Colleges a step up from community college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the person who say schools 50-150. Are you nuts? Schools around 50 are not even remotely a chance.

clueless

I am that poster and we had a good experience. my DC, who has LDs and had mostly Cs at the beginning of HS but did better later, was accepted at 3 top 50 liberal arts schools. Only denied at a top 20. DC is not an athlete so no hook there. It is important to find an appropriate school where the op's child can thrive. My DC has done well in college so far, with accommodations.

I should add that my DC took no APs and was excused from foreign language. That ruled out schools that require 4 years of foreign language (W&M, U of Richmond are two) but those aren't schools that would have been good fits anyway.

Your child and her child are not the same child - do not say she is nuts and do not say they do not have a remote chance. You do not know that.

BTW - sign language is considered a language and LD kids are encouraged to learn that since language is what they struggle with. I agree with the person that suggested to seek a specialist to help with this journey but to just say - there is no chance is really not true or helpful.

Wow. I think you completely misinterpreted my post. First, I am the poster who suggested the LD consultant. Second, I was responding to the people who were saying that my suggestion to look at the 50th and below was "clueless ". I indicated that in fact my DC with middling grades and no APs WAS admitted to several top 50 LACs. I have no idea whether the OPs daughter has language issues. I know some LD kids who are great at languages. Mine is not so I provided that example only as an indication of a limitation my DC had. It was really not a big deal.

Perhaps you would be willing to share your college application experience with your LD kid? Thatight be more helpful to the OP than criticizing our experience, which I want to emphasize again was very positive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding me? An average B C student with no APs is not getting into W & M...

And indeed my DC did not apply. I did not mean to suggest that it was a realistic choice for us. Only that the lack of the high school language requirement did, for MY DC , mean that colleges that required 4 years of language in HS (W&M is an example of one) were not options. Apparently one posters child went to a HS that offered ASL as an option, which is great, but my DCs high school did no have that option.

[Anonymous]

I recently went through the college admissions cycle with 3.4 GPA DD from competitive public HS. She was varsity athlete, several AP's, volunteered, work experience, etc (solid all around, nothing spectacular) and we were encouraged to save our time/money looking at top 50. She applied and got into lots of 2nd tier state school and happily chose one. But was rejected at U of Miami (private) and Penn State, for example. So I guess I'm just shocked that a B/C student, no AP's could be accepted at a top 50 college (or find one that's a good fit). I'm wondering if pp was very fortunate or whether we were ill-advised in our DDs college search. But good for pp and her DC (and I didn't call you clueless, but my mind had a similar reaction).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the person who say schools 50-150. Are you nuts? Schools around 50 are not even remotely a chance.

clueless

I am that poster and we had a good experience. my DC, who has LDs and had mostly Cs at the beginning of HS but did better later, was accepted at 3 top 50 liberal arts schools. Only denied at a top 20. DC is not an athlete so no hook there. It is important to find an appropriate school where the op's child can thrive. My DC has done well in college so far, with accommodations.

I should add that my DC took no APs and was excused from foreign language. That ruled out schools that require 4 years of foreign language (W&M, U of Richmond are two) but those aren't schools that would have been good fits anyway.

Your child and her child are not the same child - do not say she is nuts and do not say they do not have a remote chance. You do not know that.

BTW - sign language is considered a language and LD kids are encouraged to learn that since language is what they struggle with. I agree with the person that suggested to seek a specialist to help with this journey but to just say - there is no chance is really not true or helpful.

Wow. I think you completely misinterpreted my post. First, I am the poster who suggested the LD consultant. Second, I was responding to the people who were saying that my suggestion to look at the 50th and below was "clueless ". I indicated that in fact my DC with middling grades and no APs WAS admitted to several top 50 LACs. I have no idea whether the OPs daughter has language issues. I know some LD kids who are great at languages. Mine is not so I provided that example only as an indication of a limitation my DC had. It was really not a big deal.

Perhaps you would be willing to share your college application experience with your LD kid? Thatight be more helpful to the OP than criticizing our experience, which I want to emphasize again was very positive.

My bad - I did misinterpret your post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the person who say schools 50-150. Are you nuts? Schools around 50 are not even remotely a chance.[/quote

Just to back up this comment with facts:

US News #51, National Liberal Arts Colleges
Bard College, 1330-1420 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 64% top 10% of high school graduating class

US News #50, National Universities
Tulane University, 1230-1400 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 60% top 10% of high school graduating class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the person who say schools 50-150. Are you nuts? Schools around 50 are not even remotely a chance.[/quote

Just to back up this comment with facts:

US News #51, National Liberal Arts Colleges
Bard College, 1330-1420 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 64% top 10% of high school graduating class

US News #50, National Universities
Tulane University, 1230-1400 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 60% top 10% of high school graduating class

"Clueless" poster here. Since my curiousity with piqued I looked up a couple of the schools I suggested. Beloit, which is #60, has a 70.5% acceptance rate. Wheaton, which is #62, has a 61.5% acceptance rate. Those are pretty good odds. Many schools in that group are test optional so SAT scores become less relevant. My DC happened to have very good ACTs (less good SATS, but still in the zone cited by Tulane) so we submitted them but I think all but one or two of the schools DC applied to were test optional. The admission rates for the schools DC was admitted to in the top 50 LAC group ranged from 39-45%.

