<p>Rockville, that sounds like a Muhlenberg-type profile–heavy use by A students as a safety school leading to heavy preference for those who apply ED.</p>
<p>I saw the University of Miami mentioned. It is a great choice. Very Jewish population. Not as hard to get into as one would think. UF is much harder to get into. They have a good business program. I know several of my son’s friend stayed home and went there. We live 10 minutes from it. DS was accepted, but wanted the “away from home” experience. When it was 10 degrees last winter he really regretted that choice.</p>
<p>yabeyabe - I agree completely - Elon, Muhlenberg and Gettysburg all are alike in that high stat kids use them as safeties and for a B students who loves the school - ED is a good bet. In the latest common data set - Elon’s ED acceptance rate was close to 80%. Gettysburg and Muhlenberg also have very high acceptance rates for ED - over 70% I believe. At our hs - Naviance shows that in the past few years a small number of students have applied ED to these 2 colleges - every ED student has been accepted.</p>
<p>littlemimie - on University of Miami - could you address the social life issue? Is it all going to clubs? Would a boy who likes sports and Hillel be comfortable there? I don’t see my son getting dressed up and going to clubs - wondering what else the social life/weekends consist of.</p>
<p>I would check if Miami is significantly harder out of state than in–at our NJ HS, it is more for 3.5-3.7 kids than those with lower GPAs and U FLA is much easier–perhaps because northeastern kids have long gone to Miami in large numbers</p>
<p>Rockville and Rodney, with ED, I think Muhlenberg, at least, has ED 2, which allows kids who get turned town ED by their first choice ED to apply ED. This works for kids who think not getting in ED to their first choice means they will not get in RD, either.</p>
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<p>Rodney: Why is study in London better than study at Tel Aviv University? Israel has so much to offer now.</p>
<p>yabeyabe - already noted! Elon releases ED decisions on December 1 - so plenty of time remaining to do ED at Muhlenberg or ED II at Gettysburg, etc. if needed - although - I would be very surprised to see a decent B student deferred or denied ED at Elon. </p>
<p>Rodney - I’m sure you’re worried about her safety in Israel compared to London - that I certainly understand. I have a cousin who did birthright and then returned to Israel to live - she is about 24 and has been living there full-time for almost a year now - has dual citizenship - has an Israeli boyfriend - works in an English language bookstore - takes Hebrew classes - you just never know! :)</p>
<p>From our large public hs Naviance - in 2009 - 27 students applied, 20 were accepted and 5 matriculated. Average accepted wgpa was 4.1. Average accepted SAT was 1300 and average accepted ACT was a 28. Every student with at least a 1350 SAT was accepted - even with lower GPAs - going down to 3.5 ish. Every student with over a 4.2 wgpa was accepted - even with a below 1300 SAT score. Might be a little reachy for S2 - but on his list as a possibility for now.</p>
<p>I hear a lot of young people are heading for Israel to study, travel, etc. My kids never did Birthright, but I hear it is an amazing program. It might be hard for parents to have their child so far from home. But, everyone I know who goes to Israel has a great time!</p>
<p>Rockvillemom wrote: The average weighted GPA was a 3.9, the average accepted SAT was 1250 and the average accepted ACT was 28. The average test scores are skewing high because there were several kids with 1500s and 34s who were accepted. Looking at the graph in terms of who gets in - pretty much every applicant with at least a 1250 SAT (out of 1600) was accepted - even with a weighted GPA as low as 3.4 or 3.5. Conversely, a weighted GPA over 4.0 with lower test scores could easily be a deferral or waitlist.</p>
<p>Rockvillemom, thanks so much for sharing the data although that 3.9 for Elon worries me…seems incongruent with an average SAT of 1250 yet you mention the test scores skewing high. Is it common to have an average weighted GPA of 3.9 line up with an average SAT of 1250? Also, does that mean Elon doesn’t consider the writing score (I can’t remember at the moment); that would be too bad as D did nicely on that portion.</p>
<p>My D went to Israel for a month the summer after 10th grade (after confirmation) and she now wants to return to study junior year. Of course, she talks about South Africa too so we’ll see…</p>
<p>Hi! I’ve been following for awhile. FSU is on our list and as Seiclan suggested we are going to add UF for a visit. I agree that ALL states are facing funding issues, it is overall a very sad situation.</p>
<p>RockvilleMom- I am curious, with much emphasis on the actuary exams, how do you feel your son will handle those as a “B” student? Have you asked any questions with staff at any of the schools, what is the course load like, homework, exam prep? Actuary intriques me. Are you looking at “math” programs or actual “actuary” programs? From what I understand any one can take the exams.</p>
<p>Cherryhill raises an important question: for many kids on this thread, having a challenging but manageable workload is a priority. Researching this question without implying your child is a slacker is not easy. My methods were to ask tour guides “What is your balance of coursework and other activities?”; look at various guidebooks and sites, such as students review; and check the findings of a study called something like the national study of student engagment, whose results were in USA Today and compared student interaction with faculty, written workloads and other factors.</p>
<p>collage, that 3.9 is for rockville’s school. At ours, the admits were lower GPAs.</p>
