@Lindagaf – looks like he has a solid list, but if he has not already he may want to look at James Madison (JMU) in VA. A little larger, but fits much of the criteria… although the skiing is definitely better in NH or CO!
I teach at JMU, and am from NH… so familiar with UNH… and went to Penn State for grad school, and Syracuse for undergrad. If he likes those schools I suspect he might like JMU.
Thanks, @KatMT I will mention this to him.
He has started filling out the Common App.
Here are his stats:
UW cumulative GPA 88.44 (7 AP/IB courses, 8 Honors level courses) He has learning disabilities and tenth grade was a tough year for him.
ACT 34 (33 E, 34 R, 36 S, 31 M)
SAT 1480 (690 EBRW/790 Math)
Major: Economics/business? Probably wants to go for MBA ultimately.
Applying to:
Penn State (safety, according to our school’s Naviance)
Syracuse (safety, according to our school’s Naviance. Any chance of merit?)
U New Hampshire (safety, probably merit aid.)
Gonzaga (match, hopefully merit aid)
SUNY Binghamtom (safety, according to our school’s naviance, though I think best to consider as a match. No interest, but hubby insists.)
USC (very unlikely reach, but g.parents are both legacies and it’s got all he’s looking for, so why not?)
Denver U (Match. He now says he isn’t that interested in applying here. Merit aid?)
Maybe one or two others.
PLEASE READ BELOW AND GIVE INPUT, THANKS! Just making sure we’re on track…
Am I correct in thinking that for some of these colleges, the sooner he gets his app in, the better? On the flip-side, if he gets very strong grades in the first quarter, is it going to make much of a difference for most of these schools? Given his grades, maybe he should just apply to the colleges of Arts and Sciences?
I find this a little confusing, as I feel that undergrad business degrees are often not taken seriously. Am I correct in thinking that should he get in, he can transfer into the business schools at Syracuse, Penn, USC? OR that should just be the plan anyway, to major in Econ, then think about the MBA later?
He should apply to:
Arts and Sciences or Whitman School of Management at Syracuse.
Div of Ugrad at Penn State. Doesn’t have the grades for Smeal.
College of Arts and Sciences at USC. Doesn’t have the grades for Marshall, I’m guessing.
Liberal Arts/Paul College of Business and Econ at UNH.
Arts and Sciences or School of Management at Bing.
Arts and Sciences or School of Business at Gonzaga.
Arts and Humanities or Daniels Coll of Business at Denver.
Should he list his SAT, given he got a 790 in Math, and 31 in Math on the ACT?
I am hoping the counselor will address his LD’s in the letter of rec. He should not mention this in the additional info section, right?
Tagging a few people who might be willing to give feedback: @MYOS1634 @doschicos @wisteria100 @intparent @lookingforward @austinmshauri @happy1 @Midwestmomofboys @twoinanddone @katliamom @Gumbymom @suzy100 @thumper1 @skieurope
I think he should apply to Daniels at UDenver. He will get a lot of merit aid at Denver, most likely to include housing for 2 years (that seems to be a typical award).
At some schools, you are automatically considered for A&S or general studies if you aren’t admitted to engineering or business. Are any of his schools like that? If so, apply to the school he wants to be in (business) and hope for the best.
I would say to send the SAT as well as the ACT, since the math it so strong and business programs like to see strong math scores. I believe USC is going to wait until the file is complete to review it, so that means they will wait until 1st quarter grades are sent, so no benefit in submitting early there. And strong 1st quarter grades will benefit him the most at USC.
Not sure about transferring in to the business school - that varies by school. For instance, at BC, that is almost impossible.
I admit that I didn’t read all 14 pages.
Has anyone suggested U Utah? Haven’t been but boarding can’t be beat, honors program, merit, and they reportedly make it easy to get in state rates after first year. Plus no pot effects, which impacts even the non-tokers…
Here are some comments:
First, unsolicited advice – I apologize if I’m repeating myself but it is important to understand that economics and finance are very different majors. Economics is a liberal arts course of study and gets very theoretical at the upper levels. In contrast if your S goes to an undergraduate business school he will take a business core with introductory classes in subjects such as accounting, finance, IT, marketing etc. and then will major in one of those disciplines. I’m not saying that one path is better than the other, but they are different. If you didn’t do so yet, I would take the time to look at the coursework (can be found online) for both a business program and an economics major and see if one path is preferable to your S. Of course you know him best but think about if might do better in a less theoretical, more pragmatic business program. Also keep in mind that the better MBA programs like to see applicants work for a couple of years before applying.
Did he look at the business school at SUNY Buffalo as another option?
I think if you are happy with the way the guidance counselor addresses the LDs he doesn’t need to mention them again in the additional information section.
As for chancing – I’m sorry but I’m not familiar enough with the schools you have to tell you anything more than the class profile and Naviance can.
Good luck as you go through the process with your S.
Thanks, @happy1 , very helpful. I’m not looking for chances, just providing context. Yes, he is defintitely going to have to read more on what appeals to him in terms of Econ, business, finance, etc…
Buffalo is interesting, and I actually think may be better for him than Bing. He won’t be submitting unitl mid October at least, so that’s a good tip.
I’m not going to be much help because I don’t have a ton of familiarity with those schools. With Syracuse and UNH on the list, I assume he can handle long winters. I lived in Syracuse for a few years and those winters really are looooong.
