I just read through the thread for kids that had 3.3 - 3.6 gpa’s and was very encouraged by the acceptances. However, most all of those kids had very high (or at least very respectable) test scores and many with very advanced courses. DD has a 3.57 gpa, very strong EC’s (some leadership but not a lot), and lots of volunteering. BUT she lacks honors and AP courses and she struggles immensely with standardized tests. She took both ACT and SAT twice and will take SAT a third go next month. After a tutor, an online course, and a dozen practice tests, she only raised her score a few points, sigh! Would love to hear about acceptances/rejections for those kids with respectable credentials but lousy test scores?
Your best bet is probably the school that don’t require test scores: http://fairtest.org/
Local directional U? Here in OH there are many good local Us (Akron, Wright State, etc) that will accept a good GPA and marginal test score.
What scores does she have so far?
What is her intended major?
What is your budget?
What is your home state? NJ? If so, certainly there are choices there.
If money is no object, then there are many good schools that accept modest test score students as long as their GPAs are good, like your DD’s.
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We are looking at taking on a considerable amount of debt to send our twins to college next fall and I may be in the minority, but I agree with those who have stated that it is a worthwhile investment for which to take on the debt. Perhaps one of the arguments not yet made is the value in learning to live away from home in a community of strangers from all walks of life. I lived on-campus a few hours away from home and I still believe that the best education I received was living in those dorms and learning to live with others. Yes, of course, I had a great time and the whole college experience was wonderful, but the lessons learned were invaluable. I absolutely want my children to have the same opportunity.
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I’m in the unfortunate position with the rest of the NJ residents and can attest that after researching for nearly two years what our best options are for our twins, our in-state choices are abysmal. Yes, my kids could commute to Rutgers for $14,000/year and I have no doubt that they would get a decent education. But I don’t believe that it’s wise to invest a considerable amount of money into something just because it’s the cheapest option.
I have many friends here in NJ (husband and I are Mid-West transplants here) who commuted from home and their lack of life experience is evident - they have little awareness that there is a world that exists outside of NJ. For some, that works out fine for them and that is great. It’s simply not what I want for my children.
DD is the classic B student, has very little drive, struggles enormously with the devil that is standardized testing, doesn’t know what major is a match for her, etc.
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I have one that will likely go to an OOS public in the South for very little more than going to Rutgers
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Is this the son???
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and one who will likely go to an expensive Northeastern private that, even with considerable merit money (we hope!), will probably still require significant loans.
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Is this your DD and is Syracuse the private? I think you’ve mentioned that this is her top choice. If so, merit will not like happen unless scores really jump. Are you considering borrowing $100k-200k for Syracuse?
Depending on what your DDs scores end up, there are some privates that do give “tuition discounts” for “ok stats”. What other schools interest her?
I have never been to S, but maybe some here can recommend schools with a similar feel that may give a tuition discount to a student with good solid stats.
What does she like about S?
What are her best subjects?
I know it is senior year for your DD, but have you had her screened for learning differences along the dyslexia/processing line? The combination of better than decent class grades, good ECs, and dismal standardized test scores are practically diagnostic for processing issues. As long as she’s still in high school, she has ready access to her school’s Resource Team, and they can help her improve her compensation strategies before she gets to college.
Have her take a look at Towson University in Maryland. A fair number of New Jersey students end up there. It is just down the street from Goucher College which is test-optional. You could visit both in one day.
Thanks all for the input . . . mom2collegekids, yep, you got it. Syracuse and ECU are top choices, U. of Tampa and Rowan are second tier choices. We realize that S. is probably a reach for her, but she is applying ED and to one of the less popular colleges. We realize she won’t qualify for merit, but based on the NPC, our cost should be below $20,000. Thank you happymomof1, yes, Towson is one that we’ve been to and she liked it quite a bit. It’s fairly comparable to ECU and she preferred ECU and she should be a good match for their admissions, even with her test scores. The first two SAT rounds have her M+CR superscored to 980. She will take the it a third time in two weeks (say a prayer please!) 
ACT was taken a second time last week so we’ll see but she has been stronger on the SAT. I just haven’t seen a lot posted on CC about chances with lower scores so was curious if some had succeeded in getting into some of the more competitive schools without top scores.
BTW, mom2collegekids, the one that I mentioned that will likely end up at a private Northeastern school is her brother. He is the one we are hoping to get some merit money for - very different stats (top 5%, 4.15 gpa, M+CR 1370).
I would look at test optional schools for this student. Her 980 superstore SAT CR and Math is going to cause admission issues at many schools that require the SAT.
I am concerned about the score, (which is why I’m curious what others in the same situation have experienced), however, for 2 of the 4 schools on her list, she is very close to their average score listed and for 3 of the them, she is above the lowest score listed on Naviance for admitted students. I’m hoping the fact that her other strengths including gpa, ec’s, and strong community service will help outweigh the scores, at least for those 3 of the 4 that she is a good match for. Did anyone else experience this or did you all find low scores to be a deal breaker?
