Where did your average (3.25-ish) student go to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My average kid goes to school in Arlington. 2.9 GPA, some Ds that were brought up to Bs in summer school, gradual improvement over the four years but never stellar.

Took three APs junior year, got two 3s and a 4, 33 composite ACT. No meaningful extracurriculars (no leadership roles, etc). Took a class at NOVA last summer and got a B, which counted (weighted) in his GPA and shows as dual enrollment on his transcript.

Has gotten into Longwood and Allegheny. Waiting to hear from Mary Washington and ODU.

Is likely to defer a year from 4-year residential (but put down a deposit, so won’t have to reapply) and stay home/take classes at NOVA/work, and basically get another year to mature.

A 33 on the ACT is way above "average" though. Does your child do bare minimum and not turn assignments in?

Colleges won’t like that GPA and ACT gap. It looks like a smart but lazy person.

Kid has ADHD and an IEP. Grades improved over the four years of high school even as difficulty of classes increased, showing a willingness to work hard. Worst grades were redone/made up in summer school, showing a willingness to try to do better. Guidance counselor addressed learning differences, affect on high school grades, and what that meant for college performance in her recommendation; I assume teacher did as well as she knows him well. ACT score and good grade in dual enrollment college course taken last summer show ability to intellectually handle college level work.

Also in his favor -- he's a boy and the colleges he applied to all have pretty skewed male/female ratios, we are full pay, and this is a messed-up year. We know he was not a shoo-in at any school. And we are supporting/encouraging a gap year where he will take courses at NOVA to adjust to a college schedule/major step down in academic support before he moves to a residential college.

Ok, good luck, sincerely!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oldest son had a 3.3 or 3.4. Went to Indiana University. Failed out.

No light switch goes on* at college. You know how you ride him now for the 3.3? Well, you can't at college, he can do literally anything he wants at college. And will. The 3.3 tells me your son hates school.

If we could do it over again we would have encouraged him to go into the military for a few years. He was smart but way too immature, zero discipline, and didn't appreciate anything.

Can you tell us how your DS is doing now? (I'm worried that something like this will happen to my DS -- a current 12th grader.)

Never went back to finish. Has a full-time job that covers his bills and not much else. Single. Mid 20s but still acts 15 years old.

50% of all 12th graders in the nation have an A average GPA. This is a fact. So if your child has a low B average, they're in the bottom half of the nation. A fact. Another fact, about 50% of the kids who enroll in college never actually graduate. Guess who usually finishes on time -- and who doesn't finish and who takes 5 or 6 or 7 years to finish?

Again, every parent with a slacker teen boy knows you ride his a** for that low B average. At college you can't ride them. They do what they want, including skip most classes and do all the assignments last minute. Plus they eat garbage all day and of course many party or will pick up pot. Plus video games and whatever other dumb crap to squander their days and nights away.

There are so many red flags in your face telling you not to waste your money on a slacker boy, but nobody calls their baby ugly, your own slacker is special; the circumstances are unique. Delusional magical thinking.

Would you give an immature slacker a new Porsche 911 for his efforts? No, but millions of parents don't think twice about rewarding their slacker boy with a $25,000+ per year spring break trip to a college of his choice.

Setting aside your absolutely vile attitude towards your son, you make a lot of baseless claims here. Please cite evidence for the bolded “facts.”

Why, so you can poke holes in them and spin the facts to rationalize why your slacker boy is unique and none of this applies to him? You'll do what you want. You'll send your slacker to college because otherwise you'll feel like a loser in your social orbit and your boy will be upset with you.

Ah. Thanks for admitting you have zero evidence for the claims you’ve pulled out of your a$$. Your irrational hatred and anger is puzzling though. Therapy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One admissions counsellor said kids with high test scores and low grades make them very cautious, because whatever is causing the kid not to do well is likely to continue in college
At least the hard worker, despite low test scores seems to have figured out how to achieve despite possible shortcomings.

Yes, this is my biggest fear about DC in college. DC has always been like this (very capable, but minimal effort), so I'm afraid this won't change much in college. Going to have to choose very carefully.

Well you have to pick the best college for this, but another idea is to really start focusing on what kind of job or career he wants. Really tie that to internships he can do over the summer, majors, and clubs or research he can do during the school year. I would try to connect college with his self interest and specific future. Lots of kids for example who hate school end up doing great in sales. That’s a different skill set than courses and tests, But they can have good internships and get involved with activities that will help them launch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oldest son had a 3.3 or 3.4. Went to Indiana University. Failed out.

No light switch goes on* at college. You know how you ride him now for the 3.3? Well, you can't at college, he can do literally anything he wants at college. And will. The 3.3 tells me your son hates school.

If we could do it over again we would have encouraged him to go into the military for a few years. He was smart but way too immature, zero discipline, and didn't appreciate anything.

Can you tell us how your DS is doing now? (I'm worried that something like this will happen to my DS -- a current 12th grader.)

Never went back to finish. Has a full-time job that covers his bills and not much else. Single. Mid 20s but still acts 15 years old.

50% of all 12th graders in the nation have an A average GPA. This is a fact. So if your child has a low B average, they're in the bottom half of the nation. A fact. Another fact, about 50% of the kids who enroll in college never actually graduate. Guess who usually finishes on time -- and who doesn't finish and who takes 5 or 6 or 7 years to finish?

