West coast/midwest colleges for the 3.0 GPA, <1800 SATs

<p>On the West Coast, Consider University of the Pacific, University of Puget Sound, Redlands and Northern Arizona.</p>

<p>UC Boulder? Also check out [CollegeData</a> - College Chances](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/promo/promo_calcodds_tmpl.jhtml]CollegeData”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/promo/promo_calcodds_tmpl.jhtml)</p>

<p>There are reaches, matches and safeties all in one thread here! If in fact this is a 3.0 unweighted with a 25 ACT or comparable then there will be many schools outside most of the flagships and the top privates in many of the midwest states. I think there are many division II schools that fit the scores and the enthusiasm for sports and are hugely regional and would love geographic diversity. If you are full pay then the more selective reachy privates mentioned like Kalamazoo, Beloit, Earlham and others might be enticed by not needing aid (and midwest privates are lower priced than east coast privates) with a ACT of 25 or better which is the bottom of their 50th percentile (K’s mean was 28.7 last year). You have many possibilities, there was no need to change your username! Once you nail down the region and the big/small urban/rural issue come back and there will be those that will be able to make more intuitive suggestions for safeties, matches and reaches as you would know from trodding the path before.</p>

<p>A good resource: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/907349-western-schools-3-0-3-3-kid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/907349-western-schools-3-0-3-3-kid.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>What about Millikin or Valparaiso? Size is about right, and Valpo has a lot of spirit around the basketball team. It is also close enough to Chicago to escape the bubble on the weekend.</p>

<p>Hello.</p>

<p>Our oldest is also dyslexic, diagnosed since he was young, hard worker and smart. He is also a great leader. He graduated from Beloit, and it was a very good choice for him. I have met lots of Beloiters since then, smart kids, pretty into their studies, supportive. OUr son had to work VERY hard, especially the first couple of years to get his reading and writing up.</p>

<p>Beloit did not have great accommodations, but professors worked well with him. He had to learn to advocate for himself and ask for help. He had lots of leadership opportunities and some great mentors.</p>

<p>I agree that Beloit is a great choice for someone willing to work hard with some challenges.</p>

<p>We will be looking for same kind of school for our S2. </p>

<p>Some ideas: </p>

<p>College of Idaho (I hear some good one-on-one support.)</p>

<p>Westminster in Salt Lake City (I think this school is on the rise. Also really enjoyed our visit.)</p>

<p>University of Montana (impressed with disability discussion/disability office during visit)</p>

<p>I think it’s important to ask - what kind of college experience does your son want (or anticipate he’ll want)?</p>

<p>There are a lot of options in the Midwest/on the West Coast for a young man with the numbers (and full pay status) you mention, ranging from large, public rah-rah type universities to urban schools to rural, smaller LACs.</p>

<p>Division I sports? Small seminars and lots of involvement in student life by staff/faculty? Almost entirely residential? Urban? Commuters? Rainy, temperate weather? Dry, hot year-round?</p>

<p>Just for the sake of demonstrating this using examples tossed around on this thread – the University of Cincinnati is a large, public, urban research university with more than 20,000 undergraduates, many of whom live off-campus and/or who live at home. Conversely, Kalamazoo is a small, private liberal arts college in Michigan (I happen to think it has a reputation much better than its ranking, based upon the number of faculty at strong research universities who earned their bachelor’s degrees there, but that’s just me and I apologize for the digression!) that has 25/75 on the ACT of 25 / 30 and is currently leaning female (enrollment-wise), meaning he’d get a bump in that aspect too.</p>

<p>Where do you live, geographically?</p>

<p>Your son has a few things in his favor – he seems to be a hard worker, which is something that many folks appreciate and value (I’ve always maintained it’s better to be a hard worker than to fail to live up to one’s potential, given that a hard worker typically does whatever it takes to finish something, while an underperformed could just fail out or leave, but that’s my perspective :)). He’s full pay. He goes to a tough private school, which I think will give him a little bit of a boost regarding the grades (though not reflected in his numbers). He’s a boy.</p>

<p>The midwestern LACs are largely really hurting for full pay boys right now, so I hear. It sounds like you have the right perspective - that he should go somewhere where he thrives, which is important, of course - but I don’t think you should write off some options that may exist given what he has to offer purely because you don’t think he’d be a competitive applicant.</p>

<p>University of St Thomas in Minnesota and possibly Hamline University in St. Paul MN. St Thomas is the right size and has steller athletics. Also you can cross register with some other schools in the area including Macalester.</p>

<p>Two Ohio schools to look at:</p>

<p>If he loves DI rah rah spirit, you can find this at DIII U of Mount Union in Alliance (very close to CAK, the Akron Canton airport - check flights, it might be convenient). They have great cheering and tailgating for their Purple Raiders, who are often the DIII natioal champions for college football. We loved our visit there. The campus is beautiful. He would be admitted there. It is a small school where students get a lot of individual attention. [Future</a> Mt Union Students](<a href=“http://www.mountunion.edu/future-students]Future”>http://www.mountunion.edu/future-students)</p>

<p>Our high school GC’s recommend Muskingum University as a great small college that has very strong support for students with learning disabilities. I think it is bout a hour south of Canton. It would be easy to visit Mount Union and Muskingum in one trip. [Welcome</a> to Muskingum University](<a href=“http://www.muskingum.edu/]Welcome”>http://www.muskingum.edu/)</p>

<p>Look for LACs that participate in federally-funded TRIO program, which includes LD students (as well as low-income and 1st generation college students) in a retention-focussed program that exceeds parameters of most student services-monitored accommodations. (There’s a fed website that identifies all universities/colleges that participate in TRIO program, ranging from very competitive to not-so competitive schools - try www2.ed.gov-programs-triostudsupp-sssgrantees2010.pdf.)</p>

<p>I’ll second Ripon recommendation - a low-profile but respected school per Princeton Review and Forbes.</p>

<p>Your son will have a boatload of choices. Reading too much CC can freak you out…don’t worry. Most kids don’t have the stats of those posting on this board.</p>

<p>For a first step I agree with justmytwocents. What situation interests him: big/small, urban/rural, any specific field of study or sport, etc. With a little more info you will get many good suggestions from the group here.</p>

<p>I have a list of colleges sorted by state that accept at least 50% of applicants and shows size and test scores that might be helpful. [50-50</a> College Listing](<a href=“http://diycollegerankings.com/50-50-college-listing-intro/]50-50”>50-50 College List)</p>

<p>U of Mount Union mom here - PM if you have any ?s!</p>

<p>Carthage in Kenosha, WI, any satellite UW schools, DePaul, Ball State, ISU, Western IL ( known for Law Enforcement), SIU, Indiana State.
He’s a hard worker, he will be fine ;)</p>