Colleges for the Jewish "B" student (Part 1)

Momom2 · May 4, 2012, 6:13pm

Thank you for adding me to this list. We still have a few more weeks of school, too. S could wind up with 6 B’s and an A, 4 A’s/3B’s, or 6A’s/1B - still too borderline to tell. Regardless, some classes are weighted and despite this being the 6th semester, it is still beyond me how the school calculates gpa. I’m also not really clear on what gpa constitutes a B, B+, or A. When I went to school a B was 3.0, and an A was 4.0. There were no +'s or -'s and no weighted classes.

So, even though right now S has a 3.52 unwghtd and a 3.79 wghtd gpa, I have absolutely no idea what it will be at the end of this semester.

I’ve enjoyed following this thread over the last year, and I am looking forward to being more involved this coming year.

Thanks all for joining in and hanging in!

jaynebe · May 4, 2012, 6:38pm

Vitrac, Please count me in as well. My daughter will be a senior next year…Posted earlier that my twins are sophomores (almost juniors) with Linymom’s daughter at Delaware.

911C2S · May 4, 2012, 6:50pm

DeskPotato, I agree with Mom 24 and will add the following:

GPAs are calculated in so many different ways so it’s hard to use them to define a kid. Most schools look beyond the stats and consider the rigor, i.e., the honors and AP classes, the depth of study (4+ years of math, science, language, etc.). Because the admission process is largely out of our control with respect to weighting of various factors - such as full pay; ED applicant; hooks - no one can look at a list of acceptances and GPAs and draw reliable conclusions. There are just too many variables.

umich8790 · May 4, 2012, 6:58pm

Hi all…so happy to see all the success of your students. Please add me as a parent of the class of 2014. S2 is the reason I started following this thread in the first place. Unfortunately, not quite a B student anymore…more B/C. It’s been quite a frustrating year academically.

S2 is going to take a practice ACT tomorrow offered by Princeton Review, and a SAT next week, so that we can get a feel for which is a stronger test for him and where he should focus his energies this summer.

On a bright note, S1 finished his first year at Michigan Engineering last week and had a terrific freshman year. Very happy son.

DeskPotato · May 4, 2012, 7:15pm

Yes, I’m aware of these points, as I’ve been following this thread since the day it was started! At that time, I also had a kid who was hovering on the B+/A- line and wound up, luckily, really pulling things together at the end and winding up with, of all things, a Banneker-Key at UMCP (partial; and she didn’t take it, since she chose another school). BUT, that’s also how I know that the Tufts student and the Penn student represented on the list of college acceptances are not B students, or event B+ or A- students. They were the A student siblings. Their parents were clear about this.

I don’t think it takes anything away from the supportiveness of the group to flag, among the items on the list, those that aren’t really relevant data points for the parent of either a B student or an A- student looking for a merit scholarship.

On the other hand, I offer it merely as a suggestion, in recognition of the fact that this thread serves a dual purpose: support and camaraderie among its participants, and information and resource for people who may or may not ever participate.

911C2S · May 4, 2012, 7:37pm

NOTE: Results for Class of 2012 are bolded. Other results include Class of 2011 and college attendance for siblings who may have been A/A- students.

Chardo’s S: U of Alabama (Honors College, full scholarship), Georgia Tech, RIT ($15K/yr scholarship)

Cherryhillmomto2’s S: Rutgers (attending)

Chocchip: S1 freshman at Tufts, class of '15, S2 h.s. soph, h.s. class of '14

DDMLE’s S: Muhlenberg (attending)

Fourkidsmom: D1Colgate '10, S1 Purdue (senior attending with a co-op), D2 NYU Tisch

Ittliz’s D: Universities of Kansas, Oregon, Indiana and Colorado - Boulder; Michigan State U

LINYMOM’s DD: Delaware '14

Mdmomfromli’s D: Cornell University (attending),Tulane, Indiana (Honors)

mhc48: D2, UDel '15 (D1, Colgate '09; S, UMich '12)

MoltoBene’s S: Michigan '15; D2:Rush Medical College '15, D1:Tulane '09

Momjr’s D2: Boston U '15, D1: U Penn '12

Mom2009’s S: Universities of Indiana and Vermont (scholarship), Qunnipiac (scholarship)

Orangemom12’s DD: UF '13, DS1: UF '13, DS2: Pittsburgh, UMN/Twin Cities, UCF

Pamom59’s D2: **Drexel (attending, $12,000/yr scholarship), JMU, Penn State, Pitt, Delaware ($3,500 scholarswhip) Temple ($2,500 scholarship)<a href=“D1%20Pitt%20’15”>/B</a>

Phillyartmom: Ringling College of Art (attending, no awards yet given), Tyler @ Temple ($3,000/yr); MassArt ($8,000/yr), Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Rochester Institute of Technology (for Illustration)

PRJ’s D2: Tulane (D1: Brandeis '13)

psychmom: D, Vassar '14; S, NYU '16

Rockvillemom’s S: Elon (attending), Towson

Rodney: D2 : Elon 2015 D1 : Newhouse@Syracuse 2012

Samtalya’s S: Elon (Engagement scholarship) (attending)

