My S22 isn’t your typical CC kid but is finding his way through high school. His junior year was extremely challenging both academically and personally, which negatively impacted his grades. He had a 3.31/3.66 going into junior year and now has a 2.87/3.31, with two E’s on the transcript (AP Chem-2nd semester, Spanish 4-2nd semester). He also has a 504 plan at school based on his ADHD diagnosis. We worked with an executive functioning coach last year which seemed to help.
He does play a sport year round, which takes up a lot of time (no aspirations of playing in college). He has also had a job since the summer of 2019, where he works nearly 20 hours per week. Not a lot of other EC’s. He’s taken the SAT once and scored a 960. We have since pivoted to the ACT, which he is taking on 9/11. Recently took a practice ACT and scored a 22.
Hoping that maybe a strong start to his senior year will help if schools defer until 1st semester grades are in. He is taking a somewhat rigorous schedule (AP Calc, AP Stats, AP Env Sci, Honors English, Honors World History, and a double period internship).
He was been generally uninterested in college until recently. They just started back at school in person this week and I think being around friends again and talking has sparked some interest.
He has expressed an interest in majoring in business and possibly finance. The current list of schools is LONG and many are huge reaches and also varying sizes. What I’d love at this point is any feedback folks. Of course if there are others you want to suggest, happy to hear them! The only schools he has visited are the ones he tagged along when we did this with D19.
Thinking about playing ED card if it improves his chances at one of the better schools he is considering.
Here is the current list.
Salisbury (in-state)
Towson (in-state)
McDaniel
Mary Washington
Susquehana
Xavier
Purdue
VT
Duquesne
Roanoke
JMU
St. Joseph’s
Dayton
Ithaca
College of Charleston
Auburn
South Carolina
Delaware
Indiana
Pitt
Miami OH
Fairfield
Providence
Also we’re full pay and so not chasing merit. Just want to find a place that my boy will thrive and not fall through the cracks. It is clear to me (not so much to him) that he needs a bit of hand holding, smaller classes, and attention.
I am unfamiliar with those schools, except Purdue and Indiana which I would say are huge reaches for your son. Given his GPA trend I honestly think community college might be the right path for him. He still has a way to go to prove he can be successful at the college level academically. There are many CCs that have a guaranteed pathway to universities if you take your core classes and get a certain GPA. Many of our friends kids are doing this. Some are even leaving their area so they can live away from home, so it’s more like a traditional college experience. (and CC is way cheaper too!)
Thanks - should have mentioned we are not interested in the CC track. I also noted that we are aware that several school are huge reaches. But thanks anyway for the response but I think we are on different tracks for our kids.
Colleges that we have visited that I thought had good services for kids who might struggle include Fairleigh Dickinson (Florham Campus)(I would say this one has a really good safety net for executive functioning issue kids) and Wright State. Both appear to be test optional. Extremely different schools. One is a big rah-rah college campus (basketball school) and the other is a small LAC. Having visited James Madison, I am going to guess he would fall through the cracks there.
How did you find the executive functioning coach? I was thinking that may be necessary for my junior and I hear your concerns. Does his 504 have testing accommodations? That might help with his low scores.
I have some level of comfort because my S is going into musical theater, which will get him in a smaller environment where hopefully someone catches him before he fails. So maybe try to find schools with unique small programs that interest him. I suspect the schools that start with a semester abroad keep those kids in a smaller controlled group.
The future is bright for your kid. My S21’s journey is linked above and in it you’ll find a number of the same schools you have on the list for your son. Any experiences or feedback he/we had on them is in there too.
I will say that for my kid, what he found through the process is that he was less interested in finding a school with the right formal “supports” and more interested in finding a place that was just as likely to graduate Fulbrights as to accept him. He wanted to be around people who would make him want to stretch in a place where he could feel supported in the ways he was learning he needed.
On your list the two schools that seemed to deliver on that the best, although in different ways, were Xavier and Roanoke.
Wow! First of all, I’m an Elon mom too. And have a younger son in a similar position as yours, but he’s a junior in high school now. Rough last year, corresponding low GPA, interest in business.
I’ve just started making a list and looking at GPAs and stuff, I’ll let you know if I’ve come across any that aren’t on your list. I have heard, several times, that SJU has good support for ADD students, and I personally like the Jesuit schools for many reasons, one of which is many of them are in the middle size enrollment, which I like. I think that students like ours will need smaller class sizes, student to teacher ratios, etc. Both of my older kids go to midsize (Elon, LMU) and we can see the benefits in the mentoring and professor relationships. Like you, I think my son could fall through the cracks at a larger school. The resources will be there, but they have to go get them. But if it’s a smaller class with more personal relationships, it is a lot easier to reach out for help, or have someone pushing you along.
