B student

[Anonymous]

My daughter is a B student. She floats between a 2.9 and a 3.1. She works hard for those grades and is bright but somehow never gets As. She is currently a sophomore. When I was younger, plenty of schools opened doors to B students. All the literature I'm reading makes me think things have changed. Are there very few schools that will take her with that type of GPA? She will be test optional as well. She is at a vigorous high school and there is no grade equity and she has to earn those grades. Does any school care about a B student who works hard?

[Anonymous]

The vast majority of colleges/universities accept students like her--just not the ones people write on forums strategizing to get into. Find a school with a high acceptance rate where her GPA falls above the 25% mark.

[Anonymous]

Of course, most will seriously consider your daughter, especially if she will be a full pay student.

Get Princeton Review’s guide to the best colleges, use Naviance, and ignore this forum. It is extremely distorted.

[Anonymous]

My son is also a B student at a fairly rigorous school. He is a junior now. We bought the book “Best Colleges for B Students” and that is helpful. It’s a super thick book! Also just set the search perimeters on Niche or similar and you’ll see the universe.

We went to visit two schools that accept B students, Slippery Rock and University of Scranton, and my son really liked them both and would be happy at either. That was very reassuring.

[Anonymous]

OP, is your daughter at a public or private school?

[Anonymous]

You can also google the incoming stats for freshmen entering college. Most post them. They will tell you the average GPA (or middle range), the SAT scores, if relevant.

The key will be to find colleges where the GPA matches your DD's. It's not impossible but I suggest starting a list, or an excel spreadsheet where you can make a list and input this data.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

You need to have this discussion with your school's college counselor. Where do other B students from that school go? A B at one school is not the same as a B at another school. A B in AP is not the same as a B in below grade level classes. It doesn't mean a B student will get into a top 20 school, but you also are not necessarily relegated to the below 100 schools either, and a many, many of those are excellent schools too.

[Anonymous]

She will have plenty of options. In addition to resources already mentioned, check out the College Confidential threads each year on Parents of HS Class of 202X 3.0-3.5 GPA.
https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/parents-of-hs-class-of-2024-3-0-3-4-gpa/3601791

[Anonymous]

Tons of options! Most people here just talk about highly-selective colleges. But in fact, there are so many great colleges that accept B students.

Does she want a large school or small? Public or private? Budget? What region of the country?

I’m happy to make suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Have her go to community college for two years to ease her into the rigors of college and give her a good foundation for going off the last two years. FWIW, a girl my DD is friends with was a solid B student and went to SUNY Oneonta, and became a wellness coach or registered dietician or something like that, and is perfectly happy living in SoCal, owning her own business.

[Anonymous]

ODU

[Anonymous]

I’d look at Arizona State, University of Arizona, University of Kansas, University of Oregon. For smaller schools Loyola (Chicago and New Orleans), Wilamette, Muhlenberg

[Anonymous]

There are many good schools where she may be very happy. Encourage her to get her grades as high as she can ... even a 3.4 opens more doors, esp. if she will go test optional.

But yes ... she will find a place!

[Anonymous]

JMU accepts students with a B average. With great test scores maybe GMU.

[Anonymous]

Is she in VA? Go and visit Radford, Longwood, and UMW. If she wants a bigger school, go for a visit at ODU. Outside of VA, there are hundreds of other options for her.