<p>Proud and frustrated with my son’s turn around in school. My DS did not get serious about school until Junior year. He had a 3.3 GPA going into Junior year and did bare minimum, just enough to get by. Junior year something clicked and all of the sudden he actually cared about learning and started to take pride in feeling he was actually intelligent. Major turn around and ended last year with a 4.3 GPA for the year taking several honors classes. This year he took 3 AP, 1 honors and 1 CP (math kills him still) and I just received first quarter grades…. a 4.66 All A’s and one B (in Math, but a 91 which is a B in our school). I am beyond proud of him, but also a bit frustrated that his options for schools are clearly based on his cumulative GPA not the grades he is now getting and has been getting for the past year now. He has turned into a bit of an intellectual snob, which I’m finding funny. A big part of me is frustrated feeling that with his new love of learning and success he still won’t get into the type of school that will nurture that and where he can continue this path. Nothing to do about it now, just wish he had grown up a bit earlier in the game and believe me he does too. We are just focusing on the positive and hoping he gets into one of his “reaches” Colgate, Connecticut College or Colorado College? Just venting here, sorry.</p>
<p>momemtscaught - that pattern is not unusual - particularly with boys. Admissions will look at that favorably. In other words - they will look beyond the cumulative GPA to see the progression from year to year and to see an increasingly challenging courseload. They look for trends - and he has an upwards trend - much better than a student whose grades sank junior year but with the same GPA. Be glad it clicked junior year!</p>
<p>momentscaught,</p>
<p>Perhaps your son should reach out to his regional admission rep and try to set up a Skype call. Let him demonstrate his strong interest in those reach schools, and explain his late arriving passion for learning. Nothing to lose, and perhaps one or all of the schools will speak with him…Just a thought…</p>
<p>^^ Great idea. You can also ask the GC to address his upwards trajectory in her recommendation letter.</p>
<p>maryversity-</p>
<p>I would not associate something that was pretty clearly political speech with the vandalism that was reported. Heck, there are a lot of Jews who might put up a sign reading, “Free Palestine.”</p>
<p>True enough, Mirabile, which is why I initially shrugged off the sign in the first place…just an unfortunate coincidence…sadly, this type of incident is not unique to Penn State but, fortunately, it is also not the norm.</p>
<p>so much stuff in this forum! my son, a senior in high school, asked me tonight to pick out a school for him. I feel like i’m almost starting from scratch. He applied and got into his state school (university of Arizona) with a great scholarship, so that is really tempting. he would like to play lacrosse but the fraternities there are so good that he’d do that instead. He was planning on Vassar, the coach there wanted him with 1 more point on his ACT, so he signed up to take that again in December. The problem is, reading thru the vassar website, he found out that they require proficiency in a language…that he won’t do. He told me to pick out a school with 3 to 4000ish in size. I would like a school that has easy access to kosher meat. He is not religious at all, but has grown up kosher and it is all he knows. he has a decent gpa (4.0 weighted), not a good test taker (ACT 27- but 33 on math and 28 on English). the only AP credit he has is in photography. he’s a very good lacrosse player, but not big in size, still it would be a shame to give that up. leaning towards an econ major. If there is a list on this 2000 page forum, could you direct me to it? or make a new mini list.</p>
<p>Hi momlax - how about Muhlenberg College in PA? A little smaller than your wish list, but would have Kosher food, econ major and lacrosse! I also think his academic stats would make it a match school.</p>
<p>Lehigh University in PA also comes to mind - just under 5000 students, good lax program and econ, about 12% Jewish with some Kosher food options.</p>
<p>Hi, momlax, other schools he may consider: Bowdoin or Colgate. (those were 2 my boss’ son considered with similar stats/interests) He decided on Colgate (but no scholarship $$).</p>
<p>“he problem is, reading thru the vassar website, he found out that they require proficiency in a language…that he won’t do”</p>
<p>A bit smaller than what you are looking for but Bates College has no language requirement at all. It’s also test optional so no need for him to submit his ACT score.
