<p>Welcome, folks! It’s nice to hear from people who will be actively working through this process for a while yet. Your kids sound GREAT!!! Of course!!!</p>
<p>The wondering never ends … but we’ll get there. I admit to daydreaming often of 12 months from now, wondering how it will all turn out. I do have faith, especially recalling all of the incredible growth my D has gone through these past three years. </p>
<p>Ask questions, share stories, and have a great end to the year!</p>
<p>Hi everyone! I have been lurking for awhile and have posted a few times but I like everyone so much on this thread I thought I should officially join. My DS who is a sophmore, I think falls into the range here. 3.1 UW without arts. 3.3 UW with the arts thrown in. Our school only calculates GPA from 10-12th grades, academic classes only. But a few positives, he goes to a top 50 college prep(on scholarship I might add) and is a great test taker,10th grade PSAT 2200. He has a lot of unusual and top leadership EC’s and over 500 volunteer and internship hrs. </p>
<p>I look forward to our next few years together and for those of you who are leaving us, congratulations on all of the successes of your kids. They all seem amazing. Nightchef… I loved your last post and resonated with all of it. I know my S will get to the place he belongs and I hope to support him as best I can. We had some exciting news last week. My S found out he was admitted to a semester program at a school in Vermont for the Spring semester next year. He will leave sunny CA for cold and snowy Vermont, to go to school with 45 other students form around the country. They will all live, work and go to school together with there teachers. It sounds amazing and he is truly excited. Can’t wait.
Anyway, thank you all for giving me hope that my amazing but not so grade driven S will fine.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, Texasmom14… “S gets mostly B’s, and the occasional A… rarely studies”
Can totally relate to that, we should get together for a glass of wine to commiserate. LOL</p>
<p>Hey 5boys, can I join that party?? My S too. He was pulling straight Bs this semeseter until about 2 weeks ago, scared himself silly and is actually cracking some books…I nearly have to do a double-take every time I see him doing that but don’t know if it is too late to bring up this semester’s grades; should help with his AP and IB tests, though!</p>
<p>Kids are so ridiculously surprising. I’m trying to have faith. My D did pretty well 3rd quarter, only Bs in her APs. And I just got her ACT from 4/10 - she doesn’t know yet, but she did massively better than she’d feared, and way better than she’d hoped! She can’t change all of the Bs she’s gotten (and will still get) and that C freshman year, but the upward trend is definitely there. I’d figured her test scores would be something she’d have to make up for, but now she has a score that guarantees her the state safeties and will make her matches very happy. This will be a very good day for her! I’m a teeny bit sorry I looked, but I can hold it in until she knows. H is going to wait and look with her.</p>
<p>And I bought her AP study guides, at her request, but thought they were just gathering dust. No, this morning she told me she’s on track with reviewing and practice tests, does them in her room after we’ve gone to bed. </p>
<p>Yay!</p>
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<p>This is the primary reason I started this thread. After all, this is College Confidential. We want to discuss schools that have relevance to many parents and their kids. The safety, match and reach sets can be quite different between the 3.2 and the 3.5 kids. After almost completing one cycle with S1, I can say it is extremely unlikely for an unhooked 3.2 kid to gain acceptance at a top 20 school, but it is very possible for a 3.5 kid with other solid credentials. If your kid aspires to a top college, before telling your kid to aim lower, help your child understand what s/he must do to have a reasonable shot at that college. </p>
<p>Of course, this thread is not just focused on applying to top schools. The selection of safety and match schools is also very important. While some may want to go for the stars, we need to make sure they can land softly if they fall short. There are numerous other subjects we can discuss. How do you encourage your child to study more? Does he have a passion? How does she discover her passion? How do we fuel and support that passion? What is leadership and does it matter? What are some interesting EC’s to explore? Is a varsity sport necessary? Which tests to take and when? What about scholarships?..</p>
<p>I look forward to working with you all in another adventurous ride!</p>
<p>Does anyone have a senior still deciding? It is going to be a frantic day or two here while D works through this. Knox College in IL and Linfield College in OR are the top two contenders, and she is now second-guessing her declination of one other school (the envelope is still in the front hall and I’ve been instructed to not put out the mail today).</p>
<p>It is surprising that the two top schools are in such similar small towns, although Linfield has the edge with its proximity to Portland. Knox has the better program for her but we had travel troubles getting there. This morning I can’t really say how this will turn out.</p>