One factor we found helpful is that the LACs tend to focus more on the whole application than just the stats. That can be helpful for some LD kids. Mine, for example, is smart (well above average intelligence) but despite hard work the grades do not reflect that. The OP mentioned that her DD had trouble with testing. My DC was similar - would be doing okay in a class and then do much worse on the final, thus bringing down the grade. If DC had applied to a big state school that does a first cut on GPA it would have been the end. But luckily the LACs look at extracurrics (very strong), interviews (very strong), essays (all but one had fairly lengthy supplements to the common app), recommendations (which we expect were strong). That's why we focused on LACs and why I suggested that to the OP, combined with her DDs interest in living in dorms, etc, which is less common at big universities after the first year.

To the person who posted the stats above, what colleges did you focus on for your kid? What was your experience?

[Anonymous]

I went to Tulane, which is usually around #50. I am also the person who posted the clueless comment. Do you really think that a b/c student with no APs is going to be in the top 10% of their hs. Furthermore the SAT # you cited are on the high side especially for a child with those grades let alone a learning disability. I met at least 10 people in my graduating class at tulane that were valedictorian of their hs class.

The student OP described is not going to a school like this, sorry PP not happening regardless of you experience. I have aided at least 40 hs students with the college app process through my business so I am not totally clueless and have more experience than you with you own children.

[Anonymous]

I also thought the pp was "clueless" (but wouldn't have said so). But she made her case with evidence that it did happen (her child got into a top school). No need to shoot the messenger just because our experiences lead us to believe a different message.

[Anonymous]

I just went back and read the whole thread, I was the one who posted the clueless comment as well as the tulane comment. What clearly is the discrepancy here is she is only talking about small LA colleges. I still think it would be a stretch to think this profile student is going to somewhere like conn college, trinity, or sewanee but there could always be a miracle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the person who say schools 50-150. Are you nuts? Schools around 50 are not even remotely a chance.[/quote

Just to back up this comment with facts:

US News #51, National Liberal Arts Colleges
Bard College, 1330-1420 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 64% top 10% of high school graduating class

US News #50, National Universities
Tulane University, 1230-1400 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 60% top 10% of high school graduating class

"Clueless" poster here. Since my curiousity with piqued I looked up a couple of the schools I suggested. Beloit, which is #60, has a 70.5% acceptance rate. Wheaton, which is #62, has a 61.5% acceptance rate. Those are pretty good odds. Many schools in that group are test optional so SAT scores become less relevant. My DC happened to have very good ACTs (less good SATS, but still in the zone cited by Tulane) so we submitted them but I think all but one or two of the schools DC applied to were test optional. The admission rates for the schools DC was admitted to in the top 50 LAC group ranged from 39-45%.

One factor we found helpful is that the LACs tend to focus more on the whole application than just the stats. That can be helpful for some LD kids. Mine, for example, is smart (well above average intelligence) but despite hard work the grades do not reflect that. The OP mentioned that her DD had trouble with testing. My DC was similar - would be doing okay in a class and then do much worse on the final, thus bringing down the grade. If DC had applied to a big state school that does a first cut on GPA it would have been the end. But luckily the LACs look at extracurrics (very strong), interviews (very strong), essays (all but one had fairly lengthy supplements to the common app), recommendations (which we expect were strong). That's why we focused on LACs and why I suggested that to the OP, combined with her DDs interest in living in dorms, etc, which is less common at big universities after the first year.

To the person who posted the stats above, what colleges did you focus on for your kid? What was your experience?

I'm the person who posted the stats. BTW I don't think USNews stats are the most useful but I had them handy. (We liked using the Common Data Set info from each school). My D applied to a range of LACs (more selective to most selective) and a few smaller size public universities. She was top 10-15% of her graduating class with a half dozen APs and a rigorous course load, decent but not outstanding extra-currics, no really strong demonstration of leadership beyond NHS, varsity athlete (but not star), a so-so essay IMHO and probably very good recommendations. She got into colleges where her SAT score placed her very near the 75%ile of scores or above. She got merit aid from colleges where she was well above the 75%ile (her safety schools). She didn't get into any of the schools where her score was below the 75%ile. She is currently attending a school that is rated top 25 by USNews. I also believe that this was the school where she interviewed best. She is very happy and flourishing at this college so maybe the excellent interview was a function of a great match.

I do think that admissions officers evaluate candidates with LDs somewhat differently. If I were in your position I would discuss test optional with your child's college counselor/guidance counselor. I also think that great interviews (not offered at big state schools but almost required at many LACs), great essays and real demonstration of leadership can make a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just went back and read the whole thread, I was the one who posted the clueless comment as well as the tulane comment. What clearly is the discrepancy here is she is only talking about small LA colleges. I still think it would be a stretch to think this profile student is going to somewhere like conn college, trinity, or sewanee but there could always be a miracle.