I saw that UMich was mentioned earlier. Is he not interested? It seems to tick a lot of his boxes. Maybe a reach app to Dartmouth or Cornell? Did he take any subject tests? I’d suggest Ohio State but not a ton of outdoor activities in the winter and far from mountains. Did UNC not make the cut?
As you probably know, keep an eye on deadlines for merit. Some of those are fast-approaching.
I agree with having the GC speak to the LD issue.
@suzy100 , I think he feels he has plenty of schools on his list, and his top choices are Penn State or Syracuse. He didn’t take subject tests or do the essay, and won’t. He’s done with testing.
Thanks for having a look. I posted mainly just to be sure we’re on the right track. I’d like him to submit his apps to his safety schools by mid-October at the latest, except for the schools where maybe he needs to show some strong grades for the first quarter. USC, maybe Gonzaga, Syracuse, Denver?
@Lindagaf Not sure if this was mentioned upthread, but WVU recently came on my radar because I know somebody who went there and then did well in the business world in NJ. Your son’s stats are probably around the tier II level (11K discount for OOS). I am not sure about the outdoors piece but it has a top 100 business school and also an intelligence and national security concentration in its IS program, if that’s still of interest to him.
https://admissions.wvu.edu/files/d/276df541-ce85-47b4-9a2c-a2eaab71c37a/scholarship-handout-web.png
And here is their outdoor rec page:
He should list both SAT and ACT, as most universities he’s interested in “superscore” these days or at least pick the highest score.
Arts and Sciences or Whitman School of Management at Syracuse => Arts&Science (minors in Management are open to all majors)
Div of Ugrad at Penn State. Doesn’t have the grades for Smeal. => yes, DUS. Changes nothing anyway.
College of Arts and Sciences at USC. Doesn’t have the grades for Marshall, I’m guessing.=> yes.
Liberal Arts/Paul College of Business and Econ at UNH.=> College of Business
Arts and Sciences or School of Management at Bing. => Liberal Arts at Bing, but he may like SUNY Buffalo more
Arts and Sciences or School of Business at Gonzaga => Business
Arts and Humanities or Daniels Coll of Business at Denver => It’s worth taking a shot at Daniels
SUNYs, UNH, PSU = he should apply by Nov 1.
Everywhere else = after first quarter grades are posted.
He’ll likely (99%) be admitted to Penn State, UNH, Denver and/or Gonzaga. If he’s ok with those, I’d add UVermont and UMichigan to the list.
Thanks, helpful people of CC. I appreciate the feedback. It’s so easy to give advice to others, but with my own kid, i second-guess myself.
He doesn’t want to apply to UVM anymore, as he preferred UNH and others, and has plenty of safeties. I’ll talk with him about U Mich, but it’s another high reach. It’s of course a great school.
Regarding merit at UNH - Class rank is the key factor in awarding merit. A friend’s daughter had a bad freshman year due to an undiagnosed learning disability. Regardless of her achievements, GPA, ACT, etc. once this was addressed, UNH refused to give any merit aid due to her class rank (middle third).
Despite the merit denial, daughter is a current freshmen and couldn’t be happier there.
UVermont would be better than UNH while still giving him a shot at Honors. See it as between UNH and Michigan. On the other hand, PSU may serve that role and he may not want to add one more college. On the other other hand, while I’d encourage him to apply to Schreyer, his odds are low, whereas his odds of getting into UVermont’s Honors college are better.
At Michigan, he could apply to one of these majors if he finds them interesting:
https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/academics/majors-minors.html#organizational_studies-maj
https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/academics/majors-minors.html#informatics-maj
https://lsa.umich.edu/math/undergraduates/major-and-minor-programs/mathematics-of-finance-and-risk-management.html
https://www.si.umich.edu/programs/bachelor-science-information/career-outcomes
https://www.kines.umich.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/sport-management
https://michiganross.umich.edu/programs/bba/curriculum/sales*
Thanks again. You guys are the greatest. And my next child is going to be named after you, @MYOS1634 . 
WVU could be fun, and its OOS cost is relatively low.
But if PSU and Syracuse are affordable, and he likes them, I think you’re good.
I wouldn’t call either a safety due to the GPA, but they could be low matches and I’d bet the farm he’ll get into at least one.
Thanks @prezbucky . I’m only calling them safeties due to Naviance, or I’d be more concerned. There isn’t a single student in our school with his profile that has been rejected from either of those college. We did talk about a few colleges in the “South”, and he decided against them. USC is the outlier, but it’s because of the family connection to So Cal, and he does love the beach. He knows it’s super unlikely, and in fact, he may yet decide not to apply.
A number of people suggested Michigan, so we talked about it at breakfast this morning. Really, school spirit is a HUGE motivator, so Michigan is interesting to him. I have to laugh, because of the 7 colleges he is applying to, 4 of them appear in lists for colleges with most school spirit.
U Wisconsin and WVU both make appearances in those lists too, along with a lot of other wonderful colleges. Too many choices!
UW and Michigan are both awesome, fun schools. I don’t really have that much knowledge of WVU, other than their colors/mascot and low OOS price. It doesn’t have the rep of UW or Mich (or PSU or Cuse), but it is probably really pretty, a solid school, and quite a bit less expensive than the other four (unless PSU is your in-state – then it’s probably close).
Has anyone suggested University of Minnesota, Duluth?