Again, every parent with a slacker teen boy knows you ride his a** for that low B average. At college you can't ride them. They do what they want, including skip most classes and do all the assignments last minute. Plus they eat garbage all day and of course many party or will pick up pot. Plus video games and whatever other dumb crap to squander their days and nights away.

There are so many red flags in your face telling you not to waste your money on a slacker boy, but nobody calls their baby ugly, your own slacker is special; the circumstances are unique. Delusional magical thinking.

Would you give an immature slacker a new Porsche 911 for his efforts? No, but millions of parents don't think twice about rewarding their slacker boy with a $25,000+ per year spring break trip to a college of his choice.

Setting aside your absolutely vile attitude towards your son, you make a lot of baseless claims here. Please cite evidence for the bolded “facts.”

Why, so you can poke holes in them and spin the facts to rationalize why your slacker boy is unique and none of this applies to him? You'll do what you want. You'll send your slacker to college because otherwise you'll feel like a loser in your social orbit and your boy will be upset with you.

Ah. Thanks for admitting you have zero evidence for the claims you’ve pulled out of your a$$. Your irrational hatred and anger is puzzling though. Therapy?

She is clearly projecting. SHE sent her slacker to college because otherwise SHE felt like a loser in her social orbit. Therapy would probably help.

[Anonymous]

I had a 3.1 and got into VCU, Tech, Radford, WVU and Longwood. Last year.

[Anonymous]

My DS with a 3.2 gpa was admitted to Savannah College of Art and Design and Ringling College of Art and Design. He wants to develop video game systems and 2D and 3D animations. These are two of the top schools for that major. School choice and admission can depend on what your student wants to major in and pursue as a career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS with a 3.2 gpa was admitted to Savannah College of Art and Design and Ringling College of Art and Design. He wants to develop video game systems and 2D and 3D animations. These are two of the top schools for that major. School choice and admission can depend on what your student wants to major in and pursue as a career.

Congrats to your son on SCAD admission!

[Anonymous]

Is JMU an option for average kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was back in the latte 90s, so probably very low relevance to today, but I went to UMD, on academic scholarship, likely because my SATs were above the 99th percentile. High school was so boring!

My DC is 99th percentile SAT but B+ GPA with all honors and 10 APs. UMD was not even on the list the counselor suggested. Gut punch. Apparently, if you don't have nearly all As, you are toast.

What do the diagrams in Naviance show about applicants and admits? I think counselors have an experience and that experience is given outsize weight against other evidence. If a kid with your kid's stats from your kid's school looks like they have a good chance of getting in based on the Naviance scattergram or whatever that thing is called, then ignore the counselor. (I think with those stats, they should be able to get into any state flagship!)

Your kid sounds too notch to me.

[Anonymous]

Clemson

[Anonymous]

Appalachian State (~3.3 gpa, SAT 1210)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oldest son had a 3.3 or 3.4. Went to Indiana University. Failed out.

No light switch goes on* at college. You know how you ride him now for the 3.3? Well, you can't at college, he can do literally anything he wants at college. And will. The 3.3 tells me your son hates school.

If we could do it over again we would have encouraged him to go into the military for a few years. He was smart but way too immature, zero discipline, and didn't appreciate anything.

Can you tell us how your DS is doing now? (I'm worried that something like this will happen to my DS -- a current 12th grader.)

Never went back to finish. Has a full-time job that covers his bills and not much else. Single. Mid 20s but still acts 15 years old.

50% of all 12th graders in the nation have an A average GPA. This is a fact. So if your child has a low B average, they're in the bottom half of the nation. A fact. Another fact, about 50% of the kids who enroll in college never actually graduate. Guess who usually finishes on time -- and who doesn't finish and who takes 5 or 6 or 7 years to finish?

Again, every parent with a slacker teen boy knows you ride his a** for that low B average. At college you can't ride them. They do what they want, including skip most classes and do all the assignments last minute. Plus they eat garbage all day and of course many party or will pick up pot. Plus video games and whatever other dumb crap to squander their days and nights away.

There are so many red flags in your face telling you not to waste your money on a slacker boy, but nobody calls their baby ugly, your own slacker is special; the circumstances are unique. Delusional magical thinking.

Would you give an immature slacker a new Porsche 911 for his efforts? No, but millions of parents don't think twice about rewarding their slacker boy with a $25,000+ per year spring break trip to a college of his choice.

Setting aside your absolutely vile attitude towards your son, you make a lot of baseless claims here. Please cite evidence for the bolded “facts.”

Why, so you can poke holes in them and spin the facts to rationalize why your slacker boy is unique and none of this applies to him? You'll do what you want. You'll send your slacker to college because otherwise you'll feel like a loser in your social orbit and your boy will be upset with you.

Ah. Thanks for admitting you have zero evidence for the claims you’ve pulled out of your a$$. Your irrational hatred and anger is puzzling though. Therapy?

People in this thread need to learn how grade inflation works. A student with a B+ at a respectable school in DC would not be below average

[Anonymous]

TCU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Appalachian State (~3.3 gpa, SAT 1210)

in-state or OOS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is JMU an option for average kids?

D's FCPS school counselor said she needs a 3.5 GPA