<p>Honestly, I’d call your kid a B+ student at the least, especially with his advanced coursework. There is a wonderful thread on the Parents Forum about schools that are wonderful for (and accepting of) B students.</p>
<p>Added: Actually there are several. Here are a few links:</p>
<p>^ We do not have his exact class ranking, but historically, it is my understanding that 4.0 GPA is about the 25 percentile cut off, at this school. The school does not share class rank until kids finish junior year.</p>
<p>A lot depends on your child’s SAT/ACT scores. But assuming he does well (90+ percentile), there is no reason why he would not be a competitive candidate at most any school save for the very toughest (and depending on test scores, he might have a chance there too). Your son also appears talented in chess and shooting and there are colleges that will give chess and rifle scholarships (usually half) to students with outstanding talent.</p>
<p>How much can your family afford to pay for your son’s college? If financial aid is a factor, I would start with figuring out how much you will need and what his statistics will get him in terms of merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Remember, the first schools that he should figure out are his safeties, those which are certain for admissions and certain for affordability, as well as having the desired major and courses and being otherwise schools that he likes. Use the “net price calculator” on each school’s web site to estimate affordability. In-state public schools are the most common safety candidates; some schools offering large merit scholarships guaranteed for specific levels of GPA/SAT/ACT or National Merit status can also be safety candidates.</p>
<p>He does not want to be like so many on these forums, asking in late December or January (when many application and scholarship deadlines have passed) “I need some more safeties because I got deferred/rejected at my EA/ED schools”.</p>
<p>That is the area I am least worried about. In the beginning of sophomore he had a 173 on the PSAT (83 percentile). This year, as a junior year, he scored 219 on the PSAT (M69, CR74, W76) with a 99 percentile rank. This should qualify him as a National Merit semifinalist, here in Texas. </p>
<p>Furthermore, son himself says he feels even stronger in mathematics now than when he took the PSAT. He has been studying a lot of advanced mathematics in his spare time, over the holidays, in addition to taking Pre-Calculus during the year at school. He has also been working on his vocabulary, which he did not do before the PSAT. So, we are cautiously optimistic about the SAT.</p>
<p>There is also a thread about scholarships for NMSF. It is at the top of the financial aid forum, I think. Your son should be getting all kinds of mail. If he is overwhelmed by reading it, which my NMS eventually was, make sure you read it. I found the school where my daughter eventually enrolled.</p>
<p>If you are residents of Texas, consider whichever public university has a class rank threshold that he meets as an admissions safety. (But still check the “net price calculator” and evaluate academic and other suitability.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. on the state flagships. We have explored this option, and think it might be difficult for him to get in UT. However, A&M seems very attractive. It has a decent engineering program. It offers auto admission to all National Merit Finalists. They also offer an annual scholarship of $8,500 a year with admission. In addition, A&M has a shooting team, which makes it attractive to him. Are there any other schools he should consider applying to, as a B/ B+ student?</p>
<p>Relatively inexpensive out of state schools include Minnesota, Virginia Tech, and Cal Poly, although you have to check on how they would look at the student’s stats (they may also have specific methods of calculating GPA using AP weighting – at least Cal Poly, as a CSU, does). However, they may not offer much need based aid for out of state students (check the net price calculators).</p>
<p>University of Southern California (a private school) does offer a decent number of merit scholarships for students with high test scores.</p>
<p>Likes Physics & Computer Science. Does not like Chemistry. Has B+ (88/100) in Pre-AP Physics and A- (90/100) in AP Computer Science II, this semester. </p>
<p>By the way, he enjoys mathematics but does terribly in his math classes for some reason. Then, seems to surprise us by doing consistently well on the math standardized tests. For example, early in sophomore year (after C in freshman Geometry) scored 61 in PSAT Math (92 percentile). Then, early in junior year (after B- in sophomore Algebra II) scored a 69 on PSAT Math (95 percentile).</p>
<p>Currently, he has a C in PreAP Pre Calculus. However, I will not be surprised, if at the end of Junior year when he takes the SAT and Math II, he ends up with scores in the 700s.</p>
<p>After completing precalculus, he may want to try this placement test (does not require any payment or login):
[Calculus</a> Placement Exam | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam]Calculus”>http://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam)
Scoring green in most or all areas indicates readiness to take calculus for math and engineering majors. (Of course, taking AP calculus in high school is a good idea for a prospective engineering major who completes precalculus as a junior.)</p>
<p>Would he also be interested in computer science and/or engineering?</p>
<p>Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science and/or engineering will require good math skills. He can get an idea of which of electrical and mechanical engineering he may like better by which parts of physics he likes better. Mechanical is based more on mechanics and thermodynamics, while electrical is based more on electromagnetism and circuits. But if he enjoys computer science, that may be an option as well.</p>
<p>For electrical and mechanical engineering, be sure that the degree program is [ABET</a> -](<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET”>http://www.abet.org) accredited. For computer science or engineering, ABET accreditation indicates a minimum level of quality, but some good degree programs are not ABET accredited (but poor degree programs are also not ABET accredited).</p>
<p>I think that would be a great diagnostic test for him to take near the end of junior year. Thank you very much. </p>
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<p>I have been trying to talk him out of engineering, every year, after he gets low grades in mathematics, since he was a freshman. However, every year, he manages to bring out these standardized test scores, that make me back down. </p>
<p>I think he understands that he needs to take AP Calculus in senior year and get at least a 4 or 5 on the AP exam., if he wants to study engineering.</p>
<p>Thank you, drac, that is very helpful. I immediately recognize University of Alabama on the list, as a tier one, nationally recognized research university, with good academics and facilities, that gives automatic admission and good merit scholarships to NMFs. Also, Auburn. There are probably others on this list that I do not know about. So, I have my work cut out for the day, looking for them. </p>
<p>with guaranteed admission and scholarships for NMFs, the above schools might fit the definition of a safety, but they actually make wonderful matches too. </p>
<p>**Any suggestion on which reach schools, he should apply? ** Or should he avoid applying to reach schools because of his weak GPA?</p>
<p>perazziman the university of alabama birmingham is also on that list…it has national hispanic scholar full rides. the other 2 dont. it is a tier 1 research school very strong in sciences. [UAB</a> - The University of Alabama at Birmingham](<a href=“http://www.uab.edu%5DUAB”>http://www.uab.edu)
their sci/tech honors program is wonderful!!!</p>