I’ve seen a few threads about colleges for those kids who don’t have a 4.0+GPA. I’d love to hear about some schools we may have overlooked or not considered for my student who is entering her senior year. She’s a solid student and very involved, but she has had a few Bs and hasn’t taken every AP class offered at her school. She seems to be in the “gray area” where many schools (in our state) would either be reach schools or safety schools–with the exception of one large state school (a good match for her academically but maybe too big?).
Her stats:
3.7 GPA (UW)
31 ACT
Top 25% of class
Will graduate with 7 AP classes (no AP math; all are history, english, psych, and environ scieince classes)
Solid ECs/very involved: SCA President this coming year; SCA VP junior year; several Honor Societies (National, English, Journalism); Managing Editor for school paper; sits on school advisory council with Superintendent; golf team; basketball team manager; volunteers outside of school as a mentor for students with special considerations; works PT (15 hrs per week).
Only 3 years of foreign language.
Has done very well in her AP classes (As in class and 4s & 5s on AP exams).
No hooks.
Won’t qualify for FA
My DDs (2016 & 2018) were “gray area” applicant too with 3.4/3.6 GPA, 25/27 ACT scores, top 17%/11% class rank, 9+ AP courses, normal ECs (band, NHS, Latin Club) and sport team participants, at very large suburban HS. They had 2O+ acceptances between them; only 1 flat out rejection.
Accepted:
Marquette (2016 attending)
Texas A&M (2018 attending)
University of Florida
Florida State University
University of Pittsburgh
Fordham
College of Wooster
Trinity University
Drexel
Purdue
Loyola Chicago
Quinnipiac
Duquesne
Seton Hall
College of Charleston
University of South Carolina
Auburn
Ohio University
Baldwin Wallace
LSU
Ole Miss
University of the Sciences
High Point
Stephan F Austin
Waitlisted:
Clemson (was ultimately offered spring admission)
UT (was offered guaranteed transfer)
Rejected:
University of Washington
I think you can see that there are many, many wonderful schools ready, willing and able to welcome B+/A- students; but, I think, it is unlikely these types of students are going to crack the majority of top 40ish ranked schools. Hopefully this list may spark some ideas for additional options for your student. Happy Hunting!
My son’s stats were almost identical to your D’s, and he also had very solid but not unique EC’s. He was high school class of 2014 and just graduated from Tulane, so perhaps things have changed a bit, but here are his results.
Accepted:
Tulane
UC Santa Cruz
UC Davis
University of Washington
University of Puget Sound
Occidental College
University of Oregon
University of Miami (Spring admit, I think because he didn’t visit or show interest)
Waitlisted:
University of Michigan
UC Santa Barbara
Boston University
Kenyon
Rejected:
University of Southern California
Cornell
UC San Diego
@washugrad We don’t qualify for FA and have a 529. If a school exceeds the amount we’re prepared to pay, she’ll need to take out loans for the difference. If she attends in-state, this won’t be an issue, but she seems to be in the “gray area” I mentioned in my original post. She doesn’t think she wants a “big” school. She’s leaning toward business. No “must haves” with activities; although, she is very engaged and enjoys being around others who are as well–volunteer organizations, school publications, student gov’t, committees, etc. She plans to study abroad, etc. We’ve visited several school and applications have been started, but the list is very short. I’d love to see her add 2-3 more schools.
My rising senior has about a 3.7/4.0 weighted, 34 ACT. These are not competitive for our Top 2 in-state public schools (he would need at least a 4.2 weighted). We may be in the same state! (I’m imagining VA Tech as the big public match school).
If she is looking at smaller privates, the Colleges that Change Lives schools will likely have merit aid for a kid with her stats. Maybe take a look at some of the Jesuit schools. If you don’t want to share what’s currently on her list, you might use Naviance to see the most common overlaps with her list of schools.
My kids were gray area too. 3.7ish unweighted gpa’s, alternative education styles (one dual enrollment the other project based school/no AP’s.) Comparable test scores. It broke down pretty neatly for them… anything less than 30 percent acceptace rate was a “no.” Anything in the 30’s was either accept or waitlist. Anything 40 or higher was accept with merit from private schools.
Both chose University of Richmond in the end but had some luck with peer schools like Lafayette and Hamilton… though only possible due to financial aid for us.
You might check out Clark University (Massachusetts) and Willamette (Oregon.) Both were really nice, smaller schools that gave a ton of attention and merit for their stats. Added bonus of early action and rolling admissions so in the bag in December.
Your daughter has the stats to get good merit at University of San Diego–if she is interested in a gorgeous campus in a fabulous climate with ocean views. Pretty good academics, I think, and reputation of happy students!
