Parents of the HS Class of 2013 - 3.0 to 3.3 GPA

<p>Hi- I’m trying to find a forum that meshes with my situation. I think this MIT be the one. My son is a junior, has an 87 average. He got a 1990 on the PSAT, waiting for the SAT in 11 days. He lacks intrinsic motivation - but when he wants to put in effort he gets great greades. The reason for the low GPA is that he thinks hw is optional !<br>
Hoping that he does well on the SAT, were starting to look at colleges. Any suggestions? Looking into: Penn State, u of delaware, u of buffalo, Gainsville, Ohio State, Indiana U. His dream school would be Tulane. Any suggestions for other reach schools? We live on the East coast, and can look to the mid west as well. thank you !</p>

<p>calgon,
My son is so much like yours! What does he want to study? Large or small school? Urban or rural? The first thing we did, at the suggestion of his GC, was visit a large school (Northeastern), small (Merrimack) and public (UMass). He was convinced Northeastern was the school for him until he visited. He now knows he wants a small LAC that is not too urban. By the way, the college visits motivated him to do well his senior year
Suggestions for reaches:
Northeastern, BC, Villanova
Union, Gettysburg, F&M-my sons reaches</p>

<p>Calgon: Many of those are big schools. Whose idea is that–yours, the GC or his? We ruled out most big schools for fear that my D would fall through the cracks and would be apt to not apply herself in big lecture-style classes. I would add some smaller schools because they tend to look at his transcript more holistically–but he’s got to have some kind of explanation for being all over the map. I would be very concerned that he still doesn’t get it about HW at this late date. I don’t know enough about your S to recommend specific schools. My D had a lousy GPA but showed a consistent upward trend–that tells colleges that she’s changed. If he’s up and down, that’s not a good message. </p>

<p>If Tulane is his dream school (they accepted my D) it will be important to visit, show interest, do the supplemental essay and apply ED or EA. We’re excited about Tulane for D, but also concerned that its “party hard/work hard” rep may be too difficult for her manage. </p>

<p>Having had a child that was incredibly hard to motivate, I know where you’re coming from. 87 is a pretty good average but much will depend on his LORs and if he’s starting to show that he’s turned a corner. It also matters what kind of school he attends and his class ranking. Junior year is pretty late in the game for a turnaround–ours occurred in 10th grade. We found that visiting colleges over Spring break really helped my D set her sights and keep her stamina up. We saw 8 colleges in one week on the west coast and she really started to believe that it was all really happening. </p>

<p>Oh, and yes you’ve come to the right place.</p>

<p>@stillnadine, here’s a post of mine from back in Nov. about Warren Wilson (post #1319):</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/939937-3-0-3-3-gpa-parents-thread-2013-hs-graduation-88.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/939937-3-0-3-3-gpa-parents-thread-2013-hs-graduation-88.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I love it for my D13, but it’s certainly not the right “fit” for everyone and WW will be the first to tell you this. It’s a “hippie school”, so that right there will eliminate many prospective students. It sounds like Guilford may just be a better fit for your D. I hope the $$ comes through for you both!</p>

<p>@calgon, I’d take your son to visit Tulane and some other schools (LAC’s, instate options too). It puts it all into reality phase for them.</p>

<p>We are off to Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks (good Western LAC for this group) for my daughter’s overnight visit.</p>

<p>I’ll post detailed info when we get back</p>

<p>Daughter got accepted to San Diego State yesterday. We are inside their local zone so its not as hard for her to get accepted there as out of state or other parts of California.</p>

<p>But she’s still very happy about the acceptance. It’s probably too close to home for her though. She wants to move away a little farther.</p>

<p>Congrats coralbrook and D!</p>

<p>Hi Ruby, My son wants a big “rag rah” school. We are going to 2 school tours at the end of this month- Penn State, and Indiana U. He would like to major in Business, but I’m talking to a 16 1/2 year old, keep in mind. Ideally, he’d like to go to the Kelly School of Business at IU. You mentioned “LOR”- I don’t know what that means. We are waiting to see how he does on the SAT, and we’ll get a better handle on things. We live on the East Coast, so I’d like to send him somewhere that ideally is no more than a 5 hour drive, and a plane flight to the. Midwest.</p>