<p>
It’s also important in this range to distinguish between weighted and unweighted GPAs. Over in the “where’s your 3.3-3.6 kid going?” thread somebody posted whose kid has a 3.4-something unweighted but a 4.-something weighted. That kid is probably a match for Tufts or Northwestern and can think about Ivies. That’s a completely different predicament from someone like my kid with a 3.4-something weighted GPA.</p>
<p>digdig - Yes, S2 is still deciding - between Univ of Puget Sound and Pitzer. Clark U is also out there as a possibility. It’s the classic choice - Is the “better” school really worth the extra money? He keeps telling me he would be happy at either place…</p>
<p>I love UPS. If I was the student in this house the check would be on its way there this week.</p>
<p>I t hink that if parents read these posts and recognize kindred folk they shouldn’t split hairs about whether their kid’s weighted or unweighted stats fall perfectly in thee 3.3 ot 3.6 range or (for that matter) if they have a hook (our case). I found the thoughts and suggestions on this forum the best fit for my son’s situation–As and Bs and the occasional C…really tough curriculum and good test scores but a sloppy attitude toward the homework and some tough courses made him a reach for a lot of top schools. </p>
<p>the advice and shared stories of triumph and suffering were very helpful during this application process and now, decision making process. It kept me from nagging son and gave me an outlet for angst. Thank you! Son has decided on CMU for a BFA in fine arts…painfully expensive but we are sure it is the right place for the geeky-tech-artist- sometime-underachiever-but-ready-for-the-big-time-student. THanks PCP and best of luck to next year’s seniors!</p>
<p>Nightchef, my S2 had a 3.49 UW (includes HS grades from MS), a 4.2 W from a top IB program and a 2290 SAT/2270 on three SAT-IIs, and we did NOT consider the Ivies a viable option (which was fine, because after visiting Dart, Brown and Cornell, none of them appealed to him anyway). He got into Tufts RD and UChicago EA, and believe me, we were THRILLED. These were his top two choices from the beginning and he focused major attention on apps for those schools, which I think helped him considerably.</p>
<p>He applied to Georgetown SFS, Swat, Chicago, Tufts, Bowdoin, Carleton, URoch and our flagship. Accepted to Tufts, Chicago, URoch (w/merit) and UMD-CP (with merit), deferred EA/denied RD at Georgetown, denied at Swat, waitlisted at Carleton and Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Sure, the list might be different for a 3.4 UW vs. 3.4 W, but there are no guarantees in this range, esp. since so many kids are submitting apps to top schools in the hopes of not only admissions, but the lottery ticket FA package.</p>
<p>He is still deciding between Tufts and Chicago. Fabulous choices, different approaches and vibes. It has been every bit as difficult a decision as we feared, but these were his favorites – so it’s only reasonable that it’s a tough dilemma.</p>
<p>digdig - That’s for the comment. (BTW - I just love the Seattle area, and I thought Tacomas was really nice, in spite of it’s stereotypical reputation.) One way or another, a check will be sent this week - he has to make up his mind by Friday.</p>
<p>I sympathise with the travel issue. S1 is at Rose-Hulman, and its really a pain to get to. But he LOVES it there, so the traveling is just an inconvenience. I think this question really comes down to a student’s personality, and if they want to be more “connected” with the outside world or not during their undergrad years.</p>
<p>finearts - I love your description of your son. It sounds like he has found the right place.</p>
<p>My jr D is flying high - after a dismal PLAN test last year she got a 27 on her first ACT. This completely locks in her safeties and makes her very solid for the matches that ask for tests. She’d been considering Vassar, if she could manage to test well, and this is a great start for a reach like that (her current UW GPA is about 3.6, with most poor grades in 9th grade). She’s so excited that she can’t wait to take it again, this time with more studying. And she launched right into her AP guides, too, very motivated.</p>
<p>I have a rough time with all of this quantitative evaluation, but there’s nothing like a landmark experience (equivalent to a recital in music, or the big day in debate, etc.) to give you some satisfaction and a new launching point. A year ago she was praying for a 25!</p>
<p>She won’t live or breathe by test scores, but we’d thought the test was going to be her “anti-hook”. Now that it’s in line with her grades, we’re very, very happy.</p>
<p>I want to be part of the “gang” too! My son will probably end up with a 3.4ish wtd gpa by the end of this junior year. Just got ACT scores in- 25 . It’s his second time taking it. I sort of feel with his GPA being where it’s at, that we should have him stop taking it. It seems like the schools that would accept his GPA would also accept his ACT and that it really wouldn’t matter if it was higher by even 2 points- he’d still be looking at the same schools. What do you think??</p>
