Western Schools for the 3.0-3.3 kid

<p>The words Students Review were left out, I don’t know why.</p>

<p>I think there’s probably no substitute for a campus visit and first-hand, non-anonymous reports, but online reviews are another tool in the college search process. I’ve noticed that many reviews point to the importance of fit–not just for SOU, but any school (I went to Reed–without a doubt a top-notch school, but a terrible, terrible fit for me; in retrospect, I am certain I would have fared much better at my backup, UCSB).</p>

<p>As one of that site’s negative reviews for Harvard says, “Wow. I’m in high school, and I literally had to do nothing to write this review. I wouldn’t believe much on this website if I were you, seeing that those who write on it are the extremes: they either loved the school or absolutely hated it.”</p>

<p>So take them with a grain of salt, I guess. There are no doubt legitimate criticisms of any school reviewed, but I’d look at them as just a starting point for evaluating a school’s potential weaknesses.</p>

<p>@Shrinkrap, yes Chico may very well be our number one school… if S likes it. he would be a great fit in their Music Industry program. However, it’s impacted, so I have no idea if S will qualify. Also, a friend’s daughter looked at the campus and said it was too lumberjack-y or her (too many trees!). Sounds great to me. Have you visited?</p>

<p>My son said something like that about Lewis & Clark when we visited years ago. He said it looked “too much like a wildlife reserve.” I thought, how can something look too much like a wildlife reserve??? ;)</p>

<p>"Have you visited? "</p>

<p>I have not, but son did a soccer camp there and like it…well he liked the new rec center, but that was enough for him!</p>

<p>I thought I’d provide an update to see if any interesting insight may come my way.</p>

<p>My son received his second acceptance yesterday, this one being to Sacramento State. He previously received acceptance to Southern Utah University.</p>

<p>We visited SUU about two weeks ago on our way to a long weekend of skiing in the Salt Lake City area. The campus is compact, but they have all the requisite facilities needed to handle a student body of about 7,000, and are under-construction on an additional facility for the science and engineering programs. My son and his friend (also accepted) were given a personalized campus tour by two enthusiastic students/docents that took about an hour (including residence halls). He even had a chance to sit for a couple minutes with the department chair of the engineering program and ask some questions.</p>

<p>What were my kids’ impressions? “Man, that is a small town.” “I expected more snow on the ground”. “Lots of girls, SCORE”. </p>

<p>Anybody have any knowledge of Sac State? It’s about 3x the size by student population compared to SUU, but since we are in-state quite a bit less expensive. If he can get WUE for SUU, then SUU would actually have a lower COA (what a pretentious sentence that is). Still waiting on word from NAU, Chico and Fullerton.</p>

<p>Sac State is a decent school. It is fairly large, about 30K students I believe. It has a very good reputation for business degress, at least for graduate degrees. They do have a good engineering department; I read about some of the student awards in our local newspaper.</p>

<p>A great soccer team!. Seriously!</p>

<p>Also, some dorm space. LOT’s of kids around here go there. Considered the place to be, by those who aspire to something better than our local CC. It’s weird comparing my community to the more typical college confidential community. </p>

<p>Also a little weird for my son, since it seems he is the only one being forced to visit schools and figure this out. He ias actually talking of applying to a few more schools ( that will be about 17!), even though he is at least perfectly good admits, because he still doesn’t have a spot on a soccer team, and many kids from his school are considering small So Cal. Christian schools, that are still accepting applications .</p>

<p>I’d like to hear more CSU updates! So far son has heard good news from Sonoma, Chico, Cal Poly Pomona, and Monterey. Some schoolmates have gotten into SLO, but he has heard nothing. We are also still waiting on SDSU.Both are “unlikelies”.</p>

<p>Son has added CSUN to his acceptances. Acceptances for both twins are NAU, Sonoma (just her), San Jose, SFSU, and CSUN (just him). Still waiting to hear from SDSU (unlikely for either) and Long Beach. Road trips to the northern Cal schools are planned for the next month or so.</p>

<p>Mom60…Son’s SAT scores were 610M, 630CR, 700W. His gpa is about a 3.2 with no AP’s. Daughter’s SATs were 510M, 510CR, 560W with a gpa of about 3.4, also with no honors or AP’s. Academics come more easily to him but he’s not a worker. She scores lower on standardized tests but works her butt off to get grades. In the end, they’re both targeted for the same schools.</p>

<p>DD is also waiting on SDSU, Long Beach and Santa Cruz (all reaches). Has been accepted Humboldt, Chico, Sonoma and Northrige. I was glad to hear the positive reviews on Chico and we are planning a tour next week. She also has been accepted to U of Idaho and SOU. Crossed Idaho off because of no WUE and still waiting on SOU Theater department on WUE. </p>

<p>We have toured Sonoma, Sacrament, San Jose and Santa Cruz with DD AVID class. Unfortualty Sonoma was my favorite and her least favorite. I thought Sacramento was nice and they were doing some new construction and remodeling. </p>

