his missing work and spent all day yesterday working on his first music composition.
with GPA of 3.3-3.4 and sat of 1410 Can someone get into Uni Texas Dallas if not in top 10% of my class.
You won’t get in automatically but should apply. Here is a website I thought of when I saw your question:
College for All Texans
thanks for the encouragement
Congratulations on that SAT score! Good luck!
Does anyone have advice on how to best package a college application when GPA is on the lower end of this thread, but with higher test scores?
S has an SAT score under his belt and will be taking the SAT again on Saturday, and he’ll take one shot at the ACT next month.
He wants to major in cybersecurity, but based on his lack of success in math, he doesn’t think a CS major is the way to go. So he has been looking at information systems majors in business schools/departments.
Obviously, no selective schools on his list, and test-optional is not the way for him to go.
Is there any gain for him to provide an arts supplement for his extracurricular? (He plays the cello.)
I wouldn’t dismiss CS, especially if he’s not aiming for the most selective schools. Perhaps the way math was taught in HS is not the way he learns. By taking math courses in college, he may be able to firm up his foundation for doing CS.
IS/MIS is a fine major but it is considered less rigorous and would likely limit the type of jobs he would be recruited for, at least initially.
In terms of applications, he should write about why cybersecurity excites him. If he has had experience in the area through ECs/PT job, that could make for a compelling story.
My S was lopsided like that. We used his GPA to categorize safety/match/reach. He had good results in his apps. His safeties and matches gave good merit for his test score. Have you looked at University of New Haven? It would be a safety and would probably award good merit too. They have a cybersecurity major. Here is a list of courses; doesn’t look very math intensive: Program: Cybersecurity and Networks, B.S. - University of New Haven - Acalog ACMS™
ETA: I agree with @13street. Different teachers and some tutoring may be all your S needs to make him more confident in his math skills.
Have you looked at UNC-Charlotte? They have a specialized cybersecurity program and are not super duper selective.