<p>Hi sushi_error: I started typing out a response to your questions, that got so long that I ended up sending it as a PM.</p>
<p>I definitely want to check out that matrix, since UW-M had been recommended for D.</p>
<p>S1's HS did not even ACCEPT transcript requests until the last week of September and then says "allow 15 business days for processing." Colleges will know that this piece of the puzzle is out of your control.</p>
<p>S2 is a junior, 3.58 UW/4.1 W (3.48 UW if you include the HS courses he took in MS), all honors/AP/IB. Was in low 200s on PSAT as a soph, has taken 3 APs and 2 SAT-IIs, did very well. Varied and unusual ECs. He's one of those kids who will have a profile with strong test scores and so-so grades -- just enough that schools may question his slacker status. Like others here, he is my social one who insists on having a life and despises the grade-grubbing game. Math and Spanish are consistently Bs for him, and everything else is strong. </p>
<p>He wants to aim for the schools that five years ago, I would have said were excellent targets/feasible reaches for a kid with his strengths and stats. Now, I fear they are very reachy because of all the other top kids who are applying to them as backups. He likes smaller schools, will probably major in IR/history/polisci, would like to play his sport at D-III and wants a place that is quirky and intellectual, but with "real people."</p>
<p>Have heard good things about Macalester for IR, and may be a good school for a B+/A- kid. I have a whole list of schools I'd like to see him consider, but for a kid who is on the cusp, the application process could be bliss or sheer unmitigated hell. Will also look at AU and St. Mary's/MD.</p>
<p>CountingDown, good luck to your son; his stats sound similar to my son's. I'm now nervous that the number of reaches son has applied to will make the app process as you described (sheer hell). Really second-guessing my choice to encourage son to apply to super-reaches, with the philosphy of: the only 100% way you won't be admitted is if you don't apply. </p>
<p>He's not super attached to some of the uber-reaches, but am sort of thinking: 'why am I encouraging him down a path that will almost surely lead to a mailbox full of rejection?' At least I think he's got at least 3 or so matches. </p>
<p>Anyone have a community college as a safety? Son has refused this route. But, our community college has a joint degree program (2 yrs at CC first) w/a well-regarded 4 year college near us that is on top of son's 4 year college list. The only problem is son is a comp sci major, and I hear comp sci students need strong intro courses. </p>
<p>Curious if others have contemplated a CC route -- it almost seems better than committing to a 4 year school that is well-below a student's abilities (just because student's gpa is lower because of one slacker year...).</p>
<p>missypie, yep. Their junior year in Rome is quite unique.</p>
<p>Because my son attends community college (as a homeschooling high schooler) I've met many students who are planning to do their first two years at community college and then transfer to a UC. Some of them are excellent students that Berkeley or UCLA are happy to take as transfer students. Those students are usually taking the first two years at community college because it's way, way cheaper than a four year school. Some Asian students are at community college because they weren't accepted at UCLA, Berkeley or Irvine as freshman and want a second chance; those three UCs are prestigious among Asian students and their parents.</p>
<p>I take courses at this same cc, just for fun, most of them as good as courses at an elite four year school. The advantage for cc student is intro classes at a cc will be a lot smaller than the same intro classes at a UC. This particular cc transfers a lot of kids to Berkeley and UCLA for engineering. The cc Math & Physics dean has told me that Berkeley loves the engineering transfers and wants more, and having seen the difficulty of the intro calculus and physics courses my humanities-loving son struggled through, I can easily believe it.</p>
<p>What the cc doesn't have that an elite four-year school would have is the little, interesting, in depth writing courses for freshmen and sophomores. There's no freshman course in "Personal Conversion in Later Medieval Europe" at a cc. That's the experience I want for my son as a freshman at a small LAC.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, my sister teaches composition at an Indiana community college. I don't know the official name of her course, but to hear her describe the students and their work product, it sounds as if it should be "How to Write Coherant Sentences." Although she'd probably love teaching the course you described, she really enjoys her students...she was a late bloomer (undergrad degree at 47) and had quite a checkered academic record herself, so she identifies with her students and loves trying to make them better writers.</p>
<p>My sister in law also teaches at a CC in northern Illinois. She gets a lot of students who border on illiteracy and can't seem to grasp that even if the teacher is willing to give you speical attention to help you pass, she can't if you never attend class.</p>
<p>I'm just writing this to illustrate the fact that you should check out your local CC, just like you should any other college.</p>
<p>My community college also has many, many students who need to take remedial courses. In fact, the majority of entering students need to take either remedial math or remedial English. But there is also the cohort I described, who are good students looking to save money and/or be accepted in a better school as a transfer than they were as a freshman applicant. </p>
