If my junior is ending the year with a few Cs...what colleges should he be looking at

[Anonymous]

Nova

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My junior is going to have a few Cs this year. It is what it is. Hardworking kid in AP classes, rough year due to a variety of circumstances. He will have around a 3.4 or 3.5 weighted GPA. ACT score pending, but practice was a 29.

What 4 year schools should he be looking at that can look past a few bad grades in a craptastic year? Anywhere along the east coast, and any price point is fine.

You could be describing my kid. Junior year. Lots of AP classes, very strong until this year, but now likely two Cs.

First of all, please know there is at least one other family out there dealing with this. When you're lying awake at night worried, so am I. And please don't listen to the trolls on this board. Not every kid "thrived" in DL and our kids didn't stumble because they are lazy or we weren't involved enough. Schools weren't "handing out As" this year. Eff people who keep saying these things.

Now, the good news. There are a ton of four-year colleges that will take our kids. Good ones, even. They don't have the cachet that the snobby side of DCUM likes, but they are great schools. My son is currently looking at VCU, JMU, GMU and CNU in Virginia. My son is also looking at Penn State, Pitt and U Del out of state. He's even going to shoot his shot at VT because one area of study he is considering is super specific and not very popular on the east coast. They might take him just to fill out the program.

We have also planted the idea of two years of community college to him, then a guaranteed transfer to VT or UVA, in case he doesn't get in anywhere he'll be happy to go. We don't want him to feel like he's "settled" for anything or is being punished for working his butt off during incredibly tough conditions.

It'll be fine. It'll be fine. In a year and a half, we are going to be sending both our kids off to wonderful schools where they will embark on new adventures with a clean slate and this craptastic year will just be a bad memory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a decent amount of big schools that would be fine - Penn State, Indiana, Alabama, Clemson (maybe), some Florida schools (FSU, UCF). In MD, Towson, in VA, ODU or JMU

Not Pitt, Penn State or Clemson, IME.

Pitt and Clemson might be reaches, but Penn State is very doable IME.

[Anonymous]

Ok very good ACT and good GPA please don’t listen to the crazy people from this area. Support him, be proud, it’s hard to be a teen , especially now. Plenty of schools.

University of Oregon
Boulder
AZ
Penn State
Indiana
St. Olaf
Ripon
Marquette (WI)
University of Iowa
University of NC Charlotte
College of Charleston
Elon
Florida State
Ohio State
University of WY
University of MN
University of NE
LSU
Ole Miss
Towson
Loyola (various)
Chapman in CA
University of SD (private)
University of San Francisco
Occidental

So many more. Hire a consultant. Best money you’ll ever spend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My junior is going to have a few Cs this year. It is what it is. Hardworking kid in AP classes, rough year due to a variety of circumstances. He will have around a 3.4 or 3.5 weighted GPA. ACT score pending, but practice was a 29.

What 4 year schools should he be looking at that can look past a few bad grades in a craptastic year? Anywhere along the east coast, and any price point is fine.

You could be describing my kid. Junior year. Lots of AP classes, very strong until this year, but now likely two Cs.

First of all, please know there is at least one other family out there dealing with this. When you're lying awake at night worried, so am I. And please don't listen to the trolls on this board. Not every kid "thrived" in DL and our kids didn't stumble because they are lazy or we weren't involved enough. Schools weren't "handing out As" this year. Eff people who keep saying these things.

Now, the good news. There are a ton of four-year colleges that will take our kids. Good ones, even. They don't have the cachet that the snobby side of DCUM likes, but they are great schools. My son is currently looking at VCU, JMU, GMU and CNU in Virginia. My son is also looking at Penn State, Pitt and U Del out of state. He's even going to shoot his shot at VT because one area of study he is considering is super specific and not very popular on the east coast. They might take him just to fill out the program.

We have also planted the idea of two years of community college to him, then a guaranteed transfer to VT or UVA, in case he doesn't get in anywhere he'll be happy to go. We don't want him to feel like he's "settled" for anything or is being punished for working his butt off during incredibly tough conditions.

It'll be fine. It'll be fine. In a year and a half, we are going to be sending both our kids off to wonderful schools where they will embark on new adventures with a clean slate and this craptastic year will just be a bad memory.

OP here. Thank you. DL has been horrible. Some teachers are great at it, and some really aren’t. Some kids do well with it and some don’t. Mine does not want a community college because after missing most of high school, he is just ready to move on and do something different. He left a small private school because he wanted a big high school with tons of kids and tons to do...and then covid happened. He desperately needs the social interaction and campus life of a 4 year college for all 4 years. Glad to hear it wasn’t just him that struggled with this past year and a half.

[Anonymous]

Listen, I have a kid with similar situation. I’m so incredibly proud of him though by my friends’ standards he’s a failure. My kid has overcome /dealt with:

Major depression suicidal ideation
Adhd
Learning differences
Life changing chronic disease
Traumatic accident ruining his athletic prospects and mentally and physically very challenging
Substance use challenges
Anxiety and PTSD
Covid related issues

He’s surviving, he’s learning, he’s growing. He somehow maintained a 3.3 at a tough private school. There was a time I felt sad that this was his path, but now I realize he’s a rock star and his whole life is before him and where he attends college is just one small piece of his future. Perspective. BTW he’s going to a mid size state school that he’s very excited about.

[Anonymous]

First of all. Don't worry. LOTS of really good colleges will take him. (Surprisingly, you may even get some scholarship money.) You can look at Naviance to figure out your chances. All you have to determine is if it is a small/big. urban/rural sports/party etc.

