<p>It has been awhile since I've posted here but recently at my son's school he has been attending many college fairs that the school offers. He told me he talked with a young man who had a very slow start in high school like my son. When my son asked him how many schools he was accepted to he said he got accepted to most of the schools he didn't have his heart set on. After graduation he took a year off to go out of state, do an internship, and apply as an in state student to the school that was his first choice. He was accepted as an incoming freshman and was given a lot of financial aid for being an in state student and living on his own. My son has been entertaining this thought ONLY if he does not get into any schools that are on his list currently. He does not want to attend the community colleges here because they are low budget, cutting programs quickly, and it is a waste of money. He is a junior in high school and has a 2.3 GPA. He is also looking all over. Some of the schools he is looking at is LSU, TCU, University of Iowa, Iowa State, University of Nebraska, University of Nebraska-Omaha, and Kansas State University. He is taking the ACT next weekend. Does anyone have a child who followed through with this year off plan? He will only do it if he does not get into an affordable school.</p>
<p>A 2.3 high school GPA is likely to be quite limiting on the selection of 4-year colleges that he can get admitted to. He may want to reconsider the CC route – students are often able to “upgrade” their choice of 4-year colleges by starting at CC, doing well there, and transferring as juniors to 4-year colleges that they were not able to get into as freshmen.</p>
<p>Taking a gap year after high school won’t magically make him more likely to be admitted as a freshman afterward, unless he aims at lower selectivity colleges the second time around.</p>
<p>His GPA is likely to be higher at the end of the semester.He has gotten high A’s and B’s all semester. Kansas state is a 99% acceptance rate and accepts below a 2.3 GPA.</p>
<p>Also we live in Nebraska and in state residents are automatically accepted if you recieve an ACT of 20 or higher.</p>
<p>Just an FYI…if your son moves OOS and lives there, even supporting himself, this will NOT make him independent for financial aid purposes. YOU (the parent) will still need to provide your income and assets on his financial aid application forms. </p>
<p>AND at MOST public universities, your son will not be considered as an instate student for tuition purposes UNLESS you, the parents, also reside in that state.</p>
<p>You really need to read the policies for establishing instate residency on EACH college website your kiddo might be considering. You will likely find that the domicile of the parents determines residency for
MOST undergrad students.</p>
<p>Now regarding taking a gap year…in my opinion this is a good move for students who really want an additional year before enrolling in college. For some, that extra year really is a gift of time.</p>
<p>For example, here are the guidelines for residency at Kansas State:
<a href=“http://www.k-state.edu/registrar/faqs/Guidelines%20for%20Residency%20App.pdf[/url]”>http://www.k-state.edu/registrar/faqs/Guidelines%20for%20Residency%20App.pdf</a></p>
<p>Are the Nebraska options affordable for your family?</p>
<p>Yes they are affordable but he feels like he is not a good fit at our state school. He really wants to go ti LSU badly but I’m afraid he won’t get in. He reaches the criteria for UNL ,UNO , and K State</p>
<p>We send both our son and daughter to a higher end high school. Son is a boarding junior while daughtee is a freshman who doesnt. His tuition costs $17,000 roughly negotiated.</p>
<p>If he wants to go to LSU he will have to start out at CC because his GPA is too low. However, after a year at CC if he maintains a 3.0 or above he should be able to transfer.</p>
<p>There are three factors that will be initially considered for admission to LSU.</p>
<p>•Incoming freshman must have at least a 3.0 academic gpa calculated from academic core courses.
•Students must also have completed at least 19 units of new Fall 2012 college-preparatory courses.
