<p>The son himself posted this,
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<p>Too bad he he or his mother haven’t come back for more input.</p>
<p>Don’t know if this has been posted before, but sometimes STEM-oriented schools can be more forgiving of average GPA if the test scores are sufficiently high. It’s more common among engineering/CS boys in particular, and their admissions staff seem to understand that. I’m thinking RIT as an example.</p>
<p>I was hoping OP and mom would come back. If we knew more about financial constraints and geography preferences we could give more suggestions. I see lots of seasoned parent screen names on this thread.</p>
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<p>Actually, it seems to inspire anti-fervor among NJ residents, many of whom post here with basically “anywhere except for Rutgers” preferences.</p>
<p>Among NJ parents and residents who would post here, there is likely to be a desire to “go away” to school. I do think there are a lot of NJ residents who feel mild affection for Rutgers (there are increasing numbers of red “R” magnets on cars), but there is not the passionate attachment to the flagship you’ll see in the midwestern states. NJ as a whole does not have the whole football culture, and historically, Rutgers was by no means the only place for kids to go to college within a 100 mile radius. It has always had a lot of competition from the numerous privates in PA and NY.</p>
<p>^^^ Kind of interesting since Rutgers was in the first “known” football game between colleges, I think against Princeton, and vied for the spot for the College Football Hall of Fame for this reason.
For about the last ten years Rutgers has ramped up the football culture. A few years ago they even had the Empire State Building glowing in Scarlet in a night game. And they ain’t doing too badly this season…</p>
<p>I have some negative views about the RU football program. It’s poor value for the huge recent money spent on it; it invites that special breed of academic corruption that big-time college sports bring and which RU has been relatively free of, historically. It’s likely, though, that some of the new fondness for Rutgers (i.e. the scarlet “R” magnet on cars, which I am now seeing all over) is related to the Scarlet Knights.</p>
<p>He should aim at college that he personally love, not based on any ranking, unless ranking is criteria hihg on his list. I do not know how it works when kids select this way. My guess that it does not work in many cases. both of mine were very carefull in selecting their UG (and in D’s case also Grad. School). while ranking played somewhat secondary role in selecting Grad. school, it was not considered at all in UG selection. In fact, we did not even check the ranking. The selection went much deeper than that. It was long tedeous process that resulted in perfect places for both of them. At least, that is how it appears looking back and comparing from having more information after actual graduation from college and talking to many who attended different colleges.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in the Phila burbs all my life, and fieldsport’s characterization of New Jersey as a whole and Rutgers in particular is spot on.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, I am at the beginning of all this, and it is a light at the end of my tunnel to hear that a long, tedious process actually produced something of value! Sometimes I wonder . . . .</p>
<p>Look at Denison U.</p>
<p>My point was that your own criteria might match the best to the college which is NOT in top 50 at all, not even close. The search based on rank could miss the UG that is the best fit for the student.</p>
<p>Realizing that my S (HS 2015) would be absolutely miserable at a “top ranked” school has been freeing. S is 99% test taker (CTY kid) but has a 3.4 uw GPA (several honors classes; will probably have about 5 AP classes by graduation). I was concerned that he was underperforming or being lazy. That is not it at all. He is a late bloomer (actually diagnosed with a significantly delayed puberty) and may be lacking some organizational skills. Time will solve the former issue and some coaching will solve the latter. We are not giving him a pass on being responsible or trying his best, but we have embraced where he is on his life journey and are grateful that his health issues are temporary. </p>
<p>I would love to get opinions on where he should look. Why Denison, jkiwmom? I am thinking smaller LAC so he would not get lost in the crowd. Just starting the process with this one. Older D is at a competitive urban large U; S’s list will be totally different than hers!</p>
<p>The OP seems perfectly capable of handling challenging courses given his much improved GPA in the last 2 years when taking harder courses. A generality that GPA is a better predictor of success in college makes the assumption that the GPA accurately reflects a student’s academic ability. MANY boys, and some girls, are not mature enough as freshmen or even sophomores to put in the hard work that is required to do well in high school. Very bright boys may get the material quickly, but do not see the value in working on the details,which is what most testing involves. Thus, a kid that shows a positive trajectory in grades and a 2200 SAT is likely to be accepted at top 50 schools that look at the whole kid (but probably not at top 25-30). While many anti-test folks dispute this, there is also varying degrees of difficulty at many high schools so a 3.9 at one school with honors classes is quite likely not equivalent to the same transcript at another. Many upper middle class kids have private tutors that allow them to excel in honors classes.</p>
<p>I did not see the OP state anything about needing merit money or financial aid (but I may have missed it). Many of the schools ranked in the 30s and 40s would be good possibilities for a kid with stats like his. Some of those schools love kids with high SATs because they bring the school’s average up or can increase the percent with higher SATs attending for the common data set. </p>
<p>As for Rutgers, it may not get the love in upper middle class NJ towns or on CC, but it is very popular. It has become more difficult to gain admission and certainly provides a good education for the money, but it is very big. The biggest downside for many kids are that it is too close to home (NJ being a small state), the students are too much like their high school classmates and they want to experience something different, and that it is too big. However, I really have a hard time understanding the willingness to pay significantly more money for a large public university in another NE state that is lower ranked and has a very similar “culture” to NJ, which many kids from our high school seem to do. However, Rutgers is still the most popular choice for graduating seniors, even if it wasn’t the first choice at application time.</p>