<p>Hey NY- we have not m et with the GC as of yet. The size of the school is my sons idea. He want big rah rah. He IS on an upward trend this year. He does 90% of his homework, and still Geisel B+, A- grades. His main issue is lack of intrinsic motivation, and extremely unorganized. He is in Honors classes, and some Regents. I feel no matter where he ends up, he will perform the same. It is the same routine in his classes. Tulane is a big reach, but who knows. He is an accomplished saxophonist, so perhaps that could help him. He wants to be a business major, but this is a generalized pat answer from my son when we k what do you want to pursue. Realistically, I don’t know many 16 1/2 year olds who know what exactly they want to do with their lives. We are going to look at Indiana U - Kelly School too. Penn State, U of Delaware, Gainesville, North Eastern. I have a feeling he will graduate with an 88/89 UW. He is currently a 92 UW. I hope that a lot of the schools that he looks at look at W.</p>

<p>LOR = letter(s) of recommendation</p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

<p>Hi Calgon
I did bookmark this when my son was thinking of business as a major
[Bloomberg</a> Businessweek’s Top 13 Undergrad Business Schools](<a href=“Bloomberg Businessweek's Top 13 Undergrad Business Schools | HuffPost College”>Bloomberg Businessweek's Top 13 Undergrad Business Schools | HuffPost College)
Notre Dame, Georgetown, Villanova and Emory are on the list, and of course U of Mich</p>

<p>Ruby,Thanks for the list … But they are all WAY WAY WAY out of my sons league! He has an 87 GPA currently. No way will any of those business schools look at him. He’s at just a different level - it’s all good ! :)</p>

<p>Great idea Heavy. That’s a great list - you must be so happy. My d’s info:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.3 weighted (some honors each year, one AP)
ACT: 27 (28 superscore)
ECs: very solid but not amazing
(should note here her although I did not read her LORs, indications are that they were very strong as she was coping with serious health issues in h.s.)</p>

<p>Accepted ED to Muhlenberg</p>

<p>Before her applications were withdrawn a few more acceptances slipped in:
Ithaca
Arcadia
Goucher (technically this was an unofficial indication she was going to be accepted)</p>

<p>How did your trip go last weekend?</p>

<p>Details!!</p>

<p>What have you all think heard about Catholic University & Siena College? Both have offered S13 very nice Merit & he really likes them. I just don’t see too much posted about them on CC.</p>

<p>Kat, I can’t speak for Siena, but we did tour Catholic. FWIW, we were looking at several Jesuit LACs and thought Catholic could be an option too. Although I attended BC and my D is raised Catholic, we found the religious aspect to be very pronounced at CU. So, how you feel about that would probably color your/his interest in the school. It wasn’t for us. BTW, they have an interesting tiered level of FA that includes getting a note from your parish that gets you $$ as well as a “friends and family” option that gets you $$ if you get a signature from any CU alumnae (“even if it’s somebody you just met in the grocery store”–that’s a quote from them). I think a visit is a must because it’s not like other Catholic schools we toured.</p>

<p>My son was accepted to Siena with good aid, honors, presidential scholarship, etc. He liked it but it’s not at the top of his list. It’s in a relatively convenient location - close to airport, shopping, food, lodging, etc. They have nice, small classes and lots of great opportunities. We know several people who are there and absolutely love it.</p>

<p>DD was accepted to Clark with merit aid. Although she’s happy, it’s not at the top of her list (I was more excited than she was.) Still waiting to hear from one more school and the all-important FA packages. Then it will finally be decision time!</p>

<p>@ hypermom - I agree about the religious aspect at CUA, but S13 (who isn’t Catholic) really liked it & they liked him. Since we are not Catholic the only non-academic scholarship he can get is the F&F option which he sent in, but I just recently read that is not guaranteed so we will wait for the final FA award letter. They did offer him very nice merit aid. The location is perfect for S13, being in DC.</p>

<p>@ bkbmom - I believe you & already pm’d about Siena. S13 really likes Siena, but Albany (the city) really looks run down. Awaiting their final FA award letter as well so we can see just how big the Presidential Scholarship is, we should receive it in 2 weeks. </p>

<p>We are Christian, not Catholic & not a very religious family, but he really likes those schools. Naviance kept pointing towards Catholic schools for the most part for him, so we shall see.</p>