Their Econ department is also top notch. </p>
<p>I don’t think they have a kosher meat option but there is a big vegan bar and also a lot of vegetarian options. The food is wonderful. </p>
<p>Good lax team, too. </p>
<p>Also, only need based FA - no merit.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but that is not “clearly political speech” at all.
Political speech is having an opinion, and expressing it, on policies or issues or candidates for office, etc.</p>
<p>A so-called “free Palestine” sign is an outward manifestation of a hatred toward a group of people (Jews/Israelis) based on their ethnic background, religion and perceived station in the world.
To believe otherwise is na</p>
<p>Hi - wondering if anyone on this thread has any experience with transfers? Or does anyone have experience using a college coach? And if so, how do you find a college coach? We are in Boston and I don’t want to search online for this. Thanks.</p>
<p>momlax, has your son looked at University of Denver? The Hillel on campus has kosher kitchens that many students use for their meals, and there also is a Chabad right on campus that my middle son had many, many meals at. Lacrosse is big there as well.</p>
<p>University is also close to the size your son is preferring–about 5-6000 under grad students. Large Jewish population.</p>
<p>Posted this at U Miami forum but thought I’d try here too. Can anyone tell me about typical evening weekend activities besides going to a football game? Does the school sponsor anything or do kids usually go off campus to clubs? Are Greek parties on or off campus? Thanks for any insight, it was the one thing lacking at their open house and our tour guide didn’t give us a chance to ask questions.</p>
<p>momentscaught - My S’s story is exactly the same as yours. And I felt the same frustration as you do… based on his last two years of hs and his ACT and SAT scores - he looked good on paper - and appeared to be a candidate for A or A- type schools. My S’s reach list looked like your S’s. He tried to describe his improvement/maturity etc. on his applications, as his GC did too. My S’s result was that he got waitlisted on his reach schools (schools where I am sure he would have been rejected if not the improvement of his last 2 years of hs). However he ended up attending a match school and he now wishes to transfer. He contacted admission reps after being waitlisted and basically he heard the same thing from them: while they commend his improvement, they had enough candidates with 4 years’ worth of academic achievement at the level of his 2 years’ worth, (all else ECs etc. being equal)… this made sense although it was disappointing. I wish your S good luck.</p>
<p>Varikite, I’d recommend you go to the transfer sub forum if you haven’t done so already. Also, I have some experience with transferring.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions about my son, some good ideas there. His school sent his 1st quarter grades to his EA schools and he wrote a great email to the admissions representatives that he had personally met with basically pointing out that he is very proud to report that his upward trend of junior year is continuing to climb. He took the opportunity to explain that his passion for learning really took hold junior year and that he hopes to continue his education in their school because he knows he needs the type of academic challenge they offer. Every admissions rep wrote him back a very positive email congratulating him on his success and letting him know they are looking forward to reading his application. I know this means nothing, but it almost seems like his 1st quarter grades got more attention this way at his RD schools then they will automatically being sent by the GC. I think the personal letter he wrote and his pointing out his upward trend along with his shown interest and just getting his name in front of them again is a positive. We have taken this thing on like a marketing project and he has been very proactive at keeping in contact with his top choice schools in one way or another. He has had about 12 interactions with Colorado College… he started with a question and the response was so detailed that he responded in a detailed way and then they responded further which required him to respond and so on and so on…. I know none of this means a thing and he might get in nowhere or everywhere or somewhere in between but it feels positive?</p>
<p>Vaaritek33 - I’m so sorry your son’s not happy at his school. Is it that he really does need to be at a more challenging school? That is one of my concerns that now that my son seems to be this intellectual snob if he is not at a school he feels he is being challenged the right way or even surrounded by like minded kids he will fall back into his old ways. Where is your son if you don’t mind my asking and where is he thinking of transferring?</p>
<p>"No they wouldnt. "</p>
<p>I would. And I don’t think I’m alone.</p>
<p>not sure who or what the response above is in response to???</p>
<p>I think that was about whether Jews would support the Palestinian movement.</p>