<p>Poor math and writing skills are not limited to community college students. The majority of Cal State entering freshman need to take remedial courses either in math or English.</p>
<p>Jolynne,
S2 seems willing to apply to a wide range of target/reaches even if it means he gets more disappointing news than we'd like. (This surprises me, as he tends to have a glass-half-empty outlook.) The key will be to have safer schools that he really likes. We might also consider ED if he has a significant preference come next fall, esp. if that school wants strong demonstrated interest. </p>
<p>Our local CC is very well reputed and also has strong links to the flagship. We know lots of kids who have gone and thrived. Many go because they can get the first two years done cheaply and well.</p>
<p>A friend's daughter attends University of Dallas and she just finished the Rome study. She now has an Italian husband.</p>
<p>An Italian husband??? Sign me up!</p>
<p>"A friend's daughter attends University of Dallas and she just finished the Rome study. She now has an Italian husband"</p>
<p>What was she studying? ;)</p>
<p>Bump, someone referred to this thread but couldn't find it.</p>
<p>Jerseyshoremom - Thanks for the assist!</p>
<p>As I posted on another thread, D1 is our first to go through the college admissions crucible. With her 3.3 GPA in all honors and AP classes and her 28 ACT score, I'd say she is a poster child for the "B+" student thread. </p>
<p>She has a long and changing list of schools she is interested in from all over the country - primarily large schools with respected academics, a wide range of majors, school spirit, football, active greek scene, etc. She is captain of her varsity field hockey team and is being actively recruited by several schools. </p>
<p>Thanks to the good advice from those of you who have gone through the process, especially with regard to the importance of applying early to schools with rolling admissions - she has already submitted several applications and in fact was accepted this week by two of her safety schools - Arizona State University and Louisiana State University. When she shared the good news with her guidance counselor, she was told that she is the first person in her class of over 350 to already have an acceptance in the bag! </p>
<p>That said, she is still looking ahead to applying to her match and reach schools. She is having the most trouble identifying true "match" schools given that in many cases her GPA puts her in the lower range of accepted students while her ACT scores put her solidly in the middle 50% and in some cases the top 25% of those accepted. She will of course apply to a few high reaches just to make sure that she never has to regret not at least giving it a shot.</p>
<p>Congrats to your D - that's wonderful news!</p>
<p>
[quote]
I can't claim to be part of your club, but would like to put in a word for the special small college within Boston University. It's a "two year and then move on to any school within BU" program, somewhat similar to Oxford/Emory, but seems to be less well known on this board. BU isn't a "reach" school, but the stats for kids in this program are a bit lower than for the school as a whole.</p>
<p>I think it's a great program for kids who need "support"--the kind who would cut class if nobody takes attendance. You're part of a smaller group.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I was in CGS for a semester before transferring out. I wouldn't recommend this program to anyone. It's certainly not worth $50,000 a year, and the academics are especially challenging considering the nature of the program. The guidance is pretty bad, and you're never aware of how difficult the program is until you're at school and it's too late. Also, there are plenty of classes where you can skip without consequence. Also, regardless of what anyone says, if you can pay, you can get in. I met some really 'winners'.</p>
<p>Anyway, I was a solid B+ student in HS. Did 'okay' on the SATs. Matriculated to BU's CGS, hated it, and transferred after a semester to Temple University, where I'm happily in my Sophomore year.</p>
<p>NJ Paladin, great news, and I'd bet there are more acceptances to come. She seems to have the profile that a lot of good LACs would jump on (those that say they look at rigor of curriculum and test scores over grades), but I take it she isn't applying to any.</p>
<p>Please let us know how it progresses.</p>
<p>What a load off! My D2 has finished and sent her applications in. She is attending private tutoring in hopes of bringing up the SAT score. She has applied to Towson, URI, UMass Amherst, SUNY Cortland, JMU, and Penn State. Penn State is an enormous reach, but she threw her hat in the ring anyway! Now we wait....</p>
<p>Did you select a back-up campus for Penn State (after University Park). I want d to apply to Penn State too with a back-up at Altoona (UP huge reach). I tried to sell Altoona, it has sports she is interested in and they offer a 35 minute bus trip to UP for the home football games. She's not buying it :( ande Penn State is off her list now</p>
<p>MSU, what are some LACs that say they look at rigor of curriculum and test scores over grades? I'm more familiar with the ones who say they look at rigor and grades over scores.</p>
<p>hayze, good luck to your D. Please keep us posted on her news. I'm an old Towson alum, so you've got my interest. :)</p>