<p>^I believe our school goes to senior mid-year grades.</p>
<p>I’m bumping this thread because my D is almost on deck for launch, seeking for a destination. Her GPA fits this thread. She will be taking couple SAT subject tests on Saturday, and hopefully her last SAT I in October.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll chime in again, hoping to get more parents involved.</p>
<p>D is studying for finals this week. I hope that she’ll hang on to her ~3.5 after this week. Her college march will start this summer with the Common App essays. This is one aspect of the app that offers an even playing field for everyone. Her writing has improved quite a bit since her sophomore year, so I hope with an early start on the essays, she’ll be able to do a great job on her essays. </p>
<p>While she won’t be looking at HYPSMC, she will be applying to a few highly selective schools. She needs to be very competitive with her test scores and ECs to have a shot at these schools. Her last SAT I scores are solid but not great. D had hoped that was her last one, but was disappointed with her scores in two sections. Let’s hope the Oct test will be her last! She also plans to put some more work on her research and submit it for Intel/Siemens. From what I tell, she’ll need to put in a lot of work to have a shot at winning anything, but I’m still thrilled that she plans to go through the process, and I’ll certainly cheer her on.</p>
<p>Economics is her thing at the moment. She’s being talking about it for more than a year, so I concluded it is more than just a fleeting interest. We’ll be evaluating her college list with an eye on that. She’ll most likely apply EA/ED to a few schools before the regular round.</p>
<p>I’ll chime in too. My Junior DS was GPA of 3.64 end of first semester, we’ll see the final soon. He knows he has to keep above 3.50 for sure. I have been doing massive college searching for him for the last couple months and keeping up with the new posts on this awesome sight to help keep me motivated and along the right path. He has 3 years in the Project Lead The Way Engineering program at his HS so he is pretty confident some path in computer/software/hardware/physics engineering is for him. I have chosen schools based on these programs, 29 still on the list, much more eliminating to do until app time. Hope to get some essays done this summer because when school starts it will be nuts as he will not have a lunch Senior year. We go on our 3rd college visit tomorrow and hope to get a couple more in before app season. Oh, he isn’t performing well on the Eng/Read/Writing of the ACT but killing the math science, I sure hope he can bring it up in Sept.</p>
<p>lorlor67 - my S sounds JUST like yours. I, too, am doing most of the leg work. S did not have a great sophomore yr and we are hoping he can bring up the gpa jr yr. He is also jamming on the math section and much weaker on the reading passages section of CR. He is starting PLTW classes this year. I hope you will continue posting your progress (and your S’s). We might just follow in your footsteps!!</p>
<p>got a soph that looks just like lorlor and momom’s…sigh! i know there are some good engineering colleges out there for him though…</p>
<p>kayakmom - is your soph a rising jr? Maybe our guys can be roommates!</p>
<p>Welcome aboard, lorlor67, Momom2 & kayakmom!</p>
<p>Well, I also have a sophomore son who fits this thread. He is also strong in math, weak in writing, but improving. I still remember when I asked him why he didn’t write more descriptively on a subject, he replied “What more to write?” :(</p>
<p>Back to D. Her writing score is the highest of the three sections; unfortunately, that is the least important section to the adcoms. Her cr and math are about equal strength. If I have to pick one, I think she may score higher on cr the next time.</p>
<p>For those looking at engineering programs, I’d recommend RPI and Univ of Rochester as match for kids in our GPA range who shine in math and science. There is also CMU and Georgia Tech for the more ambitious.</p>
<p>@mommom2-I’m always so happy to hear other moms helping out, I feel that it is just another one of the “gifts” I am giving him. He is just now taking more of a role in the whole process. My son loves the PLTW and has really helped him realize what his strengths are I am hoping your son has the same experience. Will continue to update on here…thanks for sharing too!
