Kids from our high school with weighted GPA of just over a 3 with SATs in the 1200s have been accepted at Pitt over the last 5 years according to Naviance. We are OOS for Pitt and considered a very good HS in our state. Fewer kids take ACT but those that have with a 24 and GPAs over 3 had mostly acceptances with a few wait list and rejections. If she wants a school like Pitt, apply early.
Pitt has certainly gotten more competitive over the last few years. Much higher stats now needed for merit, but it is still a good choice for a reasonably good student that wants a City school with a campus feel.
CTCL schools will be good to consider. Some warmer weather privates in/near large cities to consider: Birmingham Southern, Redlands, Southwestern and Trinity in TX, Rollins, Eckerd, UTampa.
Simmons in Boston. Manhattan was a great suggestion! How about Skidmore, Lewis and Clark, Sarah Lawrence, Benniington, Reed
Some are pretty cold weather, also depends on eventual score. Good Luck. I am sure she will bloom where she is planted!
As to cost constraints. It’s kind of hard to say. Things are in flux right now. H just started working as a consultant, so salary is not as high or as reliable as it used to be. We have resources, but some of them are stock market dependent, and most of it is money saved for retirement. And we are closing in on retirement age. We are fortunate and better off than many, but not in the position where money is no object. We won’t qualify for financial need based aide. So, I guess that technically, if we felt a school was worth it, we could find a way. But, I am not convinced any school is worth 65K or more a year. What will full freight be next year, in 2016 at the top schools? 70k? It is appalling to me how much tuition and other costs have risen even since our last child entered college in 2011. It is craziness. And the Fed won’t raise interest rates in this low inflation environment. Something is terribly out of whack. Anyway, yes, need to cover all the bases, including having financial safeties that one can get excited about. Then again, if the job picture for H changed for the better (and in theory, it could, I guess) maybe 70K would be more palatable. Haha, I kind of doubt it though.
I had a friend whose daughter went to BU after a year in Belgium. It might be a reach. I don’t think slacker kids have to go to small LACs. A lot of kids just find college a whole lot more interesting than high school. My younger son worked much harder in college than he ever did in high school. If last winter was any indication Boston is not getting warmer any time soon!
@mathmom Most kids that underperform in high school are better off going to smaller schools where there is more structure and smaller classes. Big schools are not very good for undergrads to begin with but for certain kids are a disaster waiting to happen.
At least in a smaller schools they will do more work especially writing. At many large schools you can literally do nothing and still get a B. Large schools do a very poor job educating undergraduate students.
If you have a couple of kids living in NYC, does she want to be near them at all? I have heard very good things lately about Hofstra University and Adelphi University on Long Island. They are not in a big city, but I’m told the train ride into Manhattan is 40 minutes and you are there. Hofstra has a good all around reputation and I know Adelphi has a very strong theater program…I don’t know about their Sciences, though…both are well regarded in that area for good, all around average kids…Hofstra may be a little larger, and if so, then perhaps more majors and programs? Look into them especially if she wants to be near her siblings at all.
@mathmom One of my sons did the same – did much better in college than in high school. He was the one I worried about the most. (And who says worrying does’t work? )One can hope. One never knows what will light that spark, but we as parents try to help our kids find that situation where it is more probable to occur, I guess. Thus the motivation to try to find fit. I think last winter in Boston was a fluke? I have to say it was fascinating and weird to watch the weather there from afar. Winter here was rather pleasant in comparison. How weird is that?
@AStern , I know that’s the common belief. I’m just saying it’s not always the case. My youngest wanted more choices than a small school offered him. He ended up in a medium sized research university. There were some large lectures, but most of his classes were small. He wrote a lot. It depends a lot on the major and the particular college.
I’m not even convinced this kid is an underachiever. She sounds like an adventurous kid who spent a year in a culture completely different from ours immersed in a very difficult language. Even if she isn’t achieving up to her ability now that could be more a case of reverse culture shock and just catching up on different ways of teaching. I think she’s be a very desirable candidate who will have a lot to offer.
I don’t know anything about its admission requirements or cost, but Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, does offer Japanese, and I know a few people who teach there (freelance clients of mine); they’re very nice. Also, Agnes Scott, a women’s college in Atlanta, offers some Japanese classes. I also know someone there.
I worked with someone who wanted another asian language major (ie not japanese) and had not strong ACTs. She got into James Madison, Arizona State, UVM, Gettysburg, and a few others. These aren’t music schools, though. Consider Oberlin, though it is a reach.
Also not in a warm climate but otherwise seems that it might be appropriate: Earlham, in Indiana. My older daughter, with a high ACT but “meh” and falling GPA, applied and was accepted there in 2009.
