I think it is short sighted to rule out a school completely because of the fear of what may or may not happen. My D has a full scholarship at Texas A&M and is a Chem major. She has maintained her scholarship for 3 years now. Once you get a good baseline of grades in the beginning, the risk of one class blowing your GPA lessens considerably. You have to judge if your kid is a straight A student without any studying or effort in HS. Those are the students who seem to have a lot of trouble getting organized into good study habits. We also planned her schedule to include some stress relieving easier classes, just in case to math and science stuff got overwhelming. The good news is that getting those top grades brings additional honors, recognition, and opportunities as you go along in your college career. Sure, I was a little worried about her keeping the 3.5, but it has worked out fine.