The Uneven Student

calmom
Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:13:29 +0000

Re post #31, I didn’t base my comments on the girl’s lopsided profile or GPA. I based it on the mom’s “head-in-the-clouds” characterization.

My daughter’s high school was not strong academically and her test scores were on the low end by Barnard’s standards – she graduated phi beta kappa. But she is focused, ambitious, and highly motivated. So were your classmates who transferred to the elites.

Again, this kid still has some growing and maturation ahead, so the 17 year old who fills out applications might be a different person than the 15 1/2 year old the parent is fretting over … but Barnard is a highly competitive environment. There may be some elite colleges that are also more supportive – but I think that in general the students who will do best at Barnard are the ones whose parents would describe them as highly motivated and largely self-sufficient.

It does take a lot of grit and determination to skate competitively, so perhaps this young woman has what it takes to succeed in a lot of environments, and just has been showing it in a different context.