<p>Mary OC
My daughter is interested in many of the same schools. She likes Sacred Heart the best (over St Mike’s). What was your daughters (and your) opinion of Sacrfed Heart?
Thanks Bob</p>
<p>To be honest, Bob, my D never visited Sacred Heart because they offered no grant money or discounting with the acceptance letter … just a boatload of loans. She would have visited, had the COA been comparable to some of her other choices - but we ruled it out based on price tag, alone.</p>
<p>Mary OC
OK, thanks
My cousin has a D at Saint Mike’s now and loves it. She is over in Ireland now in a St Mikes abroad program. Good luck to your D
Bob</p>
<p>Schools for C students…
Temple University
Rider University
University of North Texas
University of Massachusetts Amherst</p>
<p>I’d feel better if my son could pull some A’s in a subject he favored, as college and life allow for some specialization. My son’s transcript shows consistent A’s only in PE and chorus. I guess the common element is that they are physical classes. Any advice in what he should pursue, or where? Any advice for schools that are on the lax side for admissions that also has a lot of hands-on teaching?</p>
<p>Does he love PE and chorus? Does he care, or does he get A’s because of lax grading?</p>
<p>Some kids, especially boys, just do not get the point of homework when they are in their teens. I work with a lot of these families. Every family has different values, but I’m in favor of requiring kids to do SOMETHING productive after high school, and I don’t care that much whether it is college or not. Working for minimum wage can change somebody’s mind about the value of school in a hurry. Or sometimes it doesn’t, but as long as the kid is working and being useful, I think that’s what matters in the medium term (let’s say the next 3 years or so).</p>
<p>Maybe he’d get more excited about an apprenticeship or trade school. Maybe he’d make a good carpenter or HVAC tech. College will still be there in a couple of years if he wants to put his heart into it. There are a lot of different ways for a smart kid to find his way to a productive life.</p>
<p>Hanna, you’re right–many paths to a productive life! My son loves PE and benefits from easy grading in chorus, conditional on showing up and trying. If he had his druthers he’d be a major league pitcher, but even for something so near and dear to his heart, he doesn’t always work to get ahead. He spent a couple years mastering a lethal knuckleball, but hasn’t grown to the next level on his fastball. He understands (I think) the need for a solid backup plan. I don’t see him teaching or coaching, so I’m not sure whether his current interests will translate into future plans. He just reported that he has A LOT of work to make up from last quarter. He seems resigned to do the honorable thing, but I fear it will cause him to ignore/burn out on his current quarter’s work. I’ll keep you posted! Looks like choppy sailing ahead.</p>
<p>Update: with 3 weeks left for the year, DS seems motivated to try to get his grades in the B range with the remaining time. Mind you, his English grade was a D- on his progress report. His teacher is allowing him to rewrite his assignments.
The motivator here? His ACT score arrived last week. Composite score was an unbelievable 31!!! English and reading were both 27’s, math was 34 and science 35. He was actually disappointed. I would guess that most kids don’t have 8 point spreads between their high and low scores, but this is consistent with his entire academic history.
I also see that he’s obviously been learning, but must be incapable of sucking up and doing work he doesn’t like. Another life skill discussion. I am wholly relieved that he is learning, and perhaps now understand better that busy work that belabors what he thinks he already knows is apparently not worth his time (I’m working on this).
I suppose the ACT raises more admissions questions–smart slacker, anyone?</p>
<p>Keep in mind, those tests are about not getting questions wrong… So, a 34 means only 2-3 questions wrong.</p>
<p>Couple of thoughts: what is his attitude on college? Is he interested in tours, etc? Maybe if he researched it, that would motivate him too. Have you talked to his coaches? They might have some ideas of colleges looking for baseball players.</p>
<p>Do you have a state university system – I am talking about more local colleges, like Fitchburg State University (MA), Cal State LA or San Jose State in California, Minnesota State University at Mankato? Someone mentioned U Mass Amherst. That will be a reach with below a 3.0, but maybe UMass Lowell or Umass Boston?</p>
<p>“must be incapable of sucking up and doing work he doesn’t like. Another life skill discussion.”</p>
<p>Have the discussion, but don’t blame yourself if it doesn’t sink in. Sometimes a kid has to get there through maturity and experience rather than parental guidance.</p>
<p>If you and he decide it’s best for him to go to college right after high school, there are schools that will take him with that ACT. They don’t need to be local colleges, either. If the overall GPA is at 3.0, he’ll likely get into flagships like Arizona State, U of Kansas, etc. These are schools with strong graduate programs in math and science, where there’s no limit to how far a bright and motivated student can go. If you think an LAC with personal attention would be a better fit, there are many out there who are glad to take a gamble on a STEM-focused male. You might be surprised, especially if you are full-pay.</p>
<p>DS is definitely interested in college. We’re going to concentrate on small LAC’s where he hopefully won’t go unnoticed and will feel invested. I think he also prefers to be within driving distance (300 miles?), and does not party (so far). On a side note, his grandfather went to UMass-Lowell when it was still called Lowell Tech!</p>
<p>I have 1 graduate,1 incoming freshman, and 1 graduating HS 2013-----This is when the grades really count! Merit based scholarship will be out of the question for overall average students- and unless you are near your state’s poverty income- need based will be out of the question as well. I really love that our Federal Govermnt has projected how much “Family Contribution” based on so few factors should be. Also colleges use this guideline when computing a financial aid pkg. Now if we could only get our kids to see the light!</p>
<p>Getting back to the original thread…Yes -C students can get into good schools- There are factors schools look at that we (as parents or guardians) forget- i.e. majors (to fill voids in their schools and the workforce), geographic location ( most schools are looking to diversify),and ethnic makeup (yes, that old diversify tool).</p>
<p>Sorry to crash the thread, but I’m a C student and I’m looking for schools to apply to. Does anyone have any advice? :)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1390546-2-8-gpa-decent-test-scores-chance-me.html#post14835269[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1390546-2-8-gpa-decent-test-scores-chance-me.html#post14835269</a></p>
<p>Did you read through the thread? There are many options offered.</p>
<p>I thought my husband wrote this post because it is exactly similar to my son’s issue.</p>
<p>What would you guys say are my chances as a 2.7 student with high test scores (2150 SAT, 32 ACT comp) </p>
<p>Temple
Pitt
PSU
Syracuse
Drexel</p>
<p>Cand D students in our part of NYS overwhelmingly opt for community college. The CC’s in NYS (or at least in Upstate NY) are open enrollment, requiring only a high school diploma. Standardized tests are not required and a slim majority of the students in our area who choose CC also choose not to take the SAT.</p>
<p>C students do have choices beyond the CCs. These include the SUNY Colleges of Technology that accept a sizeable number of C and C+ students. Among these are Alfred State, Delhi, Canton, Cobleskill, Morrisville and Farmingdale State. SUNY Colleges that report that 20% or more of their entering freshmen had HS GPAs below 3.0 are Old Westbury (39%), Potsdam (34%), Buffalo State (33%), Purchase (32%), Plattsburgh (24%). </p>
<p>The other SUNYs are more selective but you’ll find some C/C+ students at most all of them. The only SUNY schools to report no members of their freshman class with GPAs below 2.5 are Stony Brook and Binghamton.</p>
<p>joesorkin,</p>
<p>I would add a few more to your list…maybe University of Tampa? My friend’s son has really blossomed there. Also maybe Bradley in Illinois?</p>