Seiclan’s S: University of Central Florida Honors Program, FSU Honors, Emory U (attending)

Simpkin’s S: Albright, Lycoming, U of Kansas, McDaniel

Socaldad’s **DELAWARE(Attending) College of Charleston; Universities of Pittsburgh, Colorado - Boulder, Kansas, Indiana; Michigan State U, Oregon, Alabama,. **D1 U Texas 2013

Spectrum2’s S: UT - Austin: Texas A&M

Srandrew’s S: U of Vermont (scholarship); Quinnipiac

Sujormik’s D: Tulane, U of Pittsburgh, Drexel ($23K/yr scholarship)

Uskoolfish: D2: NYU '16 (Studio Art–ED–attending), Accepted Pratt ($14K merit award–withdrew), Accepted SUNY New Paltz (withdrew); D1 (NYU '12–Vocal Performance/MT)

Vitrac: D1 Tulane '14

911C2S’s S: Bucknell (attending), Universities of Pittsburgh, Tulsa ($16,000/yr scholarship), St. Louis ($12K/yr scholarship)

911C2S · May 4, 2012, 7:46pm

Ok - I’ve tried to clarify the list. DeskPotato made a really good observation. Hopefully this helps, however, the bolding is a PITA to do and I don’t think it copies.

If anybody else has suggestions as to how to differentiate, go for it!

chocchipcookie · May 4, 2012, 8:05pm

Gee whiz, this thread has been busy! :)

First of all, Stiller…why did you feel the need to write such a dumb paragraph on this thread? You have nothing better to do with your time? And to all you lurkers: RVM, Rodney and paying3tuitions have taken a lot of time in the last two years to make this thread an inclusive one. The posters on this thread are inclusive and supportive. If this is not you, then go post somewhere else.

Umich! Good to see you! I thought about you last month as my S2 made his way to Anaheim for the world robotics championship tournament. Did you guys go? I did not, just my S. Congrats on S1 finishing up a good year. My S1 also had a great year. Our two “A” children.

Okay, everyone…when people mention GPA’s…do they usually speak of their unweighted or weighted GPA?

We will be on the list of 2014 graduates. That means my S2 is finishing up his sophomore year as a true B student with a 3.1 unweighted, 3.6 weighted.

Welcome to new posters…momom2 and jaynebe and palm harbor…anyone else??? I can’t keep track of all these new names!
And congrats on all acceptances! Fourkidsmom: NYU sounds terrific! Spectrum! Congrats on your decision too…I’m sure it’s a relief even though it’s slightly farther than the other school.

Oh boy, I guess I’ll be gearing up for the all important and stressful junior and senior years again! I’ll really be a basket case this time, however, since this is my second and last child to go through this process. I’ll have to start frequenting the “empty nest” thread! :(

To the 2013 parents: what majors are your kids looking at? What schools are you looking at?

jaynebe · May 4, 2012, 9:10pm

thanks for the welcome chocchipcookie…I’ve actually been around for awhile, but recently changed my screen name so maybe that’s why I seem new. In any event, looking at Northeastern, Delaware, Penn State, Elon, Tulane, Syracuse, Maryland and UNH for my daughter. Tomorrow she takes the SAT’s for the first time so we’ll see how realistic those schools are with her 3.7 unweighted GPA.

chocchipcookie · May 4, 2012, 10:21pm

^^Yeah, I remember when you said you were a friend of Linymom’s…went to school together???

Anyway, yikes, 3.7 unweighted sounds great. As you know, this thread has been very supportive of UDel and Elon! You could probably get a lot of info from Rodney since I think she has the two kids at Syracuse and Elon. Is UNH Univ. of New Hampshire or Univ. of New Haven? Would that be the safety then? What does Northeastern look for now, do you know? They seemed to be the school with the most increase in apps. last year. I’m sure it’s much more selective now than it was several years ago? Not sure if it would be a contender for my S2 with a weighted GPA of 3.6, but it’s on our list to go visit at some point. (we’re not that far away and can visit in one day) Have no idea if he’d like a school that much in the city, but it could be a reach school if he likes the campus…unless his grades start to steadily increase as he becomes a Junior and Senior. Now wouldn’t that be nice! More choices!

rossnrachel · May 4, 2012, 11:09pm

Don’t forget about me! I’m a 2013 mom! S wants to study engineering. He’s basically an A math and A science guy, but Bs (some B+) in all other courses. (And below this Freshman year).

Looking forward to sharing the journey with you, 2013 parents.
And congrats to all you 2012 parents - you all deserve a tap on the back. (and a nice glass of wine)

spectrum2 · May 4, 2012, 11:33pm

Empty nester thread, I think I need to find that one!!! I’ve gotten over the distance thing Chocchip, S2 is really excited about TAMU and the more I talk to him the more I see how much thought he gave to the choice and why he made it. It is amazing how much h has grown up this year! It’s kind of wierd to be concerned about 1.5 hrs while S1 takes 2 to 3 days to drive home from school!

