<p>What about Miami University in Ohio or Syracuse?</p>
<p>Neonzeus - You’re my kind! How do you feel about the Turks and Caicos?</p>
<p>I would have to agree those are pretty much out of reach barring something that really intrigues the school. I would certainly look at your in-state flagship and maybe others like Case Western (a high match). There are many excellent schools that would be a good match for her.</p>
<p>Will she be applying for financial aid? It might make a difference at some of the lower “name” schools. Look at the test-optional schools as well.</p>
<p>Neon. I’m blushing. But seriously, I have worked with a lot of very dedicated and smart nurse leaders over the years. And in the future, their successors will need to be as conversant with CFOs about the bottom line as they are with MDs about the care of patients. Good luck to you and your daughter!</p>
<p>“A B+ student interested in biology and nursing?”</p>
<p>Does she want to come out with a nursing degree? Or will that be after the B.A.?</p>
<p>I would ask the GC to explain their optimism. It’s far too easy for a GC to say “give it a shot” when they know they don’t have to take the blame for the rejection letter. The feedback here has been dead on; your D’s stats are at or below the 25th%-tile level at the schools you mentioned, that not negativity, that’s reality.</p>
<p>Does she have a “slim chance” at these schools? Yes. It’s up to you to decide how slim a chance is worth your time and effort.</p>
<p>Have the GC explain how that student got into Cornell with the lower stats. Is your D’s situation similar? Was the GC an active advocate for that student and will they be for your D?</p>
<p>That said, your D’s SAT are 30th%tile at Michigan. But being OOS will be a big drawback and I don’t know how much time they will spend looking at extenuating circumstances.</p>
<p>Other schools where your Ds SATs are at the 25th%-tile are:</p>
<p>Villanova
Wake Forest
Rochester
Boston College</p>
<p>I don’t know if they all have nursing programs, but researching them might lead you to some other ideas. At the end of the day if you want to take a flyer on Cornell or Notre Dame, I say go for it, but you’re going to need a well thought out plan of attack. Hopefully the GC at your Ds school can help with that.</p>
<p>Despite the uniqueness of your D’s high school, as you stated, a third of the class is above her in GPA. Whether they are ranked or not, if those other applicants cross the same admission desks, it will be a probelm for your D. If your D had really strong SAT scores to balance that, it would improve her situation. But right now her SAT scores are in line for what you would expect a B+ student to have.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with that, and I believe everyone here is pulling for your D to have as many excellent options as possible. But I think the idea is for her to be ADMITTED, not to quibble about the odds.</p>
<p>I have some questions: Why hasn’t your D taken any AP classes in a school that is at the level you describe? Does her school offer AP or IB classes…or other really high level altenatives? I know that here where I live (Nassau County, Long Island) classes taken at community colleges (and we have good ones) are not all seen as the equivalent to challenging AP classes. Were the classes offered at the high school with community college credit or were the classes taken at the community college with college students? Even lasses offering college credits (taught at our h.s.) are seen as an easier track than AP classes. Often good colleges do not accept those college credits. So at the risk of that being an issue, perhaps she should have on her senior year transcript both AP and community college classes.</p>
<p>Has your D taken the ACT? If she can get an SAT score in the 1350 to 1400 range (or above) or a 30/31+ on the ACT, it will really help her case. That way it will show that her (lower) GPA reflects the extreme challenge of a highly competitive school. But without those higher SAT/ACT scores, it tells a different story.</p>
<p>Has D taken SAT 2’s? For the same reasons stated above, scores in the 650+/700 range could help her a lot.</p>
<p>You say your D has leadership positions. What are they? Perhaps this is an area that you can play up in her application/ essay to make her a stonger candidate. </p>
<p>Since the idea of a “reach” school for your D has been questioned by some as overly optimistic, are your match and safety schools solidly where they should be? Does your D have schools on her list that she is above the 75th %ile in both GPA and SAT ranges?</p>
<p>I know of many students who attended very exclusive private schools who were really taken aback by rejections in the last 2 years. Exclusivity only helped the kids with good stats in the end.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>USkoofish: </p>