<p>2flipper2, it might make a difference if merit money is tied to the score. Also, we’ve encountered one school that will waive a math requirement if the score is above a certain number (24, I believe, in that example).</p>
<p>If he doesn’t want to, he’s in fine shape. But I’d go for 3, if he’s willing. My D1 jumped hugely on her second time so “could have” stopped, but she wanted to improve on one section in particular the third time, and did. That meant a lot to her, and I agree that the separate scores can help a lot, as with scholarships/placement. Congrats!</p>
<p>we are STILL undecided between Lehigh and RPI. </p>
<p>It is nerve wracking.</p>
<p>I’m glad I have some company here on the undecided couch. Today’s not the day, either, as D has scheduled a meeting with her GC to talk about the choices tomorrow.</p>
<p>I met a senior on the plane last week. He was traveling alone and had a Whitman folder on his lap, and I asked if he had been at an accepted students day. He recounted what a pain it had been getting to Walla Walla from Kansas City, including a canceled flight and unexpected arrival in Pasco rather than WW, necessitating a 47 mile shuttle ride to the school. His other choice was Lehigh and he said it was looking better and better during our hour of circling over Denver waiting for a storm to clear out. I think the poor guy missed his connection. We certainly did.</p>
<p>This seems like a good place to talk about this - </p>
<p>My jr D so far has good safeties and matches/high matches. All of the schools she’s applying to have great theater programs. She’d mostly like a BFA; with those auditioned schools the idea of low reach/high reach changes (no such thing as a safety). So we have lists for both.</p>
<p>Up to now, her high matches were lovely LACs, usually test-optional, because her early testing was very weak. She really liked Bard, Sarah Lawrence and Lawrence University (in that order), and a few others like them. She likes city schools, too, mostly with the BFA, but she does have to get in academically, as at Boston University. </p>
<p>So now on her first sitting, she made a solid B+/A- type ACT, 27, to go with her solid B+/A- GPA, 3.6 UW with 2 APs so far (3 more next year) and several honors level classes. </p>
<p>A school she’d really liked when she’d researched and we drove through it was Vassar. It has a wonderful theater BA and has always seemed to be a terrific possible reach for her. Now it’s a lot more of a possibility, especially if she can get a couple more points onto her ACT in a second sitting. It’s not her “I have to go” school, but it does give her an ego boost to think she really can add it to her list now.</p>
<p>Or should she, really? I looked at the Vassar threads yesterday, just out of curiosity. Man, it was the total CC thing - “I only have 780, 800 and 720, but I am the student rep to our state legislature, etc., etc.” I read through this past year and saw that they take all types, but it makes me wonder if she really wants to be in that kind of atmosphere, both in applying and when she gets there.</p>
<p>I know there’s a 3.6 applying to top schools thread; maybe that’s a better place for this question. But I’m wondering how you all are thinking about the reaches, about their fit, about what your kids really want. My D is very comfortable with her B and A/B student friends, tends to be a little nervous around the kids she thinks are “smarter” than she is because of their top grades and scores … yet lately getting into NHS and getting some other little honors, and now this quite good ACT have helped her see that she isn’t so different from them. </p>
<p>And that’s just stats - she holds her own intellectually, the kind of kid who leads the discussion in class, but then only got an 86 on the test. I can see her blossoming where the atmosphere is at a high level; she’s definitely not hit her peak yet. But she looks for smarts in lots of ways, and also would be comfortable at a school where she’s mid-upper level in things like scores and GPA, as long as the kids and profs were stimulating and creative. </p>
<p>I’ll let her do what she wants, and she knows a reach is just a reach. But would she really go? And is that kind of “value” really that important to her? I’m not used to this kind of thinking, was a “go for the highest possible academic rigor” type, as was H and D1. I think she sees things very differently, although I know she’s drawn to intellectual intensity, or else she wouldn’t like Bard and Sarah Lawrence so much. But they don’t select anywhere nearly so much on stats and status.</p>
<p>It’s not obviously a decision we need to make yet, but I’m just wondering how I should travel this particular journey with her. I find myself thinking, well maybe she won’t get in … but then why set her up for another “see I can’t cut it” situation? I suppose I should just let it go and see what happens. But this is different from “let her follow her dream;” she just wonders if it’s worth throwing it into the mix, but I know as time goes on she might find it was getting to be a bigger hope than she’d expected and then be crushed unnecessarily.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>