New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread - Page 3

Cardinal Fang · 05-02-2009, 05:12 PM

Schmoomcgoo, I don't think your son is overqualified for this thread. 50th percentile in class, 3.2 GPA = Hello B+ Thread!

Kenyon might be reachy for him, with that class rank. Doesn't mean he shouldn't apply, but if he likes Kenyon, he might want to include some easier-to-get-in LACs. Maybe College of Wooster?

ReadyToRoll · 05-02-2009, 05:16 PM

Schmoo and Lafalum. You guys are great, and your kids sound wonderful...but both of you do not qualify for this thread. If your kids both have a 3.2 unweighted but are taking a boatload of honors/AP, then we're talking about kids with a much higher GPA. I'd really like to keep this thread centered around that, regardless of ACT/SAT score, because the schools/issues for a kid with a low GPA, even with higher test scores, are much different than for a kid with a high GPA and a lower test score.

Schmoo...I think Syracuse and JMU are at least matches for your kid. They seem to be high-matches for my kid (based on our Naviance) and he has a 3.2 weighted GPA, so much lower than your child's will be, with somewhat similar test scores but perhaps not as good.

ReadyToRoll · 05-02-2009, 05:20 PM

Schmoo...I just saw what you said about your son's rank. That's a disconnect for me...how can he be ranked at the 50th percentile with such a high GPA? Or...is the ranking based on unweighted GPAs only, putting him up against kids with similar averages but no honors/AP courses?

Our school doesn't rank, but they report 3.0 as the median GPA...which is a weighted GPA. (Of course, many students have not taken any classes that would be weighted.) They also don't provide unweighted GPAs.

BassDad · 05-02-2009, 05:37 PM

Our high school's median GPA is about 3.3 weighted. I am sure that there are schools out there where it is higher than that. If Schmoo's son's GPA has not gotten much of a boost from whatever weighted classes he has taken, he would pretty close to 50th percentile here as well. Note that Scmoo said the school does not weight as heavily as some.

warriorboy648 · 05-02-2009, 05:53 PM

I am so happy to see this thread and the possible suggestions for colleges. The biggest challenge is finding schools that will be academically challenging and still accept my son (and give him some $$$)

Marist appears to be getting more difficult to get into. They only accepted about 40% of their applicants and we know kids who should have shoo ins that were denies.

We have looked at Susquehanna's website and my son was interested but GC said that it was a suitcase school and no one is around on the weekends. Any truth to this??

It also seemed as if a lot of the CTCL schools were looking for higher GPA's???

northeastmom · 05-02-2009, 06:06 PM

Yes, Marist is more difficult to get into, but it is a match school for B student with decent ACT/SAT scores. I would look closely as to how many rejects that should have been shoo ins required a lot of FA. I know of someone whose D was rejected from Marist with wonderful stats. She also was going to be the 3rd child to be in college so significant FA was in the cards. I don't know if this had a thing to do with the rejection, but the last time I checked their endowment was rather low. Anyway, it is something to consider.

Susquehanna has a beautiful campus, but it is rather remote. One would not find a bus, train, or cab, so one would need a car to get off campus on weekends, and to get home.

As far as gpa, one MUST consider the high school that the student comes from. Not all 3.1s or 3.7s are equal, and we did hear this from an admissions counselor at UNC-Wilmington. If you are worried about it, why not pick a couple of CTCL schools (which also do not have the same gpa criteria for admission) as well as some safeties? One can also find LACs that are not on the CTCL list for a B student.

More suggestions: Ithaca, Alfred, Elmira, SUNYS if looking at Marist.

ReadyToRoll · 05-02-2009, 06:06 PM

Marist is a little too close to home for us and alas, no big sports there. I looked at our Naviance, though, and it seems to be a good suggestion for the B to B plus student, particularly if test scores are strong. Of course the downside to looking at Naviance is that you can't tell which data points are from which years, so if it is getting harder to get into, you would have no idea....

