<p>I love the Jewish B thread also. Between that thread, 3.0 and this 3.6 I have learned about so many interesting colleges. Out here on the left coast I really only had knowledge of the UCs, CSUs and Stanford. My daughter was not on a top UC track because they are so competitive, we didn’t like the CSUs after visits (and they are pretty much 5 yrs to graduate now). I dont like the lower UCs so i really didnt mention them or push it.
A world of wonderful LACs opened up to us, although she is pretty insistent on Calif or Western. There is also a Western B thread but its not very active.</p>
<p>I let my daughter give up on foreign langu age after 2yrs also. That’s the minimum for UC track here and it was obvious it was just going to drag down her grades. Since she took 1st yr in 8th she got to stop Soph yr. On the other hand she excels in English with all AP classes so it all balances out.</p>
<p>S received another acceptance today with high merit - Juniata! We will visit later this month.</p>
<p>Has GC didn’t fib about Susquehanna. The merit he received there is his “base” merit with a solid chance for more.</p>
<p>I think the 3.3.-3.6 range really need to cast a wide net. When looking at the whole kid, these kids have the potential for tippy-top schools while also having great chances for merit at very wonderful schools. </p>
<p>@tootired - I think your S15 will be in a much better position the S13. Sounds like he’ll never bother looking at rankings or caring what others think, instead he’ll narrow in on fit immediately. My 2nd child is certainly getting a “better” parent out of all my practice with DS13 “test” kid.</p>
<p>I think I may have been calculating my son’s GPA incorrectly this whole time. His high school reports a percentile grade for each class and for the average. His average grade at end of grade 11 was an 86.87. His school does not use weighting for Honors/AP courses.</p>
<p>I thought that I could just convert it to GPA as a straight-forward math problem.</p>
<p>GPA= (86.87/100) * 4.0
GPA= 3.47</p>
<p>I have now seen several GPA charts that suggest that the score could be evaluated by colleges as anything from a 3.0 to 3.47 depending on methodology. Luckily we left GPA and class rank fields blank on the Common App with the intention that the college would use the numeric grade and class rank reported by the high school via the official transcript. </p>
<p>We would have certainly not even been considering a few of the schools (e.g., Purdue, UMCP) on our initial list if I had thought his GPA was closer to a 3.0 than to a 3.5. Definitely a rookie mistake on my part.</p>
<p>It must be quite an interesting process for college admissions officers to compare applicants who have a variety of grading scales (e.g. percentage, 4.0 scale, 4.33 scale, 5.0 scale, letter grade, international) as well as methods (weighted and unweighted). The grades might as well be smiley faces and gold stars when it comes right down to it.</p>
<p>USN–have you looked at your school’s profile? If you have not seen it and cannot find easily by googling ‘xxx High School profile’, then just ask Guidance for it. The profile should show the GPA distribution in one format or the other: as a bar chart with # in each range, a cumulative frequency distribution, or others that I have not come across. This will show you where 86.87 falls in your son’s grade’s distribution.</p>
<p>An 86.87 would be a B+ in our HS. Our school does something a bit odd, or so I think, but that may just be b/c I have no idea how other schools handle this. All grades are reported as numbers but then at semester end (blend of two quarter grades and mid-term or final exam grade), that # grade is expressed as a letter grade. For instance, grades ranging from 86.51 through 89.5 would be B+ and expressed as such on the transcript. To calculate GPA, B+ is assigned 3.3 on the 4.0 scale. There are approximately 5-7% who earn above a 4.0 b/c of the +.5 awarded to honors and AP courses. </p>
<p>In light of the fact that your son’s HS does not weight honor/AP courses, his GPA as calculated by colleges may be higher than you think. Do you have access to Naviance at your son’s school to see how others with similar stats fared? </p>
<p>I agree with you that the variety of approaches must make the Ad Coms’ task very challenging.</p>
<p>@tootiredtocare - Welcome! Don’t know if you and your S have
gotten a chance to visit Miami U, but I highly recommend taking
a long look. My Wife and I both graduated from Miami and loved
our time there. I’m sure you have seen all the press on Miami’s
focus on Undergraduate education. I also know they are making
significant investments in the Engineering School. My S would
have given it a long look except Civil Engineering is not
offered at Miami. Miami also offers significant stats-based
Merit.</p>
<p>USN - I posted an answer to you, too in another forum. An 86.87 in our HS would be a 3.387. (3.0 is an 83, 3.3 is an 86) . It is very hard that things are not standardized.</p>
<p>Oh, and I just found out this morning that my DS with a 3.36 got accepted into UConn (his top choice) for engineering!!!</p>
<p>Absolutely fantastic news…congratulations!</p>
<p>Matmaven: thanks for the insight on Miami. I had heard they were putting money into the engineering program and we are seriously considering it. They have offered the most merit aid and have invited S to join a new scholars program. So we are planning to visit and see how the “fit” feels. </p>
<p>S still has his heart set on UT-Austin but we still haven’t heard and it is a long shot since he would need merit money to attend if he is admitted.</p>
<p>Confused: Congratulations on UConn. Very exciting news to be accepted to his #1!</p>
<p>GPA: A lot of the colleges take the courses & grades & reconfigure your GPA using their own formula to create a standard measure. I know that we went to several college presentations where the admissions person said they use their own system to determine GPA, some more complex than others.</p>
<p>Confused, did you guys apply early to UConn?</p>
<p>I know that I’m not technically a parent (at least as far as I know) but this thread really helps. </p>
<p>3.59 UW, 6.1 W (my district weights GPA very oddly)
Just BARELY top 10%, due to a ridiculous amount of IB courses.
