My niece’s parents are loving and kind, but totally clueless about college. They are very hands-off and expect her to do everything on her own. She has a job, an UW GPA of 4.0, (only four AP classes total, no honors) and is very busy with ECs, particularly softball, which she wants to participate in while at college if possible. She is a smart, hardworking girl but is really struggling to get an SAT score above 1300 and is feeling overwhelmed and starting to get very stressed out.
She wants to apply to BC, which I don’t think I realistic with her SAT score. I suggested she apply to test optional schools. She ideally wants a Jesuit school, with a 3k-15k population, and lots of school spirit. She prefers the NEast and Midwest. I believe grandparents are paying for college so the money issue is likely not a problem. I have told her she is going to have to compromise.
Holy Cross I think is a great bet if she applies ED. I also thought of U Scranton, Villanova, and Sacred Heart. Does anyone have any other good ideas? Education major is a must. I really want to talk her out of BC, because I think she has a very low chance as an unhooked girl.
I don’t think you need to discourage your niece from applying to BC. Explain to her that you think BC is a reach, (because of course rigor and her SAT being in the low-middle range) and that she needs to develop a list of match and safety schools as well. Also a good opportunity to explain common data set to her if she is not aware of this resource.
Her SAT is below the 25th percentile and has only had four AP and no honors classes, though she had plenty of options for those classes. BC considers test scores and rigor as Very Important. I do not think BC is going to happen for her. I would love to hear a view on that though. It’s hard to find the actual data for BC, but I am assuming, maybe incorrectly, that BC studetns probably have a lot more AP and honors classes.
Creighton, Fairfield, Xavier, SLU, and Marquette are schools that come to mind. Not sure about education majors. I thought of Holy Cross too. Academics are as good as anywhere, certainly competitive admissions, but not hyper competitive. I don’t know much about Creighton, but people seem to love it. I think it has a strong rep in the Midwest. I’ve known several proud alums of Fairfield. Good luck to her!
The 2015-2016 data set I saw said mid 50% range SATS were about 1200-1400. With a 4.0, I thought it was a reasonable reach for her. But absolutely she needs to find matches/safeties. Hopefully she’ll have time to look over the summer with less stress. Good luck to her.
Why Jesuit specifically? St. Bonaventure is Franciscan and a really nice school. Great school spirit, in NY near the PA border. Education is a very popular major there.
Canisius and Niagara are a couple other western NY schools she should look at.
Not Jesuit, but Marist could be an option as a match
Siena, Catholic but not Jesuit, but could be a safety
St Michael’s Catholic but not Jesuit could be a match
I would put all those 3 ahead of Sacred Heart imo
I would say if she were applying for business or nursing at BC,then you are right - very small chance, but education may be different. Will she take the SAT again?
Villanova is not Jesuit btw - it is Augustine.
Providence could be a nice option. Test optional, lots of spirit, mid-size, Catholic (not Jesuit) Probably a match
She likes schools with strong values and many of the Jesuit schools have that @mom2twogirls . Jesuit isn’t a requirement though. @wisteria100 , do you think Holy Cross is realistic, especially ED? Thanks for the suggestions. She has taken the SAT three times and will not consider the ACT.
I sent you a PM
If she doesn’t submit scores, I think she has a shot at Holy Cross ED. ED, gives a significant boost there. May get lost in the pile at RD though. especially if the rigor is not there.
It sounds to me like Holy Cross could be an ideal fit for her. But your niece will have to decide if she can give up the idea of BC without always wondering “what if”.
We visited a number of the schools. We weren’t seeking out Jesuit schools per se, but my S became focused on mid-sized schools in or near an urban area and may of them fit the bill and were in his academic range. Most of my other ideas many were mentioned above but I put in a few comments for schools we visited.
–Siena is a Franciscan school near Albany with a little over 3,00 students. I looked at it with my S an it is lovely. Would be a safety for your niece but if money is a factor it has lower than average tuition and gives merit aid. A bonus is that they give an admission decision within a few weeks of applying (if I remember right) so my S was in by October which took a lot of stress off the whole process.
–Marist (Marist is no longer a Catholic college but still has vestiges of its heritage) located in Poughkeepsie. Also had lower than average tuition and offered merit aid if I remember right. Gorgeous campus over looking the Hudson.
– We didn’t visit it but I think Loyola MD has education major.
–We were impressed by UScranton. Didn’t expect to like it as much as we did. Nice, compact campus and good merit aid.
–Stonehill is a smaller college, probably around 2,500 students, run by the Holy Cross fathers (who run Notre Dame) located in MA. It felt a little small for my S but may be worth reading up on.
–Fairfield in CT - another good Jesuit option that offers merit aid.
–My S went to and loved Fordham but I"m not sure if there is an undergrad education major. He did get a great merit aid package there.
–Probably not what she wants but just to throw it out there – St. Marys in South Bend is an all-girls school but I believe they can go to ND sporting functions etc. so if she is looking for big time sports it may be worth reading up on.
^^ Agree about Loyola MD. Nice option, test optional, nice kids. A lot of kids who don’t get into BC,
or Holy Cross end up there and are happy. And it has an EA option.
And FWIW I think Holy Cross would be bit of a reach (given academic rigor) but applying ED would help. I think her current SAT scores would be fine or possibly above average for a number of schools I listed above.
And I would say again that my S getting into Siena in Oct. was a wonderful thing. He knew he was into a school he liked (not his top choice, but he did like it and would have gone there happily – it actually moved up the list towards decision time) and we saved money by not having to apply to schools further down on his list.
I think Villanova is every bit as hard as BC, judging by this year’s applicants. But education is a very unpopular major these days. My own son applied as an elementary ed major and was accepted everywhere. We were surprised, but I think education majors are finding more flexibility in admissions than other majors.
If she can look into non Catholic colleges, Luther, Concordia Moorhead, and St Olaf would match in terms of values and interests.
Due to rigor, St Olaf would likely be a low reach/high match.
However an issue is that education can be state-specific. Getting certified in Massachusetts may not work for Pennsylvania and vice versa. Some states want a college major + a one year Teaching master 's, whereas some states require less major-wise but have a lot of education classes built into the bachelor 's.
Also, some fields are good (English, Social studies) and others in shortage (math, physics, esl, special education, special education esl, math esl…)