BassDad · 05-02-2009, 06:12 PM

My son is at Susquehanna and reports that, while some do go home on weekends, there are still usually plenty of students around. He is a freshman without a car and he seems to be getting along there just fine. We live about three hours away and I will be picking him up on Monday after his last exam. They do offer shuttles to the airport and train station in Harrisburg at the beginning and end of semesters and school break weeks. Depending on when you take it and when you make reservations, it can be free or cost upwards of $30 one way.

dragonmom · 05-02-2009, 06:17 PM

Northern Arizona University is a great choice for B+ students, especially if they like outdoor activities. Warm weather but mountains, pine trees and some snow. The only kids I know who are there are in business programs - those programs seem to have a lot of internship/job focus.
It's not a football team that will ever hit the BCS, but at 16,000 undergrads it's got a big school feel.

Nonresident students will be offered admission if they meet the following:

3.0 or higher GPA* (on a 4.0 scale), or
24 ACT or 1110 SAT (Math and Critical Reading Sections Only) composite score, or
top 25 percent class rank
and have no deficiencies in required course requirements.

Lafalum84 · 05-02-2009, 06:29 PM

I wish our hs gave a median GPA. If they do, I haven't seen it. Perhaps I should ask to see the school profile that they send to the colleges? They won't calculate Class Rank until fall of senior year, either. Apparently we just got Naviance but it has no data entered yet, D said there was only one "dot" on the Northeastern grid but at least 5 kids from 2009 are going there. I feel kind of blind.

ReadytoRoll, my D hasn't taken a single AP class, although our high school offers a dozen. The only one she plans to take next year as a senior is AP Studio Art, I'm not sure if colleges look at that as an AP, especially since she doesn't plan to be an Art major. On a tour at UConn, the tour guide casually asked, "How many of you guys are taking AP classes?" and every kid except her raised their hand. My daughter muttered, "Ouch..."

Her 27 on the ACT was very reassuring after her PSAT: 57V, 50M, 53W. I'm hoping the SATs this morning were an improvement over the PSAT. If they were, I will happily remove myself from this thread, but if not... we'll only be submitting the ACT.

I'm a big fan of Stonehill, but D won't look there because it's too close. It's a good B/B+ school if any of you other parents want to check it out.

Interesting to hear about Marist, and the apparent rejection of relatively good students who need large FA. We know of 2 kids from our high school who were accepted there this year, and neither of them strikes me as strong students at all, although I haven't seen their transcripts. One of them was waitlisted at UMass, and his parents complained frequently about his poor study habits while in hs. (That's not intended as a knock on UMass, which is getting pickier by the minute thanks to the economy).

lilmom · 05-02-2009, 06:33 PM

S is looking at Cal Lutheran Univ. Last yr. admitted students avg GPA B+, SAT 1010-1200 in cr and math and act 22-27. Chapman is also on the list. While I think these two schools may be too close to home, he's doesn't want to venture far for now. A friend's D attends Marist and absolutely loves it. She was a B+ student w/good test scores.

Lafalum84 · 05-02-2009, 06:34 PM

Also, on paper, Univ of Scranton looks like a match for B/B+ kids. Haven't seen it, though.

northeastmom · 05-02-2009, 06:46 PM

Lafalum, it is and I have heard very good things about Scranton.

ReadyToRoll · 05-02-2009, 06:50 PM

Just looked up Stonehill and U Scranton on our Naviance. (Again, both too small for my son, but just to add perspective/help others.)

From our school, the kids accepted at Stonehill all had about a 3.5 GPA. Below the 3.4, only those kids with SATs above 1150/1800 were accepted. (Only three kids though.) All five kids that applied to Scranton were accepted; and their GPAs ranged from 2.5 to 3.0 with SATs in the 1050/1500 range. So Scranton seems a bit easier to get into, at least from our school. (Of course, that could be based on geography...maybe a kid from CT is more desirable in PA than in MA.)

Anyone have Naviance that can look up admissions at some of the big publics for me, like UConn, UMaryland, and UMass?

Jeremysmom · 05-02-2009, 07:32 PM

Can anyone advise/suggest where a Calif student who fits the profile of this (great) thread should apply in-state? I don't think a large public is the best place for my S, and although he's now only a HS freshman, I can tell he's going to be one of those kids who scores well on the SAT/ACT but have a not-so-hot GPA (classic underachiever). So if the UC's are out, and maybe even the CSU's too, where could he get in? Thanks in advance.