Starting the process for youngest kid. They have a very low ACT/SAT score, 3.1 unweighted GPA, has great internship, part time job , varsity sport, DECA, other clubs. Business or communication major. Mixed race kid. Where can they go test optional? Looking for mid to large sized school with Greek life, intramurals, traditional college atmosphere. $45k tuition not including room and board, approximately
Here are some thoughts: prefer anywhere but Deep South and parts of Midwest. ASU, U OF ARIZONA FAU, USF, UCF, Coastal Carolina, Elon, High Point; reach: Syracuse, Penn State; major reach (rumor is that OOS is easier to get into): San Diego State
You may want to start a thread in the chance me / match me category, and fill out the template. That will give posters more information and allow them to help you more effectively.
Have you looked at your instate public colleges (not the flagship).
What does this student want to do with a business major or communication major?
Do you have a geographic preference?
Schools to check…
Roger Williams in RI.
Look at the Colleges that Change Lives List. Some might work.
York College in Pennsylvania (hoping @fendergirl sees this and can comment).
Coastal Carolina (as you mentioned)
No it’s not just for high stat kids. Fill out the information that’s relevant to your kid, and we can help. Things like budget are important to know.
@thumper1 Thank you. I’ve edited my post with more info. His internship deals with the type of business he wants to do and I don’t want to dox him in case he’s seeing me post this! He would hate that I’m asking here.
Florida and South Carolina would be Deep South, unless you mean non-seaside southern states? Just to delineate the acceptable regions.
Anyway: at Penn State do NOT apply to any Smeal major, but he might have a shot at Telecommunications&Media Industries (in Bellisario College of Communication) depending on his weighted GPA. If that doesn’t work he can always go for reconsideration/DUS. Typically any applicants below 3.5 would be directed to a branch campus, though (students spend 2 years at Altoona or Harrisburg, then move to University Park automatically if they met the requirements - no application needed.) If he has any AP scores, submit then or find a way to incorporate them in the SRAR or the personal statement. You can post on the Penn State Fall 2926 Admission thread too.
What about Duquesne as a safety, American U as a reach, UDel and URI as targets?
@MYOS1634 Yes when I wrote deep south I meant places land locked like Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss. I don’t really consider Florida Deep South except Jacksonville or Gainesville. I am talking places where a mixed race kid might not feel comfortable, without sounding too harsh or closed minded.
There are many participants on CC with fantastic kids like yours. I wish even more would participate. Here is a thread you may enjoy reading and connecting with other parents. There are similar threads each year so reading back through those may give you ideas for your list and strategies for finding the best fit for your student.
I hope you’ll continue to share your student’s application journey.
I do not see that you mentioned your home state so I assuming San Diego State is not an in-state school? SDSU has a fairly high Non-Resident admit rate which is around 80% for 2024 but the average Overall campus admitted CSU Capped weighted GPA was 4.06.
You need to calculate the Capped weighted CSU GPA to see if there is a decent chance for an acceptance.
Note that the CSU GPA calculator only uses 10-11th grades with an 8 point Honors cap and only AP/IB classes and DE/CC CSU Transferable classes are weighted for Non-CA residents.
SDSU admits based on CSU GPA, Intended major, # of a-g courses above the minimum, HS course rigor, Local admission area status and First generation. No essays, LOR’s or EC’s are considered.
Also the CSU’s have A-G course requirements that need to be met by time of matriculation with no exceptions.
Your son is going to have a lot of options. There are plenty of terrific schools out there that are happy to admit a nice solid well-rounded B student.
For Business majors and Communications majors, internships and/or jobs while in college are important. A college internship can turn into a permanent job offer. So one thing I might research is what local opportunities are available, and how much the school facilitates this. As an example, one school I often recommend is University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities–beautiful campus in a lovely residential neighborhood in the city, D1 sports, fraternities but not “toxic” ones. Just minutes away from MSP airport which is a hub so inexpensive direct flights all over the country. Tons of merit (especially for Business and Engineering majors). In a consortium with other schools in the neighborhood including Macalester. But best of all, it has a lot of ties to local Fortune 500 companies, many of which have branches all over the US, so the alumni network goes nationwide and an internship can turn into a job offer closer to home if you want it to.
I’m sure the University of St. Thomas is not alone in offering opportunities like this.
I’m mixed race (black/white) and live in Louisiana. Obviously, this is a very personal decision, but I would consider schools on a case-by-case basis, and also a location within the state basis. Schools in New Orleans, for instance, I think would be fine (I attend a church with a number of interracial couples with mixed race children…though admittedly, a minority of churches have significant race integration, but that’s across the nation, not just regional). A school like Loyola New Orleans is great for mixed race folks (ranked #2 on Princeton Review for a high degree of race/class interaction). If your kid prefers to avoid the deep south, then that should be honored, but I just wanted to provide an alternative perspective in case it influences anything.
I’ll be back with some school suggestions based on what you’ve already shared.
Below are some schools that your son may want to investigate. They generally have Greek life, strong enthusiasm for intercollegiate sports, and strength in his areas of interest. For the schools whose tuition exceeds $45k, I strongly suspect they would give him merit aid to bring the price below that point. And the fact that I wrote more for some than for others should not be interpreted as anything beyond my energy levels.
I’ve sorted them by my guesses as to your son’s chances for admission, though I admittedly tend to be a conservative chancer. And I linked the CDS where available, as the GPA breakdown of students in section C11 played a definite role in my guesses as to your son’s chances.
Seton Hall (NJ): About 6100 undergrads (leaning towards toss-up). Did not find a recent CDS, but there was this SY22-23 Data Trends publication.
U. of Cincinnati (OH): About 31k undergrads with a school culture that places a lot of emphasis on co-ops. It also made Princeton Review/s list as a school with lots of race/class interaction. Cincinnati also has a number of major companies there, including the headquarters of Procter & Gamble. 2024-2025 Common Data Set
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Indiana University: About 37k undergrads (leaning towards likely). I wrote more about it in this post. 2024 Common Data Set.
U. of Dayton (OH): About 8200 undergrads; many say it has a similar vibe to Notre Dame but with a higher admission rate. 2023-2024 Common Data Set
Michigan State, Seton Hall, east Carolina IU maybe a reach but these are worth a look at. We are in the northeast but he wanted to try something out of state, but they always say that until they miss their friends. Louisville (someone else mentioned) also seems like a good option.
May want to investigate how racially segregated the fraternity and sorority systems are at each campus of interest. While there was a big racial segregation scandal in the University of Alabama sorority system about a decade ago, racial segregation in fraternity and sorority systems is not limited to the south.
Yes for sure. I was in a sorority in the Midwest and his brother one in the Big10. We are not black or Latino, but my kid could pass for Hispanic maybe, Jewish or ethnically ambiguous. Don’t want any southern vibe scary old traditions like Alabama though.