Good luck to all of your rising seniors and juniors. I haven’t been on the same page as most of you with the college search because of my S’s choices and our region but I have loved getting to visit with all of you.

911: Great job pulling all of our results together!

As for GPA I think you have to specify weighted or UW because otherwise it isn’t clear. Our school doesn’t even list WGPA; a fact that infuriated me at the time but that I didn’t pursue because my S’s choices were all about class rank and GPA was a non factor (rank is determined by a different calculation and does credit weighted classes but all kids ever learn is their rank not the calculation that went into determining it. How wierd is that?) I still believe our district is doing our kids a big disservice by not listing it but our administration is about to undergo an overhall in a big way. It almost makes me wish I still had a kid in the district…Just another example of how difficult it is to compare GPA’s. It is difficult to compare GPA’s among students in our own school because the highest GPA will not necessarily get you the highest rank. …Okay I am glad to be done with all of that after all.

LINYMOM · May 5, 2012, 3:28am

Jayneb and I met here on cc, probably in this thread and over in the Delaware forum. Then we got to meet in person on accepted students day and at move in- our DDs were on the same floor!

I actually went to college (same sorority ) as another frequent cc poster (piZzagirl) but her kids are Jewish A students.

Overtheline · May 5, 2012, 6:01am

Lots of angst in our household. Our underachieving D was admitted off WL to Brandeis and she has until Monday to decide whether to attend. She now has to decide between the two different schools that her parents graduated from. Spouse and I have left it up to her, but each of us are reemphasizing what terrific times each of us had at our schools. Both schools are excellent, with very large Jewish populations. Can’t go wrong at either school.

jaynebe · May 5, 2012, 7:29am

chocchipcookie: UNH is University of New Hampshire. Besides academics, my daughter wants a very large, high spirited, rah-rah type campus. We looked at some smaller campuses (under 3000) and she really wasn’t interested. Not sure what will be her safety or reaches at this point. She did okay on her ACT’s (28) but she’s hoping to bring that up a bit when she takes them for the 2nd time in June. Are you also in New England? We’re in RI. Originally my daughter thought she’d be okay with schools out in the midwest (Wisconsin, Indiana) but recently she’s changed her mind and indicated that she’d like to stay a bit closer to home. We saw Penn State last month which she LOVED.

LINYMOM · May 5, 2012, 7:34am

Overtheline: What is your DD deciding between? Brandeis and ??? Not to give input, but just curious…

jayneb: One of DS’ good friends just decided to go to URI (play hockey) - I thought of you. Hope he likes it! Re: UNH - I was talking to one of the tennis coaches at DS’ tourney yesterday- his DD is a freshman at UNH and absolutely loves it. She is an outgoing, super-involved girl (was drum major in HS) and sounds like she became active in a ton of clubs and activities at UNH. I don’t know much about the school, but just wanted to share a happy anecdote.

jaynebe · May 5, 2012, 8:54am

thanks Linymom, always like hearing the positive about schools on our list. Is DS taking SAT this morning or is he done?

umich8790 · May 5, 2012, 10:12am

Hi Chocchip…Glad your S1 had a great year too. S2’s team went to Anaheim, but I wouldn’t let my S go because I didn’t want him missing 2 days of school plus the weekend. He’s just not a strong enough student…tough judgement call as a parent. His team won the Community Award though, so that was exciting for them.

Planning a trip to DC at the end of the summer, and thinking I’ll take S2 to visit Goucher since we’ll be flying into Baltimore. Seems like it might be a good fit.

LINYMOM · May 5, 2012, 10:32am

jayne: This weekend (yesterday and today) was our big HS conference tourney. I saw how stressful it was last year for players who had to take SATs in the middle of it. I told my son that we would definitely avoid that situation. He was very grateful yesterday as he has a really tough quarterfinal match to play today. So he’s taken SATSs twice already (second score is very good) and will be taking the ACT again in June. But does not have to think about any testing this weekend.

vandygrad87 · May 5, 2012, 10:35am

Re: the Shout Out-

Besides D13, I’ve got two more that will eventually be heading down the pike:
DS18 and DS21. Oh my gosh, I feel like I will be doing this for the rest of my life. :-O

D13 is taking the SAT today- second time. Part of me is nervous and part of me is just ready to move on with what we’ve got and focus on the next step. It’s been a hair-raising week around here with homework and projects and AP tests. Summer cannot come soon enough. Hopefully she will do well though. She said her stomach was a little wonky this morning and I chalked it up to nerves, but then about a half hour later I suddenly began to feel wonky myself and really felt like I was going to be sick. I hope she was distracted by the test and it passed. I went back to bed for an hour and felt better when I got up.

Today is my niece’s 8th birthday AND her first communion, so we will be celebrating later today. I’ll try to have D get a nap in the middle.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Colleges for the Jewish "B" student (Part 1)

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