Where to apply with below average stats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Hartford - will likely get merit money (seriously), Marshall (it is a very nice campus with a brand new student center and the town is really nice), Westchester in PA, Mercyhurst (very small but nice campus), Juniata (again very small), Goucher (small but the small schools may be good for him in terms of attention from professors). Many of the other schools suggested by pp’s would be good too. He should also apply to schools that don’t ask for test scores as his grades aren’t that bad for a lot of schools. He will get into schools - you have to stop thinking that only kids with a 4.0 get into college. That is what people here make you think. It isn’t true.

The mean GPA for entering freshmen at Juniata is 3.7

[Anonymous]

UNLV has the top hospitality management program in the country and takes anyone who can fog a mirror. It should be at the top of your kid's list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is money an issue? If you can pay for expensive privates, what about Furman or Sewanee? My son, with slightly better stats, but not stellar, got into both, and Furman kept offering more and more merit. It seems like such a nice school, so I'm not sure why it's yield isn't higher. Maybe SC is just too big a turn off.

Not sure about Furman, but Sewanee emphasizes grades more than test scores. The average GPA for the most recent incoming class was almost a 3.9. It would be a huge reach for the OP's kid, especially without a high (or even decent) ACT/SAT score to compensate.

[Anonymous]

Take a look at Catholic and Jesuit colleges, and be sure the business program is AACSB accredited. That will also make it easier for him to transfer later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UNLV has the top hospitality management program in the country and takes anyone who can fog a mirror. It should be at the top of your kid's list.

Actually Cornell has the top rated program.

[Anonymous]

Old Dominion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take a look at Catholic and Jesuit colleges, and be sure the business program is AACSB accredited. That will also make it easier for him to transfer later.

Catholic and Jesuit colleges are very competitive. Georgetown, Boston College, Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Villanova, St. Louis, Santa Clara, Catholic U, Fordham, Fairfield U, Loyola, and the list goes on. Please name a Catholic college with a gpa of low 3.0s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take a look at Catholic and Jesuit colleges, and be sure the business program is AACSB accredited. That will also make it easier for him to transfer later.

Catholic and Jesuit colleges are very competitive. Georgetown, Boston College, Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Villanova, St. Louis, Santa Clara, Catholic U, Fordham, Fairfield U, Loyola, and the list goes on. Please name a Catholic college with a gpa of low 3.0s

Iona, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross (near Notre Dame), Cabrini, Neumann.......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take a look at Catholic and Jesuit colleges, and be sure the business program is AACSB accredited. That will also make it easier for him to transfer later.

Catholic and Jesuit colleges are very competitive. Georgetown, Boston College, Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Villanova, St. Louis, Santa Clara, Catholic U, Fordham, Fairfield U, Loyola, and the list goes on. Please name a Catholic college with a gpa of low 3.0s

St. Joseph’s. Fairfield, St. Peter’s, Scranton, Loyola.
Catholic U, Gannon, Kings, Marquette, Marymount, Dayton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is money an issue? If you can pay for expensive privates, what about Furman or Sewanee? My son, with slightly better stats, but not stellar, got into both, and Furman kept offering more and more merit. It seems like such a nice school, so I'm not sure why it's yield isn't higher. Maybe SC is just too big a turn off.

Not sure about Furman, but Sewanee emphasizes grades more than test scores. The average GPA for the most recent incoming class was almost a 3.9. It would be a huge reach for the OP's kid, especially without a high (or even decent) ACT/SAT score to compensate.

Some people on here just seem to deny that low stat kids can go anywhere except community college.

[Anonymous]

Community college then UVA or UMD

[Anonymous]

My kid with similar stats is doing well at McDaniel. Marymount is another local option we liked.

[Anonymous]

I teach college. The most important thing for any kid is to be sent from a place where they feel supported to a place where they feel like they belong. And those two places don't have to be very far apart. If last year was horrible (it was horrible for so, so many students, for so many different reasons), someplace far from home may or may not be the best choice right now, and that is ok either way. Your kid's well-being will be more important than prestige from the minute they arrive.

Ballpark the distance first, according to what is best for your family. Apply to a healthy number of schools (maybe 10-12), but have a good reason for each one you include on your list, and vary the types of institutions (big, small, public, private, religious, secular) as much as seems right for the kid. Get the applications in early in the season so that rolling admissions replies come back quickly. Have a list of backup schools that you can apply to later in the application season (watch their deadlines) if too many of the earlier responses are "no."

And have a backup plan that is discussed frequently, openly, and positively in case none of the applications produce results that you can all live with. Would your kid take a gap year? Seek out more or different work hours? Go full-time at an open-enrollment institution in the area? (This category includes our superb local community colleges, but is not confined to them.)

Seriously, I don't see those numbers as predicting against application-based college admission. I see the year-to-year change as reflecting the kinds of difficulties to which the OP alluded. (It might even be appropriate (ask the HS counselor responsible for college conversations) to include some discussion of those challenges in the application essays.) Continue the open-minded exploration of options, focus on the kid's well-being and resilience, keep the conversation focused on possibilities, and aim for a good fall semester of the senior year - which might be reflected more in the kid's personal successes than in any academic ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Community college then UVA or UMD

But you need to take specific serious courses in those community colleges and make a specific GpA to apply. It’s not automatic and some community college students find it very difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach college. The most important thing for any kid is to be sent from a place where they feel supported to a place where they feel like they belong. And those two places don't have to be very far apart. If last year was horrible (it was horrible for so, so many students, for so many different reasons), someplace far from home may or may not be the best choice right now, and that is ok either way. Your kid's well-being will be more important than prestige from the minute they arrive.

Ballpark the distance first, according to what is best for your family. Apply to a healthy number of schools (maybe 10-12), but have a good reason for each one you include on your list, and vary the types of institutions (big, small, public, private, religious, secular) as much as seems right for the kid. Get the applications in early in the season so that rolling admissions replies come back quickly. Have a list of backup schools that you can apply to later in the application season (watch their deadlines) if too many of the earlier responses are "no."

And have a backup plan that is discussed frequently, openly, and positively in case none of the applications produce results that you can all live with. Would your kid take a gap year? Seek out more or different work hours? Go full-time at an open-enrollment institution in the area? (This category includes our superb local community colleges, but is not confined to them.)

Seriously, I don't see those numbers as predicting against application-based college admission. I see the year-to-year change as reflecting the kinds of difficulties to which the OP alluded. (It might even be appropriate (ask the HS counselor responsible for college conversations) to include some discussion of those challenges in the application essays.) Continue the open-minded exploration of options, focus on the kid's well-being and resilience, keep the conversation focused on possibilities, and aim for a good fall semester of the senior year - which might be reflected more in the kid's personal successes than in any academic ones.

Excellent advice here.