<p>My boy, a junior, is all over the map academically --
he'll likely wind up with a 2.8 GPA (plus/minus .1), the result of
a disastrous freshman year. That said, the trend has been steadily
upwards, from C's & D's back then to B's & C's to mostly B's now
(he might eke out an 'A' in cell bio). </p>
<p>No APs -- just regular and advanced courses at one good school
and one very good school.</p>
<p>SAT was 1830 (680/550/600 R/M/W), with a 780 on the World History
subject test.
Composite ACT was 27, primarily because of reading (30) & science (29).
He wants to write the ACT again -- is confident that he can improve his score
(and I believe him). That said, GPA is clearly the current gating factor.</p>
<p>Wondering whether he has any reasonable shot at some northeastern LACs
(e.g. - Hampshire College, McDaniel, Ohio Wesleyan, Susquehanna, Goucher,
Wheaton (MA), Fairfield U, HWS, Muhlenberg, CoW, St. Lawrence,
Clark U (the latter being his #1 choice). </p>
<p>He views UMass Dartmouth as his safety, but my sense is that there wouldn't be
adequate academic/intellectual challenge/stimulation there.</p>
<p>I'd welcome hearing from parents of successful children with similar profiles.
(You're out there ... aren't you?)</p>
<p>These parents may know. Their GPAs of 3.0 - 3.3 are higher than your kid’s but they will probably have some great ideas. You will also be able to see their college acceptances.
There is also a class of 2014 3.0-3.3 group as well. </p>
<p>He views UMass Dartmouth as his safety, but my sense is that there wouldn’t be
adequate academic/intellectual challenge/stimulation there.</p>
<p>Why? Wouldn’t there be a good number of student with similar stats? </p>
<p>What’s his major?</p>
<p>How much are you willing to pay? If you’re willing to pay $55k or more per year, then there are probably a good number of mid level privates that will happily enroll your child. </p>
<p>Are the Catholic univs ok? (edit to add…I see that you have Fairfield, so Catholics are ok. Fairfield would likely accept your child. If you’ll pay, that may work out for you.)</p>
<p>Your son has a huge advantage at some of these schools because of his gender. Quite frankly, many liberal arts colleges can’t afford to be extremely selective about how many males they let in, so as to preserve the M:F ratio, so even at more selective schools the admitted males often have much lower stats than their female counterparts. I’d recommend checking out sections C1, C7, C9 of each school’s Common Data Set to find out the ratio of males to females admitted, what a school looks for, and the stats of incoming students. </p>
<p>Also as MC2K pointed out, the more you can pay, the more colleges want your child.</p>
<p>If Clark is his #1 choice, he should apply Early Decision. That can make a big difference in admission odds. (If you’re applying for financial aid, he can back out of the commitment at the time of his acceptance, if the aid offer isn’t sufficient.) An ED application may hurt merit-money chances, but for the student who is just hoping to squeak into the “In” pile, merit money isn’t usually on the table anyway. </p>
<p>But if Clark is indeed the top choice, Fairfield seems out of place on that list … very different type of school. How about adding Guilford in NC and/or Beloit in WI? Both have a more Clarkesque (spell check doesn’t like that!) vibe and should be Safe or at least Realistic options for your son if his grades don’t dip.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my son’s test scores are a far better reflection of his capabilities
than his grades (which magnify his LD deficits – excluding math & foreign languages,
he tests & writes well enough on big-ticket items, but the day-to-day little things
(like homework & notebook checks (which don’t exist in college)) kill him.</p>
<p>What have his guidance counselor and the LD resource people at his high school suggested? They should know where students with his profile have been admitted in the past.</p>
<p>If your son has a documented learning disability, you also might want to target schools with good disability support services, and tutorial programs. </p>
<p>We know a number of UMass Dartmouth grads who are very smart and capable…chose the school because of affordability…or for their fine arts programs (textiles, jewelry, etc) which are quite good.</p>
<p>Re: Clark…if finances are a significant consideration, do NOT apply Early Decision. While it might give your son a small admissions advantage, you will completely lose the ability to compare Clark’s financial aid award to any others.</p>
<p>And just FYI…home work DOES exist in college and the professors expect it to be done and turned in ON TIME.</p>
Don’t most schools in England or Scotland lack the support that many American liberal arts colleges offer? I was under the impression that they operate on a sink or swim model. </p>