<p>Hi - as SDonCC writes - the 3.9 at our hs is a weighted GPA. My son - who typically gets A’s in his non-honors courses and B’s in his core courses - which he takes on the honors level typically - has a 3.9 wgpa. So, when I look at his report card - I will see 5 B’s and 2 A’s or maybe 4 B’s and 3 A’s - which is why I view him as a B student - but because many of his classes are honors level - he has just under a 4.0 as his wgpa - which is how our Naviance graphs are set. For perspective, my older son, who was a straight A student - had about a 4.6 wgpa. So, when you look at graphs for our hs and look at very prestigious colleges - Ivy League, Duke, Georgetown, etc., very typically the graph will show you need a 4.3 wgpa or 4.4 wgpa etc. to be competitive.</p>
<p>Elon does add a point for honors classes and 2 points for AP - so if your child’s GPA is not weighted - go back through the core classes and add the point(s) for honors/AP and see what you come up with.</p>
<p>cherryhill mom - my son is not the one interested in actuary programs - that is mdcissp’s son. Too much math for my son! My son is looking at a business major - maybe mgmt or marketing - not sure. I do share your concerns about how well he would do in some of the classes required for a business major - this is why I was very concerned about James Madison and the 10 prerequisite classes students take freshman and sophomore years and then having to apply to get into the College of Business during spring of sophomore year - that concerns me very much. I’d rather he be in a business program from day one - and if gets a C in a stats class or a calc class - as long as he keeps his overall GPA up - he’d be ok.</p>
<p>He is taking regular precalc this coming (junior) year - he struggled to hang onto a B in honors algebra 2 last spring - so we he is not doing honors precalc - which has a reputation for being extremely challenging. I do want to see him to calculus and maybe AP Statistics senior year - even if he does not place out of any college classes - I think it would be good preparation.</p>
<p>Just would like a school which offers courses for the Actuary Science exam if my son wants to study it. I agree with Rockville Mom about too many prep courses to start the Business degree. UT Dallas said you can study anything you want from day one. Not sure why the policy is different around here in Maryland, JMU, GMU, etc. needing to take many pre-business classes before being accepted to the business major.</p>
<p>It amazes me everyday how much I learn on this site. I really need to start looking at the course tracking for majors that are interesting and be more aware of “applying” for junior year.</p>
<p>I was confused, I meant to direct my questions to MDCISSP 
Are there actual programs or course of study with intent to sit for the exams that you are looking at? Are you aware of any “actuary” open houses?</p>
<p>cherryhill - I have found that very confusing myself. As a gross generalization - if the school is a college - no issue - you declare a major at the end of sophomore year. Most course catologues will make recommendations that if you pan to major in X, you should take this course freshman year and that course sophomore year and so on, but I have not come across any major stumbling blocks.</p>
<p>It gets trickier if the school is a university. Sometimes you have to specify the college you want when you apply for admission - so you apply to the college of business at xyz university or the college of arts and sciences, etc. Once you are admitted, you are in the program from day one.</p>
<p>I’m fine with both of these options. But then there are the universities that require you to apply to get into the business program at the end of sophomore year - and I find this troubling. Of the schools my son is looking at - James Madison appears to be the only one with this issue so far - but I have a few I’m not positive about and need to check on. It does add yet another layer of stress to an already confusing process.</p>
<p>"Majoring in the School of Business</p>
<p>In order to be accepted into and declare a major in the School of Business, you must complete the following steps.</p>
<ol>
<li>Earn a C- or better in the required admission courses.</li>
<li>Complete a Declaration of Intent/Major form and the Honor Code form to the Student Success Center. Both of these forms must be submitted before your declaration form can be processed."</li>
</ol>
<p>This was another school I was not sure about - so they do require 7 prereq. courses and then you can declare the major. I don’t find this one as troubling as JMU because the bar seems to be set a little lower and you can repeat a class if needed. They also don’t seem to warn that applications exceed open spots and that meeting the requirements does not guarantee entry as JMU does.</p>
<p>This is what has me worried about JMU:</p>
<p>"Admission to the CoB is competitive. At a minimum, you must meet the following requirements:</p>
<pre><code>* Complete all 100- and 200-level B.B.A. core courses and their prerequisites.
- Earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.800 (unrounded) on all 100- and 200-level B.B.A. core courses taken at JMU or another college or university.
- Earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.800 (unrounded) or higher in all courses taken at JMU.
- Complete at least 56 credit hours.
</code></pre>
<p>Meeting these minimum requirements, however, does not guarantee admission. Final admission decisions are based on resources. The total number of students admitted will be no greater than can be effectively supported with available instructional resources. Admission to the CoB permits you to enroll in COB 300 and be formally admitted to the Management major."</p>
<p>I would love to hear from anyone who has had experience with JMU and CoB in particular.</p>
<p>As many students have trouble adjusting to college, and their GPA suffers as a result, I think concerns about having to reapply to the desired business school are well founded.</p>