2270 SAT scores, 800 on Math 2 and US. History, NMF.
Pretty good ECs with a lot of hours and a good amount of officer positions.
Great essays and recommendations.</p>
<p>Got into:
UF
UCF
Fordham EA</p>
<p>Rejected:
Amherst ED1</p>
<p>Deferred:
Bowdoin ED2</p>
<p>Let’s see how things will turn out April 1st.</p>
<p>My son 3.3 GPA, 2000 SAT</p>
<p>Accepted
Purdue
Clarkson
Drexel
Umass Amherst
Tulane
Siena
Quinnipiac</p>
<p>Deferred
Ohio State
WPI</p>
<p>Waiting for financial aid packages before he makes a decision</p>
<p>My son’s school doesn’t use GPA but I estimate it to be in the 3.4-3.6 ballpark. 1950 SAT and 30 ACT. </p>
<p>Accepted (so far)
Union, WPI, SUNY Bing, Buffalo and ESF, PITT A&S, Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>Waitlisted
PITT Engineering</p>
<p>Still waiting on a few.</p>
<p>JoBenny - your son was accepted at CMU but wait listed at Pitt for engineering- wow, I would never have guessed that. What school did he apply to at CMU?</p>
<p>Hi-I am looking for college suggestions to visit for my HS sophomore this summer. He is a B average student. He does better in English and history (As) than math and science (B and C) classes. In July he will be volunteering at a camp in West Virginia. I would like to take advantage of him being there to visit some schools in that region (We live in Texas). We plan to meet him up in Charleston, WV and then drive to Pittsburgh to visit University of Pittsburgh. We may also visit Ohio State and CMU but I think they will be academic and financial reaches. He likes big schools in an urban setting or a college town and his intended major is business of some kind. Any suggestions around Pittsburgh and Columbus, OH areas will be appreciated!</p>
<p>Sunnyday: more importantly, is HE looking for college suggestions? The timing of college visits is actually more important than you’d think. Our GC told us: If you want to turn your child off of a school, visit the summer between sophomore and junior year. Most kids are just not ready, the school are more interested in the juniors on the tour and you’ll often find a deserted or sleepy campus. However, if he is REALLY motivated, go for it, but bear in mind that you are not actually seeing a true picture and should probably make a return visit in the fall or next spring. At best you’ll eliminate schools that seem truly awful. Maybe focus on one city or another-and combine it with some fun activities so the college tour thing doesn’t seem like a grind.</p>
<p>If he’s getting Bs and Cs in Math, then Carnegie Mellon (CMU?) may be a stretch. If his intended major is business, then he may need to bring up his math grades. Most kids change their major at least once in college, so I wouldn’t worry about committing to one area or another. It sounds as if he needs a LAC or good general university, but within those 3 states you have scores of schools that fit the bill. If you decide to head up to Pittsburgh you could do University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon over the course of a couple of days and you’ll have seen a good representation of different size schools and programs. </p>
<p>I would make some casual visits to colleges in the area around the camp, but I don’t know if it’s worth a week-long road trip with the cost of gas and lodging. Do a few schools to get the feel of the college tour set-up. It’s nice to be able to visit schools before you apply but the schools mostly expect it if you’re within a day’s drive. </p>
<p>Do you have a sense of how effective the college counseling is at your school? If it’s one GC for 500 kids then you know you’ll need to do most of the leg work yourself. But if the track record is pretty good and you’ll get some facetime, then I would wait until the PSAT scores come in. With a mixed GPA, much might depend on his standardized tests.</p>
<p>But keep checking in here, and scroll through the posts, there are a lot of ideas buried in there. Do the trip if you must, but you’re a bit on the early side.</p>
<p>My son’s GPA is 3.5 SAT 1100 for CR & math. Varsity sports, good EC’s</p>
<p>Accepted:
UMass Amherst
SUNY Oneonta
SUNY Oswego
Hofstra
Quinnipiac </p>
<p>Rejected:
UConn</p>
<p>Still waiting:
SUNY Stonybrook
University of Delaware</p>
<p>I am looking for suggestions for schools for my daughter - 3.5, 30 ACT - that might have scholarships available to get the cost down to an in-state public.</p>
<p>Alabama is on her radar already - and she is hoping to increase her ACT to qualify for their full tuition scholarship, but I want to help her find a few other options. </p>
<p>She desperately wants to leave Michigan (preferably to a warmer climate) but, unfortunately, we really can’t pay more than what an in-state public might cost (~25k per year.)</p>
<p>She is a liberal arts-type kid (journalism, literature) but is currently undecided for a major. Also, the ‘college town’ atmosphere appears to be important to her.</p>
<p>Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!</p>
<p>RTRMom2–Truman State in Missouri. Your net cost will be about $14,000 without loans with just automatic merit aid and the out of state “scholarship”. I don’t know that it’s much of a “college town” mainly because no one has really been able to give me a good definition of what that is :D. but the campus is extremely busy and she won’t lack for options of things to do on any given evening. Head over to the “schools known for merit aid” thread–lots of great ideas there. Also do a search for the “hidden gems” thread. There are a lot of great ideas there as well.</p>
<p>@1214mom. I was a little surprised too. I should say tho’ that he is being recruited for a varsity sport at all of the private schools and not the SUNYs and publics. I’m sure that played a part. Plus PITT is a pretty kick-butt engineering program. :)</p>