@pcp-Thanks for the welcome and the suggestions, I have both of those schools still in the top 29!!</p>
<p>So Glad this thread is back… I hope we can all offer suggestions and support to one another in the upcoming months. My DS has a couple positives to add this year. He just got his SAT scores back and managed a 219O with a 790 CR. He just took 2 SAT subject tests and also 3 AP tests, but still waiting on those results. He still is around a 3.4 W GPA. He will have a little unusual transcript as he went to a sort of boarding school in Vermont this past semester on a rural organic farm, and his transcript there will not factor into his home schools GPA. SOO don’t really know how schools will look at him. The school he attended is very prestigious and colleges know all about it. He has also gotten an internship this summer with Student Conservation working on trails and river beds in Canada,Minnesota and Alaska.</p>
<p>Anyway, he has his list… a VERY broad range of schools. He is very level-headed and so far doesn’t seem to have a "dream"school… He also has 5 EA schools, so we will be able to tell a lot more after those results are in at the end of the year. My main concern now is the dreaded ESSAYS!!</p>
<p>this sure looks like the thread i need! he is also looking at wpi beside the other schools mentioned…</p>
<p>We are in a slightly different boat in that my S will have to go to a college that offers the tuition exchange available through my school (and the other almost 400 participating schools). So far (and this includes reaches and matches) we have RIT, WPI, Drexel, Syracuse, Bucknell, and Rose-Hulman. His SAT practice tests have been pretty good so far, ranging from about 2140-2360 with pretty consistent 790/800 on math. I’m not even going to worry about the essay part until after PSATs.</p>
<p>Every one keeps asking what he is going to be looking for in a college. I have told them so far that since girls are scarce at most technical institutes, and none of the schools are in warm locales, he really doesn’t care anymore. :o)</p>
<p>I think he is likely going to be a “rule-out” school kid rather than a “Oh I’ve fallen in love with this place” kid. We will check out RIT next month when I take him to a camp up that way. Most of the others I think we’ll check out over spring break.</p>
<p>^My older techie son was like that. He got more interested in college visits once the acceptances were in and he had to make the final decision. He went with the one with the strongest program in his major and has had no regrets. (He turned down a place that was much higher ranked and had an ideal M/F ratio - the only non-techie school on his list.) That looks like a reasonable list for a high scoring kid.</p>
<p>5boys, the daughter of a friend of mine did that Vermont program. It reeked havoc on her junior year schedule, but she loved it. She ended up at Barnard.</p>
<p>A friend of one of my kids did the same program and loved it. Wound up at Middlebury.</p>
<p>Yes… my DS had an AMAZING experience at The Mountain School. He was VERY sad that he had to come home. He wants to go back to Vermont for college if possible. He is thinking about applying ED to Midd. He is also applying EA to UVM. I think Midd will be a huge reach with his GPA, but he did REALLY well at The Mountain School and their college matriculations are impressive. It does kind of wreck havoc on their Junior year schedule, but from everyone I have ever talked to it doesn’t matter. He will just have a VERY hard load next year, but the academic work at TMS was so intense, that he thinks next year will seem easy. They actually do graduate level work in some classes. So we will see. So far, I think he wants to major in ES. NOT TECHY at all… that is more my 14 S.</p>
<p>5boys, I think your son will get in just about anywhere he wants. I think you are getting much more nervous about his chances than his resume warrants… Middlebury sounds like the perfect place for him!</p>
<p>We had an amazing visit at the UW-Platteville yesterday! We weren’t sure what to expect because this is in the farm country in WI. This is one of his safety schools so I feel very relieved that he loved it and can see himself there. This is the most affordable school we are considering and he will get in no problem with his stats. We are finding ourselves not as worried about the rankings of the engineering program as we are about finding the right fit and affordability. Not sure if that’s right or wrong, just how it is. Iowa State visit is next month.</p>
<p>Well, two years flew by and now D1 is on deck. She does not have S1’s numbers or long list of awards, but she is very strong in drawing/painting. We are still working on the list, but she will have a few T20 unis and lacs. Very brave girl. Fine Arts will be her top major, followed by Econ & Bio. </p>
<p>She did a few on-site portfolio reviews and received great feedback. The reviews were good experience for her and boosted her confidence and resolve in pursuing visual art. </p>
<p>She will be busy preparing for standardized tests for the next couple months. She has to complete them soon enough for ED/EA apps.</p>
<p>Any parents out there with kids who fit this thread?</p>
<p>I have son that does. He is a senior and has a 3.6 uw gpa. Weighted is 3.7 as he gets As and Bs in his Ap classes. His rank is 27%, which will hurt him but he has taken a much more challenging course load than his peers. His ACT score is okay— composite of 25, but he did have a 31 in math. The reading kills him. He reads just fine but he does it slowly. He taking the ACT again in Sept but hasn’t really studied for it so I doubt it will get better.</p>
<p>He is interested in engineering or wildlife biology. We have toured Purdue, UIUC, Colo state in Ft. Collins , Colorado School of Mines, RPI, Lehigh, Lafayette, and RIT. CSU is a safety and he liked it just fine. He really liked CSM but if he chooses the bio path, he would have to change schools. Purdue seems like a good fit as does Lehigh, but he may not have the stats to get in. The IDEAS program at Lehigh sounds like the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>I have stressed the importance of a good essay, but said essay is still unwritten…
I am more stressed about his applications than he is. Wish he would get going on them! He seems stalled because he is not sure which major to pursue. I tell him that he can apply and sort that out later, but he is following his own timeline. Which is really scaring m!</p>
<p>TKsmom… I can totally relate to what you are saying about the feeling of being more stressed than they are… URGH!! I just happened to be thinking of this today… got angrier and angrier as I thought about the amount of work I have put into HIS college stuff compared to what he has put into it… he, basically taking 2 SAT’s and going on a few college visits that I planned and initiated… We are going to have a “come to Jesus” talk this weekend… I mean he has to be somewhat invested… I am almost embarrassed to to go to the GC this week, as I will seem like a total helicopter parent… and I don’t want to be… how did this happen??? He is a smart kid that fits in this thread… but he just doesn’t seem to be all that enthused about it. He is an Eagle Scout who has accomplished A LOT so I just don’t get this…Is he just another over induldged teen… I sure hope not.</p>