•Applicants must have a minimum of SAT score (critical reading and math) of 1030 or at least a composite ACT score of 22.</p>
<p>Also, make sure you follow their formula for calculating minimal GPA:
[College-Preparatory</a> Course Requirements Effective Fall 2012](<a href=“http://www.lsu.edu/departments/admissions/StepstoAdmission/FreshmanAdmission/CollegePrepWork/item17513.html]College-Preparatory”>http://www.lsu.edu/departments/admissions/StepstoAdmission/FreshmanAdmission/CollegePrepWork/item17513.html)</p>
<p>I know at some schools they will sometimes look past a GPA with a stronger ACT and a strong essay with rec’s. Could this apply at LSU?</p>
<p>A small college who is looking at him sent him a book on different ways to get accepted into different schools. He has been looking at it a lot, raising his grades, studying for the ACT, and continuing with his after school activities. He has convinced himself that he will never be good enough to get into the schools he wants to go to. I’d hate to see his dreams crushed because he struggled his 9th grade year.</p>
<p>Here is some stats from a recent admitted class. Refer to page 5 for GPAs of admitted students: Percent who had GPA between 2.0 and 2.49 = 0.31% so there is a very small chance he could be admitted.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bgtplan.lsu.edu/CDS/2011/ftfresh.pdf[/url]”>http://www.bgtplan.lsu.edu/CDS/2011/ftfresh.pdf</a></p>
<p>What is wrong with going to CC for a year if it will get you into a decent school? I know plenty of people who did that. IMO, I think its time better spent rather than a gap year.</p>
<p>The community colleges here are little to none. If you were here you would see it. I personally went to this community college and the only strong program is criminal justice. The education is very weak. Many of the kids go to UNO or UNL.</p>
<p>If that is his only option he will have to attend but its subpar at best.</p>
<p>Why does he think he won’t be a good fit for UNL or UNO? Is it mainly because they’re close to home or many of his HS classmates will be going there?</p>
<p>Given the GPA situation, I’m guessing that he does not plan to major in petroleum engineering. In most other fields, LSU doesn’t outclass UNL. (Unless we’re talking about local restaurants and live music – LSU is an obvious winner there!)</p>
<p>He wants to go into business.
UNO: Way too close to home, smothered by family and friends, dorms just updated but ludacris costs </p>
<p>UNL: Visited campus many times (football games and school visits), feels like he wouldn’t fit into campus, doesn’t like lincoln outside of memorial stadium (Loves husker football but hates the school!)</p>
<p>University of Iowa: Loved the campus, dorms, food, information tour</p>
<p>Iowa State: Liked the information session, didn’t like the campus </p>
<p>LSU: family in Louisiana, feels very comfortable in Baton Rouge, always been very interested in the school and traditions</p>
<p>Kansas State: visiting in the spring</p>
<p>TCU: knows it is a reach school for him but is applying to see if they will consider him because they look at the full package</p>
<p>I just don’t buy that a business major who fits in at LSU couldn’t fit in at UNL. A cello-playing comparative literature major whose dream school is Swarthmore, sure, maybe he really would have trouble finding his crowd at UNL. But if you can love one big, sports-loving, party-hearty flagship in a medium-sized college town, you can be happy at another. Learn to cook your own jambalaya.</p>
<p>A year off will not make him a more attractive candidate if his numbers aren’t up to snuff. As long as he’s a freshman applicant, his HS grades and scores will determine whether he gets in.</p>
<p>LSU will cost about $15k per year more than UNL. Does that qualify as an affordable option for the family? If not, then getting in doesn’t solve the problem. He won’t get enough merit aid at LSU to bring the cost into the same range as UNL unless he breaks 30 on ACT.</p>
<p>We pay $17,000 a year to send him to boarding school so we think we might be able to help him through college as long as he puts in some money. We’ll have to wait and see in the future.</p>
<p>If LSU is potentially affordable, then I think the best strategy is to plan to transfer there from UNL, not the waste-of-time CC. All he needs to do is break 20 on the ACT to make that plan possible. Once he gets to UNL, it’s on him to get the grades. LSU will require a minimum 2.5 college GPA if he applies to transfer after two years. If he wants to transfer after freshman year, he’ll need a college 2.5 AND a 22 ACT. If he’s ready for college in terms of maturity, he should be able to clear that bar after a year at UNL.</p>