CSU’s?
California has many public post-secondary options, which are often relatively affordable compared to those in other states.
Of the UCs, UCM and UCR may be possibilities for those with GPA in the lower 3.x range (calculate by https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/ ).
Most CSUs should be reasonable for such a student, as long as the list is not restricted to the most selective ones like CPSLO, SDSU, CSULB (for non-local), SJSU (for some majors like CS). For many students, the local CSU will give them admission preference.
The low cost community colleges are another option for students who want to take the transfer pathway to a CSU or UC, which intend to have about a third of their graduates come from starting at community colleges. Students who do better in community college than in high school may find that they may have more transfer options than frosh options.
The three Arizona public universities are not that selective, but could be expensive for non-Arizona residents not earning significant merit scholarships. Western University Exchange discounts are available at NAU, one major at UA, and ASU’s campuses other than the main Tempe campus.
WUE seems like a good program to explore. I have heard of it, and many California families in the neighborhood here discuss it regularly.
@AgouraLiz
I have heard good things about Boise St which falls under WUE. My D was admitted to Western Washington which is still in the running for where she will attend (in state for us but WUE for you).
LOl about " likely won’t get into Yale or Princeton. And that’s how nuts the whole thing has become…"
What’s really nuts tho is how many students and parents believe they should get into Yale or Princeton. Also, how many parents and students reject the other 99.9% of the schools. They reject 99.9% of which 98% would happily accept them (which is why they are not good enough schools-it’s the “if a club accepts me it’s not exclusive enough” phenom) , while complaining about the .01% of schools they absolutely have to attend but which they can’t get into. Bizarre right?
@lostaccount
Exactly. I don’t understand any of it. I thank God that it wasn’t like this when I applied to college. I would have lost my mind.
" I should also note that I will be traveling to Flint, Michigan this spring break to help solve the water crisis."
That reminded me of the kid last year that said he was traveling Indian villages and doing eye surgery.
LOL, this thread has made me happy, the pressure out there is crazy.
My daughter is an overachiever. My son is not. She is going to UF. He will not.
But there are so many good schools he can apply to and still excel.
@AgouraLiz My son (Boston area) is a solid 3.3 student at an overly competitive public high school (that frankly hasn’t been a good fit for him). Good ACT score…no ECs worth noting…runs his own photography business…good creative writer. There are lots of good schools out there for B students…it really comes down to what you want to study. We are big fans of DePaul in Chicago (both my sons got in though not attending), I’ve heard great things about Loyola in Chicago, and there is a lot to be said for the state flagship universities in a number of states. There are also some excellent option in Canada. My point is they are all over. Your child needs to figure out urban/suburban/college town/rural, how far away from home is OK, and what they think they wan to study. My kids wanted urban or big college town…not below DC and not west of Chicago (they know both of those cities from our travels). I then sat with a map and just did research and we created a list. It takes a little legwork but it is very doable.
Completely unrelated sidenote: I graduated a lifetime ago from Westlake HS which, given your screen name, is right next door to you. I was the first class to go all four years through the school…it literally was a brand new school my first year. Yeah, I’m that old. 
Don’t forget volunteer hours playing the bagpipes to comfort homeless baby pygmy goats…
Needed a laugh today. Glad I saw this thread! Thanks all.
@stradmom
It is common practice here for the city to hire someone to bring goats to eat blackberry bushes. Sounds like a great EC, lol!
Civics, caring about animals and PT job all in one!
Don’t worry, my S22 is a B+/Low A student…class rank 25.2%! He’s an anxious test taker and got a 1050 on his PSAT…no biggie! Super proud of him, he’s a great kid, and confident he’ll go far in life no matter what college he ends up at!
There are plenty of great colleges out there for the B+/B- and even C students. You can find them here if you sift carefully, and try to keep your peripheral vision from focusing on the overachiever threads, which are so freaking demoralizing!
You have some excellent options out west … I am in PA, so don’t have much college-specific detail to offer you, other than UNM in Albuquerque, which offers excellent aid to OOS students.
https://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/non-resident.html
Not sure if that state is also anathema to your kid, but thought I would mention it.
Good luck!
I totally agree. I feel like 95% of the posts on this site are for tippy top kids. And then there’s one thread dedicated for those poor kids that are in the 3.0-3.4 range (like my daughter). It seems like only the top stat kids are allowed to post “chance me” threads and “I only got a 1450 on my PSAT’s when I was in 8th grade, what should I do?” threads. I feel like most of the threads about “average colleges” (and by average I mean those that admit more than 30% of applicants) often receive very little response. But ask a question about Stanford, and you’ll have 20 responses in an hour.
@MAmom111 . You are wrong. It’s not 95 percent. More like 98%. Ha!!! But seriously…not everyone peaks in high school, and not everyone is going to Yale. I will stay off the “chance me” threads because they are, quite frankly, ridiculous.
Given today’s news - with parents forking over thousands and thousands of dollars in bribes (and faked SAT scores) to go to the amazing prestige private universities…at this point I would be thrilled if my daughter ended up at Big State University. At least she will have arrived there honestly.
@AgouraLiz you sound much like me when I first arrived here My son is a Junior and has a decent GPA (3.72) but it is lower this semester so may be heading closer to a 3.5. We are also in California and have the added issue that my son is shy, apprehensive and most likely wants to stay closer to home. We are in the Bay Area and are targeting the local Cal State schools (SFSU, SJSU, etc.) and then UCSC. Even UCSC will be a reach for my son especially if his GPA drops and his ACT and SAT scores aren’t top notch (he’s taking those in April/May).
And 30 years ago it was indeed so different, I got into UCSD back in 1984 with a 3.4 GPA (GASP)!
Just a reminder to look for the thread titled “Parents of the HS Class of 2020 - 3.0 to 3.4 GPA.” I have been a daily reader of the Class of 2019 version for many months and it has been a great source of information, amusement and peace of mind - a kind and supportive community, nothing like the general image of CC. Our son is in this range and, while we are still waiting for the RD decisions over the next week or so, he already has four great options, three with merit money. We have been looking only at LACs, so I know less about the big schools, but within the LAC world, we found lots of schools worth consideration in the Northeast, the South (including Texas) and the Midwest. It may be a fantasy, but at some level, I like to think that many schools are quite happy to see a good “normal” candidate with solid grades, strong personal recommendations and ECs that reflect their real interests, as opposed to candidates who’ve been molded since 8th grade to meet some image of what the top colleges are looking for. We’ve focused on the basics - do your homework, study for your tests, write your thank you’s, etc. It’s worked out fine, and our son has enjoyed high school and learned a lot about himself through just living his life. A lot of what I read on CC, not to mention the articles about the admissions scandal, makes me quite sad for the kids who are at the center of all this madness.
Sorry, I forgot to mention Northwest schools in my list. Although my son ultimately did not apply, we considered a number of very attractive Northwest LACs along the way, including a number that offer Early Acceptance. I think the best piece of advice I ever received on CC was the suggestion that my son apply to a couple of EA schools. While the question whether to apply ED is very complicated, applying EA was a no-brainer for us. He applied to two schools EA, was accepted with merit money to both, and one remains among his top-choice schools. While I don’t think parents should be strategic in shaping their kids, being a little strategic about the application process makes sense. At many schools, the acceptance rate for EA applications is much higher than for RD, so that’s great, but the real benefit is having an acceptance in hand before Christmas. It takes the pressure off and actually allows the kid to be a little more aspirational in selecting RD schools.