<p>Cpeltz (and yabey), I meant no offense. I just continue to be confounded by posts expressing surprised by the admissions results of studnets w/ really solid (if somewhat lopsided) academic profiles are getting - - alsomt as if admission anywhere was, at best, a crap-shoot. </p>
<p>My D1 avoided two grades of “D” only by dropping the courses at issue; and believe me, every adcom understands that “w/d passing” means the kid was on the bubble and bailed just before the last failing grade was entered. Still I never thought the two w/drawals would keep her out of a good college.</p>
<p>Also, in my neck of the woods, applying to only 8 schools, regardless of the diversity in size and geography, would be considered reckless and over-confident. Students from the tri-state area routinely apply to 10-12 schools, which usually included a mix of pub/private, urban/rural, etc. - - in addition to State U and, for those in the five borought, CUNY schools. </p>
<p>Again, sorry if it sounded like I was raining on anyone’s parade. I am very happy at all the good outcomes (just not particularly surprised).</p>
<p>nyc- I think for some of us from Ca with B students we do get worried about getting into some of the state schools. My youngest is a B+ student but the UC’s and Cal States don’t care about the + or -. A B+ is worth the same amount of points as a B- in the UC GPA calculation. My D would love to attend UCSB or Cal Poly SLO or UC Davis. These days a B student is not going to get into those schools. And if you don’t qualify for need based aid the amount of merit aid at some of these liberal arts schools is still not going to come close to the tuition of Cal Poly.</p>
<p>Hey, took no offense! S applied to 16 schools of all types, all geographics, and had 50% acceptance rate, but in reality, with no merit aid, some of the schools were not options.</p>
<p>Being in California, our state schools are a crap shoot on so many levels, I’m happy S was accepted with merit at a school with a net cost the same as a UC - for year one. After that, we have a huge bargain!</p>
<p>Each region of the country and even within a state create such different scenarios for kids. It is easy to see how GPAs or SATs can look better/worse depending upon where you live. For example, there is no way my son would be considered for the state flagship with his credentials. He was also iffy for the “second tier” of our state schools. I was worried that his weak grades would eliminate his opportunity to have the kind of education he would best benefit from and the social network as well (read as kids who care about learning). I am relieved that he will have the opportunity to have an educational opportunity every bit as enriching as the one his older sister enjoys. The search did require casting a wide net and carefully matching up good schools that he had a chance of getting into to. This thread provided a lot of good leads and hope!</p>
<p>Campbellmom- I can’t speak for Cpeltz son but from my son’s experience some of the Cal States seem to overlook it others not. In my son’s case HS class of 07 Sonoma State would not overlook the 1 semester grade of a D in Bio.(they told us this was the reason he did not get in) He was admitted to both Channel Islands and Humboalt along with quite a number of small universities and LA colleges.</p>
<p>Mom60, you are the one I remember posting this info before; I just couldn’t remember your screen name. One of S’s friends, grad of '09 is at SSU, and retook Trig/Precalc last year because he had to make-up a D. It was my understanding that this was a requirement if a D was earned in an A-G course. I know some of the other CSU’s might be more forgiving, but not SSU.</p>
<p>Did your S choose one of the CSU’s where he was accepted or the small uni/LAC?</p>
<p>I have a 3.0 UW and a 3.3 weighted GPA. So far I’ve gotten accepted into 5 OOS public schools, including my first choice college. </p>
<p>Why are all of you so surprised about students with lower GPAs getting into college? You’re acting like having a 3.0 GPA is shameful and that it’s almost a shock that so many students with GPAs in this range are getting into good schools. It’s quite offensive, actually.</p>
<p>I agree with you leila, a 3.0 is a good GPA, but this web site is full of parents with kids with very high GPAs and test scores which people can begin to think is the norm.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reality check, hi<em>im</em>leila. I guess you’re getting a view of what it’s like on a Parents’ Forum, where we’re helping each other stay away from all of those silly thoughts. Great perspectives and success stories like yours are how we keep ourselves in line.</p>
<p>Sadly, it’s not just CC that perpetuates the “3.0=failure” attitude. Even in our small rural HS we get that message, and the colleges themselves are so worried about not looking competitive that they don’t always reassure us much, either.</p>
<p>I will definitely be someone who helps keep this thread alive next year! It’s a wonderful help to everyone.</p>
<p>accepted at:
University of Alabama
University of Arizona
Arizona State
Northern Arizona University
University of Hawaii - Manoa
University of Kansas
University of Nebraska</p>
<p>waiting for:<br>
University of Oregon (doubtful)
Oregon State
Michigan State (doubtful)
University of Missouri
Long Beach State
Chico State</p>
<p>Rejected by:
Ohio State
Indiana</p>
<p>We couldn’t be happier. I am hoping he will pick University of Arizona because of the SALT program, which would be really helpful to him - a lazy ADHD kid.</p>
<p>When we started this process, we were not very confident about his chances - and now we are pleasantly surprised. We were hoping that the fact that he is not asking for financial aid would help at his reaches, but that didn’t happen.</p>
<p>One of S’s D grades was in a class he had to retake in his senior year. Another was in a class where he had already satisfied the requirements. As I said previously, I believe some of our state schools are much tougher than privates or OOS schools to get into, and are not nearly as good. For all we pay in California, I think it primarily benefits and stellar students, those at the other spectrum and those who want to stay local (I do believe we have the strongest CC system). For a bright, underachieving kid, our state schools are not the best option IMHO.</p>