Take a look here.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus

[Anonymous]

Also look at the best value list (ignore the top universities). There are some really good easy to get into colleges that give you a solid STEM education.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/best-value

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My junior is going to have a few Cs this year. It is what it is. Hardworking kid in AP classes, rough year due to a variety of circumstances. He will have around a 3.4 or 3.5 weighted GPA. ACT score pending, but practice was a 29.

What 4 year schools should he be looking at that can look past a few bad grades in a craptastic year? Anywhere along the east coast, and any price point is fine.

You could be describing my kid. Junior year. Lots of AP classes, very strong until this year, but now likely two Cs.

First of all, please know there is at least one other family out there dealing with this. When you're lying awake at night worried, so am I. And please don't listen to the trolls on this board. Not every kid "thrived" in DL and our kids didn't stumble because they are lazy or we weren't involved enough. Schools weren't "handing out As" this year. Eff people who keep saying these things.

Now, the good news. There are a ton of four-year colleges that will take our kids. Good ones, even. They don't have the cachet that the snobby side of DCUM likes, but they are great schools. My son is currently looking at VCU, JMU, GMU and CNU in Virginia. My son is also looking at Penn State, Pitt and U Del out of state. He's even going to shoot his shot at VT because one area of study he is considering is super specific and not very popular on the east coast. They might take him just to fill out the program.

We have also planted the idea of two years of community college to him, then a guaranteed transfer to VT or UVA, in case he doesn't get in anywhere he'll be happy to go. We don't want him to feel like he's "settled" for anything or is being punished for working his butt off during incredibly tough conditions.

It'll be fine. It'll be fine. In a year and a half, we are going to be sending both our kids off to wonderful schools where they will embark on new adventures with a clean slate and this craptastic year will just be a bad memory.

OP here. Thank you. DL has been horrible. Some teachers are great at it, and some really aren’t. Some kids do well with it and some don’t. Mine does not want a community college because after missing most of high school, he is just ready to move on and do something different. He left a small private school because he wanted a big high school with tons of kids and tons to do...and then covid happened. He desperately needs the social interaction and campus life of a 4 year college for all 4 years. Glad to hear it wasn’t just him that struggled with this past year and a half.

Hi, it’s me. I understand about the community college hesitancy. We’ve raised the idea, but I’m not sure my son is onboard. He’s really liking the idea of being somewhere other than here. He’s had enough togetherness at this point.

It wasn’t just your son who struggled. It was tons of kids. Smart and hardworking kids for who DL was not effective. We can’t feel like our kids somehow messed up. That’s not going to help. They survived and we need to count the blessings we have and keep moving forward.

Good luck to your son and whole family.

[Anonymous]

My smart, creative kid is going to flunk 3 classes this spring. He's never gotten less than an A- in his life. He's been online for this entire year.

We're moving him to a school that will be in person in the fall. I think that will turn a lot around for him. He already took the SAT as a freshman (to get into a summer program) and got a 1520. I expect that will improve as a junior. So what will we do with spotty grades and good scores? He wants to go to a liberal arts school, so we're looking at a bunch of them that are less competitive, in addition to a few competitive ones.

Reed, Macalester, Colorado College and Davidson (reach)
Lewis and Clark, Whitman, Kalamazoo, Rhodes, Knox, Monmouth (Illinois), Augustana (Illinois), New College of Florida

Also University of Oregon

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My smart, creative kid is going to flunk 3 classes this spring. He's never gotten less than an A- in his life. He's been online for this entire year.

We're moving him to a school that will be in person in the fall. I think that will turn a lot around for him. He already took the SAT as a freshman (to get into a summer program) and got a 1520. I expect that will improve as a junior. So what will we do with spotty grades and good scores? He wants to go to a liberal arts school, so we're looking at a bunch of them that are less competitive, in addition to a few competitive ones.

Reed, Macalester, Colorado College and Davidson (reach)
Lewis and Clark, Whitman, Kalamazoo, Rhodes, Knox, Monmouth (Illinois), Augustana (Illinois), New College of Florida

Also University of Oregon

not Davidson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My smart, creative kid is going to flunk 3 classes this spring. He's never gotten less than an A- in his life. He's been online for this entire year.

We're moving him to a school that will be in person in the fall. I think that will turn a lot around for him. He already took the SAT as a freshman (to get into a summer program) and got a 1520. I expect that will improve as a junior. So what will we do with spotty grades and good scores? He wants to go to a liberal arts school, so we're looking at a bunch of them that are less competitive, in addition to a few competitive ones.

Reed, Macalester, Colorado College and Davidson (reach)
Lewis and Clark, Whitman, Kalamazoo, Rhodes, Knox, Monmouth (Illinois), Augustana (Illinois), New College of Florida

Also University of Oregon

Sounds like your kid is a sophomore. Plenty of time to recover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listen, I have a kid with similar situation. I’m so incredibly proud of him though by my friends’ standards he’s a failure. My kid has overcome /dealt with:

Major depression suicidal ideation
Adhd
Learning differences
Life changing chronic disease
Traumatic accident ruining his athletic prospects and mentally and physically very challenging
Substance use challenges
Anxiety and PTSD
Covid related issues

He’s surviving, he’s learning, he’s growing. He somehow maintained a 3.3 at a tough private school. There was a time I felt sad that this was his path, but now I realize he’s a rock star and his whole life is before him and where he attends college is just one small piece of his future. Perspective. BTW he’s going to a mid size state school that he’s very excited about.

Op here. Your kid IS a rockstar. I hope he is proud of what he has accomplished and where he’s headed. I am grateful that my son is completely uninterested in rankings and opinions on wherever he ends up. He just wants to go somewhere he’ll be happy for 4 years. I hope my son can find his place like yours did.

[Anonymous]

So is this what it's become? A few Cs means straight to community college? I doubt it. Most of the country's 4,000 colleges are not that hard to get into. Pick one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA ..... (at Wise)

Lmao