My friend has a 2.4 GPA and a 600 SAT total for CR and math. Scores are very low, but she want to get into a college. Can anyone offer some advice or Colleges in these two states that would accept her? She does not live in VA so no community college, but OOS may be an option. No honors or AP courses too.
Community College?
Even fourth tier 4 year colleges would likely deny her.
Look at www.fairtest.org for schools that are test optional.
@TomSrOfBoston Do you have any recommendations for her? She needs all the help she can get
Community college to prove that she can do college level work.
Try running your friends stats thru the SuperMatch feature on this site.
how much will her parents pay?
I agree with post #5. That person is not ready for a four year college. Neither the GPA nor the test scores support it.
I agree that this student isn’t ready for college. Likely is more interested in the idea of “going away” to college for the adventure and because she sees others planning to do so as well.
That said, an equally big obstacle will simply be funding the expense. Virtually no school that gives adequate aid would accept this student.
Likely, this student just assumes that she’ll be given aid to cover the costs to whatever school accepts her, but that’s not true. There are some schools that need warm bodies who will accept anyone who applies. But, those schools will expect you to pay.
So…who is going to pay for this student if she did find a 4 year school to accept her?
Try Kean, William Paterson, New Jersey City University, Saint Peter’s University, or Thomas Edison State College. Those schools will take her.
In VA, try Radford and Longwood and ODU. There is a residential junior college, Richard Bland College of William & Mary. It costs about $4000 in state tuition but room and board is another $11k. After one completes two years there with a 3.25 he is auto admit to William & Mary. A lower GPA would be auto admit to many other state of VA colleges.
She could also look at Randolph Macon College. It’s private and the application is free.
I just realized 600 SAT total. That’s going to be a problem. Check test optional schools. And Richard Bland.
Spot-on! Even community college will be a stretch for her, since she would more than likely spend the next two years doing non-credit remedial courses (English/Math) before being allowed to take courses which will earn her credits towards an AA degree. One kid I know with similar GPA, but higher SAT scores, convinced his parents to send him to a Community College 3/4 hours away from home, incurring room & board cost. After 1-1/2 years in this CC, his parents were forced to yank him from that CC due to poor grades and he is now back at home at the local CC struggling to complete is AA degree, while working part time. Attending a 4-year College that is test optional would be doing this kid a disservice, as remedial work is required to get her up to speed where she would be able to handle more rigorous college courses.
“My friend has a 2.4 GPA and a 600 SAT total for CR and math. Scores are very low, but she want to get into a college”
What does she want to study in college?
Why is her GPA that low? Are all of her grades in that range, or does she do exceptionally well in some classes, and exceptionally poorly in others? Is she a recent immigrant who is still learning English?
If all of her grades in that range, then she probably is not ready for a 4-year college or university. A community college would be a better choice. Some community colleges have residence halls, so if she wants to go “away” for college, she might be able to do that.
If she does exceptionally well in some classes, and exceptionally poorly in others, she needs to be screened for learning disabilities including ADHD and executive function disorders. She needs to be able to do well in all of her classes when she gets to college.
If she is a recent immigrant and still is learning English, she should work with the ESL teachers and her counselor at her high school and arrange to spend another year or two in high school. That will give her more time to improve her language skills and to get her academic skills up to the level she needs for college.
@happymomof1 She says she doesn’t know what she wants to do. She wants to look towards architecture, but right now its not looking good. It’s pretty much poor in all of her classes, but I’ll check to make sure. Thanks for pointing that out. She is in fact an ESL student, and her parents are taking the citizenship test in a month. I think what she needs is motivation to do better, but from the way she’s taking her grades and her parent’s reaction she’s not taking this seriously enough. I need motivation ideas for her. May need to scare her and tell her parents to start packing.
@mom2collegekids I totally agree with you on that. We’re trying to find colleges near her to keep an eye out and give her a stricter hand. In her family there is no such thing as “grounding” because its believed its your own job to take control and act accordingly. She has obviously failed, but how can you punish a highschooler for behaving childish? Would taking away her her phone and monitoring her work?
Well, only her parents can give consequences. If they won’t pay for college, then she’s not going. They can limit her phone access, car access, etc, if she’s not behaving correctly…but it sounds like they’re lenient, so they’ll reap what they sow.
@mom2collegekids Still very true, but they’re not exactly lenient i would say. By friend i mean she’s pretty much my cousin and her parents and mine go way back and they are looking towards us for help. We’re Indian and for a long time its expected that we care about our future without guidance. Her older cousins went into good universities and one’s on the verge of becoming an accountant so they thought she was the same. But she lied for a good 4 years. Her parents work 7 days a week, dad is on night shift. They are willing to pay but they don’t know how to make her care.
The problem is that she doesnt’ have the basic foundation for university work. She’d flounder.
So, I would suggest this:
Her parents offer to pay for her university costs AFTER she’s proven herself for a year (and shows them REAL grades) at a local community college…going full time (15 credits per semester)
@mom2collegekids Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate it 