@“G&HMom” My eldest DD2016 choose Marquette because she was accepted into the direct entry DPT program which was her initial goal (she had DPT offers from Duquesne, Quinnipiac, Seton Hall, U of Sci, and Ithaca, which I missed on the original list). Marquette’s PT exam pass rate and job placement rates are excellent. Marquette was small yet big, in a city (which was important to her), the faculty and staff seemed accessible and approachable (also really important to her because she likes that type of interaction) and they seemed to really exude the we want YOU here, not just any warm body. When we visited for the first time, at an accepted student/scholarship weekend in the dead of winter, DD came away from the event and said “I can see myself here”. Up to that point we had assumed she was going to pick Pitt. Without trying to be cliche…she just “knew” it was the right choice for her. Ultimately, MU gave her one of her better merit packages at $16k annually, too. DD2016 has since dropped the DPT program and changed majors to Secondary Education: Broad Field Science. MU has been wonderful with the ability to change majors and she has spoken 1 on 1 with the Deans of several colleges and multiple advisors when making the change, all have been so helpful and insightful. I honestly can’t say enough good things about MU (except maybe that I wish they had on campus housing all 4 years).
DD2018 choose A&M for a host of completely different reasons. She wanted big (I joke apparently it must have been HUGE that she really wanted when you dissect her llst; HUGE SEC/Football schools seems to be the common thread). She is a psychology major and plans to attend grad/law school, so just about anywhere is going to be fine for undergrad. Ultimately A&M (which is in-state for us) was the best value for the collegiate experience she seemed to crave; and the AGGIE network, here in Texas, is a very real thing. There were some personal reasons that made it a compelling choice too…closer to home/family/boyfriend of 2+ years. we did not think she would be accepted at A&M because she was a holistic review candidate not an auto - admit hence the long list of OOS flagships. In the end she was accepted at A&M and there was really no reason to pay more $$$ to attend OOS flagships, when she could stay at one of our in-state flagships for less. She swears, however, she would have gone to Clemson had she been offered fall admission or maybe Fordham had it not been so ridiculously expensive (they did offer $10k merit). I suspect my DD2018 will be staying in Texas indefinitely, and A&M will probably be exactly the right school for her; even though I have hesitations about it being so big.
Re: Loyola Chicago…this was my husband’s favorite for DD2018. We liked the size and the location. It seems an awful lot like Marquette which we are all convinced is a great school. DD2016 visited with us when we toured for DD2018 last summer and she says that does feel like Marquette. We have toured it twice, once as a quick stop on the way up to Marquette accepted student weekend in 2016 and again last summer; we have always felt the campus was lovely and the students and faculty warm and welcoming. DD2018 was given a great $18k merit package which made it appealing too. I think my husband will always view this school as the “one that got away”! We are not Catholic (or even religious at all really, although my husband was raised catholic) but husband has taken quite a shine to Jesuit schools in general. He has been consistently impressed with their philosophy and emphasis on academics.
I am an Ohio University grad, thought is was a great school back in the day and many of my classmates have kids there now and the next generations seems to be happy there too! Hubby is a CWRU graduate, but that is a whole different ballpark.
@eh1234 We are in Virginia; VT was the large state school I was referencing! It’s a great school and most students report being very happy there. It is on her very short list. She knows her GPA and scores won’t get her into our top 2 VA public schools (although, your son’s 34 ACT may make it worth applying!). I think she’s realizing she may not get t merit money at some of the other places she’s considered (Elon being one of them). Other parents have mentioned U of Richmond–which she loves–but we didn’t think she had the stats for that school either. We know of 2 students who were accepted at W&M and UVA and waitlisted and denied at Richmond, so we crossed that off the list as well!
@labegg Great information. Your approach sounds similar to our’s. We can’t justify the expense of some of the OOS private/schools when VT offers great programs/in-state prices. However, she’s uncertain about the size and is drawn to smaller schools which is why she liked Elon. She enjoys the same interactions you described with DD2016–she’s very engaged and involved. Perhaps we need to take a closer look at Marquette. (She doesn’t mind the cold!)
My DD18 had about a 3.7 UW with only 3 AP classes, 1360 on her SATs, lots of theater and music ECs and she is an EMT who volunteers for our local EMS unit.
She’s going to Muhlenberg with great merit.
Also accepted to:
Ithaca (great merit)
U of Delaware
Dickinson
Miami of Ohio
Emerson (great merit)
Gettysburg
Skidmore (deferred ED, accepted RD)
Waitlisted at Richmond, Lafayette and Clark (she showed no interest there or I think she would have gotten in.)
@“G&HMom” I knew you had to be in VA! My S19 isn’t even applying to VA Tech. He wants to major in music so his best in-state options are actually James Madison and George Mason. He is probably applying to Ithaca, Oberlin, Maryland, Temple and needs to add a few more to his list.
My son chose Tulane because the size was just right for him, not too big or too small, he liked that it was both in a city and had a real campus and he just got a good feeling when visiting. He also liked that it was in an area of the country that he hadn’t lived in before. It worked out great and he loved his 4 years there.