Those colleges are all in the top 50. I suggested below top 50, and yes I specified LACs in my very first post. I agree that those three would be a stretch (although my DC did get in to one of those).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the person who say schools 50-150. Are you nuts? Schools around 50 are not even remotely a chance.[/quote

Just to back up this comment with facts:

US News #51, National Liberal Arts Colleges
Bard College, 1330-1420 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 64% top 10% of high school graduating class

US News #50, National Universities
Tulane University, 1230-1400 25th - 75th%ile SAT, 60% top 10% of high school graduating class

"Clueless" poster here. Since my curiousity with piqued I looked up a couple of the schools I suggested. Beloit, which is #60, has a 70.5% acceptance rate. Wheaton, which is #62, has a 61.5% acceptance rate. Those are pretty good odds. Many schools in that group are test optional so SAT scores become less relevant. My DC happened to have very good ACTs (less good SATS, but still in the zone cited by Tulane) so we submitted them but I think all but one or two of the schools DC applied to were test optional. The admission rates for the schools DC was admitted to in the top 50 LAC group ranged from 39-45%.

One factor we found helpful is that the LACs tend to focus more on the whole application than just the stats. That can be helpful for some LD kids. Mine, for example, is smart (well above average intelligence) but despite hard work the grades do not reflect that. The OP mentioned that her DD had trouble with testing. My DC was similar - would be doing okay in a class and then do much worse on the final, thus bringing down the grade. If DC had applied to a big state school that does a first cut on GPA it would have been the end. But luckily the LACs look at extracurrics (very strong), interviews (very strong), essays (all but one had fairly lengthy supplements to the common app), recommendations (which we expect were strong). That's why we focused on LACs and why I suggested that to the OP, combined with her DDs interest in living in dorms, etc, which is less common at big universities after the first year.

To the person who posted the stats above, what colleges did you focus on for your kid? What was your experience?

I'm the person who posted the stats. BTW I don't think USNews stats are the most useful but I had them handy. (We liked using the Common Data Set info from each school). My D applied to a range of LACs (more selective to most selective) and a few smaller size public universities. She was top 10-15% of her graduating class with a half dozen APs and a rigorous course load, decent but not outstanding extra-currics, no really strong demonstration of leadership beyond NHS, varsity athlete (but not star), a so-so essay IMHO and probably very good recommendations. She got into colleges where her SAT score placed her very near the 75%ile of scores or above. She got merit aid from colleges where she was well above the 75%ile (her safety schools). She didn't get into any of the schools where her score was below the 75%ile. She is currently attending a school that is rated top 25 by USNews. I also believe that this was the school where she interviewed best. She is very happy and flourishing at this college so maybe the excellent interview was a function of a great match.

I do think that admissions officers evaluate candidates with LDs somewhat differently. If I were in your position I would discuss test optional with your child's college counselor/guidance counselor. I also think that great interviews (not offered at big state schools but almost required at many LACs), great essays and real demonstration of leadership can make a huge difference.

Really awesome that your DC did so well. Kids with LDs aren't stupid and obviously your DC proved that by doing so well.

[Anonymous]

A dear friend of mine has a daughter who has learning disabilities. She applied to a variety of small New England schools that offer LD support, and is going to Colby-Sawyer in the fall. Other schools she looked at were: Curry, Dean, College of New England, and some more that I can't remember. All had nice support for LD students.

My son may have similar stats, although without a diagnosed LD, and I've wondered about Guildford, Greensboro, Earhlam, Beloit for private schools and Mary Washiington (in VA), Salsibury (in MD), and Shepherd (in WV) as public options for him.

If you feel as though she can do the work, but will need help in admissions, or a supported transition, another option might be Richard Bland, which is a 2 year college attached to William and Mary. It is small but residential (so kids are going away to college) and with a 3.0 it's a guaranteed transfer to W and M.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to those of you who posted constructive suggestions. As for the rest of you, whatever.

Salisbury is definitely a school on my radar. But I'm worried that may even be a stretch. We do have three more years of high school for things to evolve and maybe testing will get easier for her and her grades will go up, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm also very concerned about what her scores will look like on the SAT or ACT, more time to take it or not. Salisbury is a school where you don't have to submit standardized test scores, but you have to have a fairly high GPA to skip the scores, which I don't think will be happening.

So I'm looking for suggestions of schools (I don't care about rank, unlike some of you on here) in the mid-Atlantic that we might want to visit starting next year.

[Anonymous]

Let's not write kids off before they even apply. Most college counselors will show you the admit stats for various colleges. You can buy your own "top 358 colleges" or one of those other huge college paperbacks at any store. There are lots of college choices above Community College for the student you describe OP. A number of state schools and small liberal arts schools fit the bill. Good luck and don't listen to all of these mean naysayers here.