Not in the upper leagues but Salve Regina may end up on our lists. Total Hogwarts vibe but on the coast. My daughter thought it looked so great.
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My kid gets mail from them, because she attended a virtual info session in 9th grade for a half dozen colleges (mainly for Arizona State, which she was somewhat interested in at the time), and Salve Regina was one of them.
If they offered her field of interest sheâd be very tempted by them just for the sheer beauty of the campus and surroundings alone.
(And yes, having one of the largest public universities in the country in the same info session as a lesser-known small LAC is weird, but it was set up to show a wide range, mainly.)
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So I met with S23âs teachers (for the classes heâs failing) - both of the classes are dual credit (English and US History - his least favorite). They recommended he drop them and move down to dual credit so that his college transcript/GPA isnât affected. The grades are 55 and 58 so pretty low to bring up to respectable grade - if he drops NOW (as opposed to later right before drop deadline in Nov), he can switch more easily to the on-level classes and do credit/grade recovery now for the first quarter. I donât know why this is such a tough pill for me to swallow. I had hoped he would finish these classes while at home so that he wouldnât have to take in college. We had already talked about things happening for the start of next quarter (which is today) - no screens at home except his school tablet - Iâm hoping this will motivate him to do the work. Anyway, Iâm not sure what to do - part of me wants to do the wait and see approach - pushing him to get things done and pull up to a C, but at same time, Iâd hate for his GPA to take a huge hit (both college and HS); while the other part of me thinks that taking a couple of steps back and fixing the foundation would probably be the best route so that he builds confidence again. We will talk tonight. Pretty sure he will drop to on-level because there is a rough draft due in English that I know for a fact he did not finish. 
This is hard, but it sounds like dropping down makes sense. Our D23 is an extremely extroverted and social kid who struggled SO much with online learning last year. We thought going back in person would solve a lot of the issues she had, but sheâs having a really tough time. We are just trying to support her in any way we can, have changed her schedule a couple of times to help her get back on track, but sheâs still way behind in most of her classes. Itâs
hard to adjust to seeing a bright, formerly motivated kid struggle, but weâve tried to stay focused on her mental health and realize that what seems so straightforward to us (just finish the paper and be done with it!)⊠isnât the same for her.
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Hang in there, the timing of all of this was very unfortunate for 23 kids.
This is a pivotal year for them with testing and deciding on what colleges they need to target. From what I have heard junior year is a challenging for kids even when they had a full two years of high school prior.
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I would be cautious about this. Some (albeit few) colleges ask for all scores to be sent. I would strongly encourage him to âwing itâ on a timed, proctored practice test that will not be an official score. Many test prep companies offer these for free.
Link to a '2022 conversation on sending all scores.
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So top 10% of his class, and youâre in Texas, right? So thatâs assured admission to everywhere except Austin, and maybe even there. Texasâs public university system has some pretty incredible places, so that may be where your focus should be.
LACs went through an intense discounting phase up through about five years ago, but theyâve begun pulling back from that. There are still some good possibilities out there, but theyâre getting rarer and rarer.
(One example localish to you: When my Co17/19 kids toured Trinity in San Antonio back in 2015, they boasted about how generous they were with merit scholarships, and how easy it was to get a scholarship to attend. When my Co23/25 kids toured this past summer, they said outright that they offer merit scholarships but that theyâre very competitive. What a difference 6 years makes, eh?)
In addition, itâs always worth looking at Southern and so-called âflyoverâ states (plus a few states desperately fighting brain drain), where a number of public flagships and co-flagships have really generous and honestly easy to qualify for financial aid packages available (e.g., Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, Maine).
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Heâs right on the cusp of top 6%, may achieve it by the end of this year, so UT Austin/Plan II is a possibility. Iâve also been talking with him about UHâs Honors College, it seems to have that specialized, small LAC vibe he wants within a larger, state public universityâŠonly catch is itâs HoustonâŠwhich we Dallasites loathe lol.
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Hes so far in the hole I doubt anything will motivate him at this point.
Let him drop. Plenty of kids start college without college credits earned in high school.
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Gotta say, as hard as it can be to let go, I think this is one of those instances where you canât want it for them - and at this point itâs probably best to cut the losses and drop back to on-level to let your S23 salvage his overall GPA before the situation becomes both irrecoverable and demoralizing to him when thereâs still a long race left to be run.
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@Gatormama I was on Templeâs campus last weekend with D20. So nice to see the campus full again, and the construction on campus is never-ending!
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Good luck at all PSAT takers Wednesday and Saturday!
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My D21 is a FY at Trinity and is thriving. Trinity gives lots of merit. We are paying less for her to go to Trinity than we would be paying for UT Austin. Good luck in your search! Our 2023 went to almost all our 2021âs college visits, so we are taking a break until the spring. D1 sports are important to D23, so we wonât get both of our girls at the same place. 
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My daughter is done with the PSAT. She says she knew all the answers. Woop! Woop! I been waiting this since she took the ACT at 12. (she is 16 now) Party tonight at our house. Good luck to all.
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GOOD LUCK to your D!! i love hearing your enthusiasm!!
our D23 is home too now. She had a harder time on the grammar area but thought the math was easy. who knows!?
but hereâs something I am excited about. I randomly looked at our stateâs 1 engineering college (midwest here) and they are offering a Women in Stem Careers Discovery Day coming up. I have been searching for something like this.
My D has no idea whatsoever about what careers are out there; except her actuary bro and his fintech GF. She loves math. I am hoping this in-person event will ignite her curiosity and give her ideas to think about.
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All I got was âgoodâ re: PSAT. Sigh. Hoping he scores high so that he has some validation ifykwim. Yesterdayâs meeting didnât help much but at least now he knows he what he needs to work on these next 2 years.
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I wontâ see Thing 1 and Thing 2 until this evening when they get home from band rehearsal, so no idea how the PSAT went for themâŠknowing my two, all Iâll get is a curt âfineâ or âIDKâ lol.
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Boys thought they did well on PSATs, but unless cut off goes way down in Maryland they probably wonât make National Merit (it was ridiculously high this year because very few districts offerred PSATs). They went in very chill this morning but came home caring a lot because if one of them makes it and the other doesnât then one has to buy the other a sandwhich (nothing like having priorities in order).
I feel bad because one of the boys went straight from PSATs to a Calculus Quiz - he says he was to burnt out to even know how he did. And he also gets SAT scores on Friday.
Itâs a busy week since itâs also Homecoming week and their birthdays, now I can hope they get their licenses before 18 (at least one of them). On the bright side I guess every year older means slightly less insane insurance rates.
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D23 says PSAT âwent super well compared to my limited expectationsâ lol
As predicted, she feels the no calculator math section was her weakest, but considering itâs the first full test of this sort sheâs ever sat for she feels positive overall. We have zero expectations for NM or anything like that, so it was really just about getting a testing experience down. Whew!
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Hi '23 parents. I have a '24 and would like to ask a question. Does anyone know if the National Honors Society is still requiring 20 hours of community service even with Covid? Thanks!