<p>Yes, she takes AP classes (our HS offers almost every one, plus classes at local colleges as well as community college) but hasn’t taken the AP exams. The classes she took were in science subjects, for which she wouldn’t get credit as a science major in college. The classes are taken at the colleges with college students, not in the high school). She’s done well and earned some credits, but we’ve also learned from experiences with siblings that community college credits are sometimes better than AP credits (for ex., the LSAC will include those grades when calculating an overall GPA and determining a candidate’s Index # and Pharmcas schools will weight the community college credits, ignoring AP credits completely). That’s probably a subject for another thread, though. D is using the community college to meet general ed requirements for her most likely match schools. She hasn’t taken SAT IIs so far since they haven’t been required for the schools that she’s currently considering. We aren’t quibbling about odds. I asked for suggestions for reach schools, which by definitions are those schools where her odds of being accepted are questionable but perhaps not impossible. </p>
<p>I agree that many have been unhelpful, to the extent that they’ve questioned whether a student with my D’s qualifications should even have reach schools on her list instead of suggesting particular schools as requested. It isn’t disputed that reach schools for kids in her range would be lower than the reach schools for applicants with higher scores or GPA. Her GC is willing to go to bat for her if she identifies a reach school that she really wants, but D understands that this is not likely to turn an impossible school into a match/guaranteed acceptance. I’ll say it again - she’s ok with getting rejections, if that’s what happens.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who suggested particular schools for her to research.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine why all these people are taking time to discourage you… I would definitely suggest she find a couple of places she’s really excited to apply to and go for it. But I’d link it to her own passions in whatever way-- if biology is key, find schools that have something really interesting to offer there. Is she a good but not great student for a particular reason? Maybe because she’d rather be working at the hospital than reading about ancient wars? That might suggest something. There’s no point in reaching just to reach-- but if she’s reaching for something she really wants, go, go, go!</p>
<p>Thanks, Gwen. D comes home from high school and nurses a terminally ill parent with severe dementia. Anyone who hasn’t dealt with a situation like that can’t imagine what D handles every day with grace and a loving heart. We have to have paid caregivers when D is in school. (There’s some overlap, but I discovered that D was sending the paid caregiver home early to take care of her parent herself.) </p>
<p>When D isn’t helping with her parent and with household chores, she has chosen to take community college classes in the evening (4.0, 16 credits as of today). On weekends when I can take care of the parent, she volunteers in a hospital, with 500+ hours of volunteering so far. She has job-shadowed a nurse, and wrote a research paper on nursing as a sophomore. While she has flirted with other majors, she always come back to nursing. When both her parent and I had minor surgeries with multiple stitches, this kid managed the post-surgical home care for us including cleaning the wounds and changing dressings. She uses her study halls to help other kids dealing with family tragedies at the suggestion of guidance counselors, to help other kids who are struggling with classes, and to help teachers with special projects. It’s almost impossible to get her to put herself first.</p>
<p>She has taken competitive classes in bio, bio honors, chem, chem honors, AP bio, physics, anatomy, etc. She has participated in leadership activities, and has been on teams that have won science and literature regional awards. I am amazed by her every day. </p>
<p>Yes, I know. Every parent thinks their kid is special… and many families deal with hard times and tragedies, so this is not particularly unique either. Her GC has offered to use the school’s strong network to help D, if D identifies a dream school. </p>
<p>D’s reference letters and common application are complete, and she’s studying to retake the SAT and to take the ACT in the Fall. As far as I can tell, she’s put Pitt School of Nursing at #1 right now. My guess is that this is a real reach for her. I’m not sure how her applications are going to play out over the next few months. I just want D to be happy, and to be able to focus only on herself as she goes off to school. She deserves the best.</p>
<p>Your last post is showing another side to your situation which did not come out in your original posts. It sounds to me that your daughter’s guidance counselor is willing to pull whatever weight he may have to get her into her dream school because he thinks she is a truly exceptional human being. Good luck!</p>