I don’t think Indiana school of business is on the table for your son, acceptance wise. My other general notes is that his schedule seems pretty tough…and if you are hoping this last semester will raise the GPA, is it smart to have such a heavy load? Another general idea is to find a rolling admissions school and apply early. Just having one in the bag can be such a relief to a stressful process. EA as much as possible, so that you can widen the net for RD when the EA decisions come in and you see how it is going. Not sure if his schedule will allow for ACT tutoring and trying to get another ACT sitting in the fall, but maybe consider this too.
We have never done ED yet, but I wouldn’t use it on something too reachy. If your school doesn’t have Naviance, you can use a website where you plot GPA and ACT and it gives you a list of schools. I don’t think I am allowed to post it here, but if you search “neighborhood and college search” you should find it, it starts with an n.
I would go visit Susquehanna if you can. We were very impressed with our visits there. We did an Honors dinner there with my D and thought the professors seemed great and the campus is beautiful. (She chose Elon instead though!).
Ohio Wesleyan and Ursinus may be two other small schools worth looking at. Both have nice campuses and it seemed like both would offer some individualized attention.
Since he has an interest in Miami University, have him look at Ohio University. It would be a good match for him and their College of Business while not as well known as Miami’s is still quite good.
What major? My D is at Susquehanna and has had a great experience. My S is much like yours, but he is an engineer major so some on his list might not make sense for your S. Also, I estimate he’ll get some great merit at the right schools; we were pleasantly surprised by the offers my S got.
My D transferred in after freshman year (first school shafted her on financial aid second year) so she is not the best example. Mostly befriended the other transfer students. Then Covid happened, which made it even harder to get to know anyone. She interned at school this summer and made a lot of new friends. I’m sure starting as a freshman would be way different. Here are a few more suggestions:
Quinnipiac
UMaine
Bentley
Clarkson
Adelphi
Alfred
Hofstra
Manhattanville
RIT
St. Lawrence (awaiting final approval on their finance major)
Drexel
Juniata
Muhlenberg
Washington & Jefferson
I think the first thing you need to ask yourself is do you think he is ready to make the jump to college, and what path gives him the best chance for success?
Would he benefit from doing a post grad year at a prep school to work on his study skills, and bring up his GPA and Test Scores?
Would he be better off starting at a community college then transferring over to a school to finish up his bachelors.
As you look through your list of schools the two pieces of data I would keep your eye on are the Freshman retention rate and the 6 year graduation rate. To me they provide some additional insight into what schools do a good job at not letting kids slip through the cracks.
If you haven’t already done so, maybe look at the Colleges that Change Lives book and/or website. Many of the schools seem geared towards the B student that might be a late bloomer or experienced a few bumps along the way in HS. They also tend to be smaller and have strong advisement/support that ease the transition to college. A number of the schools have already been mentioned in your thread (Susquehanna, Muhlenberg, etc.). I heard a great presentation from an admissions officer at Knox College some years ago about how they both nurture and challenge students. With all that said, most small LACs don’t offer finance/business as majors.
I know of a few kids who have done really well at Ithaca - nice midsized school in an attractive setting if your kid likes outdoor recreation and doesn’t mind cold winters. Closer to home, I have heard good things about Roanoke.
Your son might fare better at smaller to midsized schools that have a good track record for accommodating learning disabilities. As part of your/his research, it might be worth calling the accessibility office at schools of interest to get a sense of how responsive they are.
I have a vague recollection that the student support services at VCU are good, but I can’t remember where I heard that!
The last year and a half have been brutal for teenagers. Your son is not the only one to have suffered a dip in grades last year. I suspect there will be lots of transcripts like these. Also it’s great that you found support to improve his executive functioning now and he knows what he needs going into college. He will do just fine.
So this book is great for time management skills for studying. It seems like every adhd kid should read this even though not the intended target. It’s a fun, fast read with great processes. Great section on procrastination. To me it’s not about becoming an A student it’s about having the tools to reach your potential.
Also to me he needs to have a positive senior year. If you can, forget about work. He needs to concentrate on this studies. Sports are physical releases especially for adhd people but if it’s interfering with his grades maybe it can be substituted with something else. If he decided he now wants to go to college he needs to prepare himself for it. Can you afford and is he willing to work with a tutor even if it’s to help him get off to a good start? Don’t know if he can work with a teacher or peer to peer tutor if your school has that.
Also, some kids are b students and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But working plus a sport that takes a lot of time he needs to study and learn might be contributing.
Definitely take a look at Washington & Jefferson in SW PA. They have finance as a major (I just checked) and they tend to be good helping individual students reach their potential.