<p>We have not see Northridge and was wondering if anyone can share there experience on the campus and area around the college.</p>

<p>My D- Has has been admitted to Northridge, Sonoma, Sacramento, San Jose, Monterey Bay, Humboldt, </p>

<p>Still waiting to hear from…Fullerton, San Diego, and Chico</p>

<p>She did not get into Long Beach</p>

<p>She got into Xavier (Ohio) </p>

<p>@ mitchwebb…Northridge is a commuter school, located in the San Fernando Valley…less than 20 miles from Los Angeles. I graduated from there in the early 80s. I visted the campus the other day with my daughter. She liked it but feels it is too close to home and would not feel like she is really “going away” to college. I loved the feel of the campus, but was a bit disappointed in the area. The area is a city like suburb. It is a was a little disappointing because it is not like I remember it. If someone lived on campus they would definitely need a car and would probably drive to LA if they were not in the area. Once you are a block away from campus there is no college feel. </p>

<p>My daughter is leaning toward Humboldt sight unseen. She has done a lot of research and seems to love it. Humboldt set up a social network site for the accepted freshman and she has been talking to the kids that will likely be going there and loves the vibe. I am a bit nervous because it is so far away from Southern CA.</p>

<p>Thank you to those who have shared SAT scores. Those will help us a lot as D begins having a more concrete list.
In our house D has her long list of schools. H has his. They don’t overlap much. My D thinks she wants to go out of Ca. My H feels she will be happier closer to home. Plus he is all about the “cost”.
Has anyone visited Univ of New Mexico? They came to a college fair we attended and the rep was a great salesman.</p>

<p>mom60 - my son is a junior and his school hosted a college fair a few weeks ago. The rep from New Mexico was excellent. In the introductions he announcedd UNM, come see him if U Need Money.</p>

<p>mom60 - FYI: University of Montana’s OOS tuition is less than going instate to a U of California.</p>

<p>This is a very interesting thread. Thanks for all the info!</p>

<p>My S was accepted to 4 of 5: SDSU, Sac State, UCMerced, and UCRiverside. (The only rejection was CalPoly SLO but we knew it was a huge reach, due to the competitive of engineering.)</p>

<p>Right now I think he is leaning towards UCR, but we haven’t visited SDSU yet. That was a somewhat blind application, as he just knew he might like to live in San Diego.</p>

<p>Originally he was leaning towards Sac State, but we are in their local area, so I keep hoping he will venture out.</p>

<p>Right now it is just waiting for financial aid packages, which hopefully will come soon.</p>

<p>His stats:
GPA: 3.6-3.7 (I really don’t keep track of the details)
SAT: around 1700 I think
took English and Math SATII</p>

<p>New Mexico does have some good scholarships for oos students. UNM link: [Incoming</a> Freshman Scholarships :: Admissions and Recruitment Services | The University of New Mexico](<a href=“Office of Admissions | The University of New Mexico”>Office of Admissions | The University of New Mexico)
For New Mexico State oos scholarship: [NMSU</a> Financial Aid and Scholarship Services: Returning, Transfer and Out of State](<a href=“Error 404 | New Mexico State University - BE BOLD. Shape the Future.”>Error 404 | New Mexico State University - BE BOLD. Shape the Future.)
However, I would be sure to ask about continued funding. Our lottery scholarship for residents is expected to not be able to fund instate students past 2014 with the current award rate. There is legislature pending.</p>

<p>Hey there, Hmom
As you may recall, Lewis and Clark was one of the few that did not accept #theoryson.
He has a 3.1 average and really good SAT and ACT scores (except for the writing score) I think it was that writing score that kept him out. I think it kept him out of Linfield as well. So if your S has a pretty solid across the board SAT score (unlike my S who was an 800 in the math, high 600’s in the verbal and something abysmal that I have erased from my memory in the writing) He would have a good chance getting into both these schools.
Colorado School of Mines gets high marks from my friend who is college shopping with her high achieving daughter. In fact, her daughter who has gotten into Tufts an WPI is probably going to go to CO School of Mines.
Might be worth a look if it is not on your list (have not read to the end of this thread)
Hope the D’s are doing well</p>

<p>Oops sorry - just saw the start date on this. Oh well maybe it will help someone else</p>

<p>New Mexico’s scholarship program for in state students (lottery scholarship) has, no doubt, provided a great opportunity for student’s who otherwise would not have been able to afford college. However, I think it has also flooded the schools with many students who are not academically prepared for college classes. In 2010 47% of the incoming freshman were required to take remedial classes in math and english before they could even begin taking regular classes.</p>

<p>I suppose under the “bloom where you are planted” theory, any sufficiently motivated student could get a good education just about anywhere. I just don’t know why you would come from OOS to try to do so.</p>

<p>Just my opinion.</p>