<p>cpeltz,
How correct you are about state schools. My state is North Carolina. Our flagship waitlisted our older child with a 3.4/4.5 GPA, National merit commended, 8 APs (all scores between 4-5), 1460/2170 SAT and outstanding extracurriculars (young artist scholarships to music festivals). She was accepted (May 2-day after declarations due) but by then had chosen a private LAC where she now attends and is very happy.</p>
<p>After that experience, we were extremely anxious about our son (he did not even apply to the flagship). The third tier state schools (his 3.0 GPA statistically was “low” and put him put of the running for the second tier) did not appear to be a good environment for him. The stats for the private schools he applied to indicated that, for the most part, his grades/SAT were on the cusp of the 25th percentile.</p>
<p>So my surprise over his good success with the LACs is not meant to insult anyone and I apologize to those who might be offended. I think the message here is that there are excellent schools for these wonderful B students. Never give up!</p>
<p>Hornet, We are in NC also. I suspect that S2’s “just the right speed” school that I posted about on a previous page was none other than one of those third tier state u’s that would not provide the right atmosphere for your S. S2 is happy there and doing better than we had ever hoped for. </p>
<p>Just goes to show the old adage “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” can really ring true even in the college world. The perfect schools for a 3.0 kid are just as wide and varied as for the 4.0 kid. Luckily, there are a lot to chose from.</p>
<p>Packmom,
Oh dear, another problem with communication. That is one thing I hate about these boards. It is very easy to misinterpret the spirit of another’s post. I am sorry if I offended you. I would NEVER imply that ANY school would be considered “trash”. That type of observation is not what I suggested. No school is “trash”. All have noble callings and students can rise to great things in a variety of settings. My son would not do well at one of the NC schools I was referring, not because of “quality” but because he is shy, quirky, not willing to assert himself and very much affected by what is going on around him. For example, the third tier NC schools have high attrition (55-75% retention for freshmen depending on the school). Many kids would not be bothered by the empty dorm spots second semester, perhaps even see the positive in it-less crowding, private room. My son would be deeply affected by kids leaving in a negative way. </p>
<p>We have many friends that are at third tier schools and doing well. In fact, one recently graduated and is now in medical school. However, these kids were more outgoing in personality, more flexible and willing to seek out things that were positive. It sounds like your son is one of these more settled, robust kids-the kind that thrive in any setting, given the opportunity. I am glad he is doing well. It sounds like he is a solid person with all the characteristics a person needs to do well in life. The student’s personal characteristics and learning play a huge role in selecting the right school.</p>
<p>Wow! That gives me hope! My son has about the same stats and I was getting really worried that he wouldn’t get into any good Ohio school after reading some of these posts! I’m so glad I found this thread! Anyone else have any info on Ohio Schools for B students?</p>
<p>Know that the SALT program requires a separate admission.
We considered it for our son. We spoke with a number of people in the LD field and with parents who had students in the program. The program is considered to be top notch. The one warning we got from everyone is that the type of student who does best is one who is motivated to use the services. The professionals who knew my son felt like it was probably not a good fit.</p>
<p>Here’s the latest update. I think that we definitely win for most states. Warriorboy has a 3.1 GPA, 32 ACT and was accepted at the following schools with merit $$$ between $10,000 and $17,000:
UConn (No aid here)
McDaniel
Hendrix
Susquehanna
OWU
Furman
Rhodes (great pkg)
Wooster
High Point</p>
<p>Also,
Berry, Hofstra, and Marist</p>
<p>As much as everyone says that GPA is the most important factor, I really believe that a high test score and/or interesting extracurricular activities can make a huge difference. My son has received merit at most schools in spite of his GPA.</p>
<p>I absolutely believe that being a male (and in some cases a male from New England) made a big difference. The interesting thing is that my son’s GC predicted that he would get into the schools for that reason and because schools like high test scores. She said that they can manipulate the GPA, but not the test scores. I wasn’t so confident, but he has some great choices.</p>
<p>I think my son back in 07 was much more successful due to being male and some high test scores. This probably would not be a factor in large schools or tech schools.
warriorboy648 it is wonderful that he has choices.</p>
<p>In addition to manipulating the GPA, a school can also choose not to convert the 1-100 grades to a 4.0 scale (so that some low GPAs are not included the CDS).</p>
<p>Along the lines of what foolishpleasure was saying, regarding standardized testing, I do not believe people realize just how many schools WILL mix and match ACT scores from different seatings, and WILL even mix and match SAT and ACT scores! At the time my son was formulating his list I called each school that he was considering to inquire whether they were mixing and matching to figure out whether it was going to be worth spending the money to send in more than one score. You would be surprised as to how many schools will mix and match, yet I could not find information about this listed on many of the college websites.</p>
<p>It’s funny. You could flip the point made by warriorboy’s GC. While GPA can be manipulated, schools can and do recalculate, taking some of the game playing off the table. On other hand, good test scores might reflect test prep (at least in part), which cannot readily be accounted for in the same way.</p>
<p>I think the results on this thread also show how important having involved parents can be, especially if your GC is not expert. I have known many parents who thought their kids would do better at a smaller school than the large publics at our state, but thought either that getting merit aid for a B+ student was impossible or that the only good small schools were at the Haverford/Amherst level of selectivity.</p>
<p>I think it is a travesty how little effort the GCs at many large, affluent Hs’s put into learning about options for B+ kids.</p>
<p>Involved parents make a big difference for most kids. My son’s good friend is in the top 10% of the class, 3,9u GPA, and has other great things going for her. She didn’t apply to any schools EA (her GC said that it didn’t matter when you apply). She applied to a very random group of local schools that really are not academic matches. I wish I had known earlier so I could have helped her.</p>
<p>warriorboy648- very very few of the kids my D is friends with have even started their college searches at this half way point in junior year. Where we live there just isn’t the frenzy that exists in other parts of the country. My D teases me because I am always asking her friends questions and offering to help them look for schools/build a list etc. I only know one other parent of a junior that has done anything about college searches! I am considered a real anomaly around these parts! And forget about the GC in our school. They are next to useless! I am only praying that they can manage to send out transcripts and recommendations in a timely fashion!</p>
<p>The SALT program also costs $4950 extra per year, though you can pay by semester which is helpful if your student isn’t using it. </p>
<p>My S was accepted to the program a few weeks ago, and we are heavily pushing U of A for that reason. If he wants to stay in college, he will use the program to succeed, its a simple as that. He knows he needs help and guidance, and everyone has told him how much he can benefit from SALT. Now he just has to fall in love with the school when we visit!</p>
<p>^^Any idea how does UA factor in the SALT fee for students who apply for need based aid? Is the aid package based on standard tuition/fees - - and then the family has to pony-up an additional $5K/semester?</p>
<p>SALT offers scholarships and financial aid separate from the university. If you are interested in a scholarship you would write an essay and submit it. We didn’t pursue it so i’m not sure if financial documents are needed.</p>
<p>We visited yesterday, and my son has decided on U of A! The SALT program was definitely part of that decision.</p>