<p>SHsurprise:
I agree that most students at the smaller Penn State Campuses are in-state, and probably live nearby. I think your son would have a better overally experience at Uconn. We toured Uconn this spring, and we were impressed with the campus and facilities. The students seemed happy and well-rounded. My daughter did not like the rural setting, but otherwise she really liked the school.</p>
<p>FutureActuary, thanks for the correction about the two part SAT…My head was alread REELING from the idea that someone who graduated in 2000 could be 27…then I was thinking “has the new SAT been around THAT long?”.</p>
<p>Also, Whittier was mentioned on this threads “Western” edition. I don’t remember details, but it’s on my sons list.</p>
<p>I know it’s been mentioned on this thread, but it’s sort of hard to search for “GPA” on it. I’ve been HOPING my son would make 3.0 UC GPA this year, but it’s not looking good. For UC’s and CSU’s in California, for the most part, only core classes count,only sophomore and junior year, and there are no pluses or minuses. Unfortunately, although my son has almost exclusively B’s in core classes, in the first semester of sophomore year he got four C’s. Since then he has gotten two A’s in core classes (Biology and Physics!), and this semester he will probably get at least one more, but in his other three core classes, he has 87, 88, and 89 ( English, history, Alg II). So close, but not enough, and he is pretty discouraged. He aslo did not get into any honors or AP classes for next year ( small school, limited offerings)And that’s just to get a 3.0! Is this calculation fairly unique to California public’s, or is this closer to the norm? I don’t know if he should even bother with the subject tests to apply for a UC, but he is studying for them, and I don’t know if I should tell him that. No “rigor”, 1730 SAT first try, varsity sports for 4 years and captain, if it matters.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, I can’t answer the question about how other colleges compute GPA because it’s probably college-specific. I think privates look at freshman year grades whereas CA publics do not. Remember your son will have an eligibility index from CSU’s that is a formula of CSU/UC GPA x SAT score. This was new to me until last fall when son was applying to CSU’s and I learned of “eligibility index” for the first time. Anyway, my S also had a lower CSU/UC GPA than his academic GPA listed on his transcript. He was not applying to any UCs though. </p>
<p>I know of people who did not get accepted to mid-level UCs this year with GPAs of 3.5+ so definitely have him apply to privates (if you can afford them), CSU’s and out-of-states if he is interested so he has options. UC Merced and UC Riverside are easier to get into than the others and might accept lower than 3.0 UC GPA. Check out their web sites and forums if he has any interest.</p>
<p>Thank you. Not really “reaching” for UC’s at this point, just wondering if I should be looking for the “2.*-3.0” thread…</p>
<p>Another thing he can try for is a stellar/strong first semester of senior year which will pull up his GPA for RD decisions (privates and out-of-states).</p>
<p>If he’s close to a 3.0 he will have options. Even 2.5+ kids have options. Just cast a wider net and see if he can do early action apps and get one or two acceptances under his belt before the RD cycle. S applied EA to Saint Mary’s and was accepted…applied to a few more schools but knew he was in at a school he really liked. He has had a relatively stress-free senior year (with the exception of one AP class) and has really enjoyed his last year of high school. There are options for kids like ours who have lots of Bs but plenty of other things going for them.</p>
<p>Thanks! I needed that!</p>
<p>And, many smaller private colleges will give “bonus points” for AP/IB, so he should take as many of these in senior year as he is capable (and interested).</p>
<p>I should clarify. One college that we visited said they add either 0.5 or 1.0 to the unweighted GPA (NOT each class) based on the strength of the curriculum.</p>
<p>^^mom2sons: never heard of that one…curious where this is? you can PM if you’d rather not post…and again, I question how a school like that handles a rigorous private without lots of honors and AP classes?</p>
<p>mom2sons, he’s already registered for next year and couldn’t get in any AP’s. The school offers about 8, each one once a week, and he hasn’t met the prerequisites for most, schedule doesn’t allow for the one ( English) with no pre-reqs. He tried though! The school doesn’t offer Honors classes.</p>
<p>I also think that if he needed lots of AP’s to prove to me or a school that he can handle college, maybe he can’t. I don’t think he’s up for a “lot” of AP’s. He does spend a LOT of time playing soccer, but he’s having to work hard to try to get recruited.</p>
<p>Poor me! (jk).</p>
<p>Rodney, I read somewhere that Elon does this.</p>
<p>I just quickly searched their site. It does not state the weight given to honors, AP etc. but it they do say that recalculate gpa. Here is the link:</p>
<p><a href=“Undergraduate Admissions | Elon University”>Undergraduate Admissions | Elon University;
<p>^^Yes, but it’s by individual class not overall based on rigor of curriculum as explained by mom2sons…plus Elon is +1 for honors and +2 for AP’s…</p>
<p>Oh, I misread, and I do not understand that system of evaluating.</p>
<p>+1 for honors and +2 for AP’s… is standard WGPA for all NC high schools. Each county in NC establishes the prerequisites to AP classes and some make it impossible to do more than a few…</p>
<p>The ice cream at UCONN at the Dairy Bar is out of this world! We would go visit our D when she was student & always go there! Willington Pizza, a few miles away has the best pizza. (and beer) 
</p>
<p>ncmentor, that’s interesting. Thanks for posting about GPAs in NC.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, just to second a point that was already made. Grades in the beginning of senior year can make a big difference, which means there’s still another opportunity. </p>
<p>Our son got that and had his two best marking periods ever, back to back, and I’m pretty sure they were key to how he did during this past admissions season. Note also that he had no AP classes at all.</p>
<p>Just a note on Elon. We visited this summer and the question was asked in the information session about accepted students grades and they said that a 3.5 was the UNweighted gpa of the majority of the students. They said that they do re-weight the grades, but it’s become quite a hot school so should not be considered a safety for most B students. My son who will have three AP’s at the end of this year and 5 or 6 upon graduation, did not feel very confident about being accepted there.</p>
<p>For anyone looking for a college guidebook (is that what they are called?) that has many of the schools we have talked about here that are less well known, check out Colleges of Distinction. I am copying the link and I hope it works [Amazon.com:</a> COLLEGES OF DISTINCTION (9780980013207): STUDENT HORIZONS INC: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/COLLEGES-DISTINCTION-STUDENT-HORIZONS-INC/dp/0980013208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274281074&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/COLLEGES-DISTINCTION-STUDENT-HORIZONS-INC/dp/0980013208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274281074&sr=1-1)</p>