You might try looking at Naviance or similar for your HS. At the HS I attended, kids with a similar GPA and test scores were usually accepted to both Syracuse and ECU, although the sample size for ECU was very small. There were many students with GPA and test scores in this range, so it isn’t a big mismatch at some HSs, although this varies tremendously from one HS to the next (some grade more harshly, and some tend to test better/worse).
Found a little bit of info on the Ask the Dean forum, this response from Sally seems to indicate that the student’s h.s. certainly has some influence as well in the decision-making process.
05-20-2014 at 1:54 pm
College officials try to have a sense of the rigor of their applicants’ high schools. But, inevitably, there are some high schools they know well and others that they know less well. So, depending on where the candidate goes to school, the admission folks may recognize that a high GPA is hard to come by … or not at all. However, there are certainly students at rigorous high schools who have great grades and not-so-hot test scores. (Bad test results often do not equal easy classes, though sometimes this can be true, of course.) And a lot of research suggests that it’s the grades and not the tests that provide the best predictor of college performance. (And other studies even insist that it’s NEITHER grades nor tests but personality.)
D1’s scores were not deal makers. Despite coaching, she didn’t score in the top range of the usual admits at her targets, actually did poorly in the M. (She really wasn’t interested in the standardized tests.) Her grades included a few B’s. Nonetheless, she did very well with admissions at some great colleges and went off to a top LAC.
But,we were looking hard at matches-- not in the sense of grades/stats, but in terms of academic interests, dept strengths, her proven ability to tackle her major, plus the sort of thinking and “leadership” those schools valued. You can only find that through deep looks into what the colleges themselves say. And then careful consideration.
About Sally’s comment, you said not only the gpa but the lack of honors and AP. If the hs doesn’t offer those, okay. But if it does and she chose against the rigor, you have to focus on the strengths she does have. You also need to look beyond the gpa number itself, see if her areas of interest are actually the ones where she got her best grades.
ps. We sometimes joke on CC that NJ folks so easily put down Rutgers. It’s actually desirable to many and strong in many respects. I’m honestly not sure I’d dismiss it in favor of another big school that just happens to be out of state.
Boston University CGS is you can afford to be mostly full pay.
lookingforward, excellent advice, thank you! I think she has some well-matched schools and programs (she’s interested in a couple of different avenues and majors, depending on the school) and we will certainly try to highlight her strengths for those programs. I agree completely about Rutgers, but unfortunately she wants to go against the grain and try something different, she is so familiar with Rutgers, has been there for many functions and knows many students there. While that appeals to some, she is actually the kid that wants to veer away from the familiar and I’m happy to see her want to venture out on her own. I grew up near Ohio State about the same distance we are from Rutgers and felt the same way, OSU was never even a consideration for me.
@NJFabFour, is TCNJ a possibility?
Unfortunately, she really wants to go away to school and TCNJ is only 3 miles from home. A great school, yes, but too close for comfort! DS feels the same way about Princeton (on the slight chance in hell he could get in!) so is applying to another ivy as his reach school.
Check out Juniata, Elizabethtown, Chatham (in Pittsburgh), Duquesne (also in Pittsburgh but larger), Drew (might be too close), Susquehanna (very friendly and dynamic), Wheaton (MA), Roanoke (VA), Ithaca (NY), Lemoyne (NY), UMW (VA), Christopher Newport (VA), Transylvania (KY), Guilford (NC), Sonoma State (CA), UMaine-Farmington (ME), McDaniel (MD), St Michael’s (VT - in a really cool college town and free pass to ski resort!), Stetson (FL).
All are test-optional, are reasonably strong and residential, and would likely admit your daughter with some merit. They run the gamut in terms of architecture, environment, and “vibe”, so I’m sure some of those would interest your daughter.
Email Syracuse to know whether you’ll have the financial aid package at the time of admission if a student applies ED. If not, you’re really taking a gambit… what if they ask you to pay 65K??? They don’t promise to meet need and bad surprises can (have) happen (ed) to students who are in the bottom half of admitted applicants. 
It is probably worth considering if she has a learning issue. She may or may not have one. Do her test scores reflect her problem testing or her curriculum? For example, in our school system, students in non-honors English and math are unlikely to score above a 550 in any one section of the SAT. Why? Because those courses here are not very rigorous. Also, her overall grades are really quite good; note if the distribution reflects weaknesses: for example, Bs in English, Cs in math and As in art and theater.
All that aside, some popular schools here for B students are Towson, George Mason, College of Charleston and North Carolina- Asheville. None of them feels like Syracuse, though. In our college search, Syracuse seemed more like U-Vermont or U-Arizona, both of which she might be good matches.
Have you considered Ramapo College in Northern NJ? Rowan and Montclair are both test optional. In Northeastern PA, there are some colleges in the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area: Kings College, Marywood Univ., Wilkes University.
As others have noted, the learning issue is worth checking out. University classes,even at the smaller, less selective ones, go faster compared to high school. Keep in mind that even if the colleges are test optional to get into, many faculty still use tests as the main source for the course grades…