<p>The issue for this student is not getting admitted. There are plenty of liberal arts and regional universities that would gladly take him. The issue is being able to complete a degree, which is why posters are recommending schools with good LD support and the OP is looking into smaller schools.</p>
<p>I agree that “notebook checks” don’t happen in college, but there are a number of profs that will ding your grades if you don’t do your homework.</p>
<p>*Didn’t say ‘beneath’. Hope I didn’t offend. My analysis was based on the
SAT data from collegeboard.org, which I’ve uploaded here:
<a href=“http://www.oldwithoutmoney.com/uMA_D.jpg[/url][/I]”>http://www.oldwithoutmoney.com/uMA_D.jpg*</a>
You can’t really go by that unless your son will be choosing a less-difficult major. If your son will be in a challenging major, then his classmates will likely be the strongest students at the school (those in the upper quartile or upper half.)</p>
<p>Both of my children’s stats were well-within the top quartile of their undergrad. Were they challenged? Of course they were because their majors were difficult (Math and Chemical Engineering) so their classmates were the best students at the school. The profs didn’t need to 'dumb down" the coursework at all. </p>
<p>Large publics like UM-D offer 100+ majors. The best students are likely concentrated in about 12 majors. They’re not equally spread out amongst all the majors.</p>
<p>I don’t think your S can use UMass-Dartmouth as a safety. Not with that GPA. (Its median GPA is a 3.25). His SATs are higher: 1230 vs. a median of 1073 for M+ R at UMD. I don’t think a difference of 157 points means that he won’t get any intellectual stimulation. Keep in mind that Southeast Mass and neighboring RI have a large immigrant population, so a fair # of UMD kids come from homes where English is the second (or third, etc.) language. </p>
<p>If I were you, I’d make sure he had somewhere safer. UMD does reject 40% of applicants and personally, I don’t think you can count on your S getting in. I am NOT saying he won’t–just that I think it’s a match rather than a safety.</p>
<p>I agree with other posters that you need to add schools to the mix that offer good LD support and who understand how and respect how LD;s work. kudos to ur kid for pulling up his GPA while the curriculum has gotten more demanding. I don’t know that much about the schools you noted but would definitely research their attitudes on learning support issues. if they have a cool policy with kids in that boat, teach them adaptation skiils to overcome and work with those issues, are a strong LAC, and the student body fits your kid well, those are likely the best schools for him. I would also think his admit chances would be highest at a school with the attributes I noted. Best wishes to all of you in this search</p>
<p>Staying out of New England and checking out the CTCL LACs may be a good idea re: fit, and likely to offer good LD-related student services and greater faculty involvement. Large state schools are likely to focus on GPA and scores, have minimums for both, regardless of academic caliber of HS. Check out OW and CoW; both come highly recommended for smart students who need guidance/attention too.</p>
<p>OP, I actually thInk your list is a good one. Good for your son for being determined to get his ACT score up. I bet he will. Does your son have some interesting ECs? That would be a huge factor at the schools on his list. Make sure he visits the schools, interviews well, establishes a relationship with the local admissions rep and expresses in his essays what he will contribute to the community. </p>
<p>Has he visited any of these schools? Maybe that will inspire him. I have a son who struggles academically. He has really figured himself as a learner this year. What a huge difference it has made in his grades and self esteem. It is never to late to help your son find what works for him.</p>
<p>From what I gather, your son is looking for a more intellectual environment. Check out threads that ask for similar schools to…Oberlin or Swarthmore etc. </p>
<p>I do agree wih others that merit aid will be difficult but not impossible. Maybe you. An check some public lacs in Maryland and NJ?</p>
<p>To date, we’ve just visited Clark, UMassD, UMassA & Hampshire College.<br>
He found something to like about all of these schools, tho’ Clark most appealed to him – so I’m looking for more ‘Clark-like’ schools within, say, 600 miles of Boston (not dispositive, but at least I can drive that distance in a day).</p>
<p>Many thanks to all for the advice, cautions & reality-checks provided thus far.</p>
![http://www.oldwithoutmoney.com/uMA_D.jpg[/url]](http://www.oldwithoutmoney.com/uMA_D.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
![http://www.oldwithoutmoney.com/clarkU.jpg[/url]](http://www.oldwithoutmoney.com/clarkU.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
![http://www.oldwithoutmoney.com/uMA_D.jpg[/url][/I]](http://www.oldwithoutmoney.com/uMA_D.jpg%5B/url%5D%5B/I%5D){kind=link}
