<p>I have been lurking for quite a while on some of the other forums on here and I agree with another poster that it can be quite discouraging DS has unweighted GPA of 3.49 and weighted GPA of 3.87 and ranks #20 in his class. He makes straight A's except for a couple of slips freshman year. He scored a 32 on his ACT. I thought this meant that he had a decent chance of going to some selective schools (Vanderbilt, Rice, John Hopkins, Duke, Boston Univ) .</p>
<p>He works hard and is making A's right now in Chemistry and Math at Univ of AL.
It is depressing and discouraging to read the other posts where everyone seems to be perfect with GPA well over 4.0. Is he really just an average student based on CC's standards?</p>
<p>He will be a first generation college student and I am trying to learn what I can to help him make wise decisions.</p>
<p>How big is his class? In all but small high schools (and even then if they are very competitive), a rank of #20 would be very good. If this rank puts him in the top 10% of his class, he is still competitive for any school. The problem with people simply regurgitating GPAs is that they rarely give any context. My school didn't calculate unweighted GPAs, but I calculated mine to be about 3.8. I received 9 B's in my high school career. My (weighted) rank was 14/770--so top 2%. I had perfectly respectable admissions results at selective schools. </p>
<p>If this rank does not put him in the top 10% of his high school class, then I would start to worry about his chances. But GPA alone is quite useless.</p>
<p>I had an 87.8 average in high school-that's 3.78 weighted, I don't know the unweighted GPA, and I was accepted into Boston University. As long as he took a strong course load, he will have a good shot, especially since he improved over the years.</p>
<p>Then I would not worry much about his grades--they are in range for any school. So is his ACT score. Of course higher grades and higher rank are always better, but maintaining top 10% rank is essential and he is doing that fine.</p>
<p>srobin: Congratulations to you and you S for doing so well. I have twin Ds who would be thrilled w/ your S's ACT score. I came to CC about a year ago desparate for informatin about Jr. year and what I could/should do to help my girls with the college search process. It was shocking to read other posts and read that my high achieving DDs were not even in the parking lot of the ballpark that many of the students here on CC seemed to be playing in. But over the weeks and months that I have been hanging out here I found that there was more to the picture. Here is a partial list of what I have learned about college admissions on CC over the last year:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>course rigor figures largely into the decision of many LACs Fortunately that is the element of the ap that is in the most control of the applicant. </p></li>
<li><p>the reported stats of CC kids should be viewed w/ a jaded eye. Many do achieve the things they report but others don't. </p></li>
<li><p>Depending on the campus, the essay can figure hugely as an element that can tip the balance. For guidance on writing an essay that can do that have your S check out Harry Bauld's book On Writing the College Essay..not exactly sure of the title but it's something like that</p></li>
<li><p>For some schools, rigor, rank and all those application "intangibles" trump Gpa and/or test scores.</p></li>
<li><p>A young man with your son's statistics is doing very well. If he chooses his list well he will likely receive many acceptances and merit money to boot</p></li>
<li><p>There are a lot more parents of kids like ours here than you might think ;)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I went to BU for one semester, then transfered to a small LAC in the northwest. The academics were great, great professors, great course selection. However, I couldn't stand the city, and I also wanted a school with a campus and a small student body. The school itself was good, just other factors such as the environment (I need trees, mountains, and nice bodies of water!) and the large student body did me in.</p>
<p>
[quote]
He will be a first generation college student and I am trying to learn what I can to help him make wise decisions.
[/quote]
Lesson #1 from the parent of a 4th generation college grad: there are hundreds of colleges and universities that are practically begging for students where your son can get an excellent education. Take the list you now have ("Vanderbilt, Rice, John Hopkins, Duke, Boston Univ") and put it away and tell your son to read up on colleges and find the names of 5 schools that you & he have never heard of that look like they might be a good fit for your son's personality, interests and goals. Here's a good starting point list:
<a href="http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/aplusrankindex_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/aplusrankindex_brief.php</a> (If your son is a rising senior, then its worth the cost for a one-year subscription to access the premium content on this site).</p>
<p>Can your son get into Rice or Vandy? Maybe. Does he need to go to a school of that level of selectivity in order to be successful? Absolutely not. Will those "top" schools be a good fit for your son? I don't know - I don't know him -- but I do know that there are a lot of excellent colleges which will be glad to have your 3.49 GPA / 32 ACT son that will be a good fit, including some that might give him academic scholarships based on his strong ACT scores.</p>
<p>I'm also going to offer one additional piece of advice you will see repeated many times on CC.</p>
<p>Make sure your son applies to some colleges that are financial safeties or that meet 100% of need. If you look at the posts in the financial aid forum from April you will see many disappointed students that were accepted at schools they cannot afford to attend. </p>
<p>Spend some time reading the financial aid posts. It's a great "crash course" on college funding.</p>
<p>Your son is doing great by any reasonable standards and you should be proud of him. However, with the exception of BU, the competition for admission to the schools on your list is BRUTAL. One course might be to check the official decision threads at each school and see how your son stacks up.</p>
<p>With a 4.0 unweighted sophomore and junior years, your son is doing great, and does have a decent shot at the schools you've listed. Don't be discouraged by the GPAs "well over 4.0" - that depends on how the schools weight grades. Some are out of a 5 point scale, some are out of a 6 point scale, and I've even seen some out of a 7 point scale. Your son's school seems to weight and unweight both out of a 4 point scale, and that's fine too. Your son's high school will send a School Report indicating how it calculates both weighted and unweighted GPAs.</p>
<p>That said, let him apply to these schools, but as everyone else says, make sure that he has a safety that he would like to go to, and that you can afford.</p>
<p>Your son will easily get into 1,450 of the nation's 1,600 colleges - a very large number of them excellent, with huge resources, great faculties, fine facilities. It has never been easier to get in, as the country is way overbuilt in four-year institutions. So find 2 or 3 good ones from the 1,450, ones where your son would be happy to go (and which you could afford), and then you have nothing to worry about when applying to the other 150.</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted into Boston U though she did not attend with a 3.5 unweighted and 4.4 weighted, 31 ACT and 3 rd decile ranking. Her high school does not give more detailed rankings.</p>