<p>Just reading through the threads and finding such great information--so generous of everyone to share their knowledge/experiences. Wondered if I could ask one more quick question?</p>
<p>My son is starting the college-looking process. One aspect of his application will (likely) be pretty good SATs (he's been getting near perfect practice scores & aced the PSAT) but, unfortunately (due to rebelling/slacking thru 9 & 10th grades) will have average (at best) grades. Even w/a junior year that's starting out w/nearly straight As & 2 honors classes, he's coming off a 2.9 gpa from his first 2 years.</p>
<p>In light of this -- are there any schools who still value the SAT as a predictor of ability/performance and might give it more weight, relative to GPA? Son is chill also, and would rather play guitar than rack up the extra-curriculars. </p>
<p>Jolynne, there are some colleges that throw out freshman grades altogether, and some schools consider an upward trend in grades a plus. So not everything is lost! Like someone said on this board, your son's GPA will tell them he's a slacker, but from his near perfect SATs they will know that they are dealing with a smart slacker. :)</p>
<p>A friend of mine had a son with 800 CR and 800 M who got offered a full ride to SUNY Binghamton despite a transcript littered with Bs and Cs. He didn't get into his first choice, might have been Bennington? Got waitlisted and eventually admitted to Colby where he attended. His mother tried to get him to take a gap year before attending, but he didn't. He continued to be a slacker there, took some time off and has gone back somewhat more focussed. My nephew also had mixed grades but very high scores. He managed to get a D his final quarter of US history even though his teacher loved him because he blew off a major assignment. He ended up at St. Johns and loves it. </p>
<p>Your son sounds like he's woken up already - that's a good thing - and I think many schools will give him a bit of a break.</p>
<p>Jolynne, will your son be able to make National Merit Semifinalist/finalist with his PSAT score? If he makes it to NMF there are many schools that will go after him and offer very good scholarship and the membership of their honors college or program.</p>
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olynne, will your son be able to make National Merit Semifinalist/finalist with his PSAT score? If he makes it to NMF there are many schools that will go after him and offer very good scholarship and the membership of their honors college or program.
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Unfortunately a low GPA could preclude him from moving on to finalist status (this happened to a friend of my daughters and her grades were not quite that bad). Also most scholarships and honors colleges that we saw required a combination of SAT or ACT scores and a minimum GPA. </p>
<p>If he can really do well his junior year and bring up his cumulative GPA that will make a huge difference.</p>
<p>Thanks for those thoughts. Hoping the trend upward is meaningful in some respect. Been wondering about the NMF thing re: GPA...I guess we'll just see how that goes. Not sure if the fact that his 2.9 is unweighted makes a difference (he's taken between 4-5 honors classes each year).</p>
<p>One last (related) question...I know kids are accepted before (obviously) their final senior grades come in. So...I'm wondering...for both acceptance and college scholarship info...at what point do the colleges consider cummulative gpa? End of junior year? First marking period of senior year? </p>
<p>The later the better for my son, obviously. There are tons of NJ scholarships available for 'top 20 % gpa' (& he's already far exceeded the corresponding min. SAT requirement). If he could drag it up to 20% that could make a major difference, financially.</p>
<p>Mathmom---btw, wondered why your nephew loved St. John's? Is that the school w/the 'great books' program? My son mentioned that to me a while back & seemed intrigued.</p>
<p>I also used to work w/a very smart guy who switched from Dartmoth to St. John's. </p>