Late blooming, average student — where to go from here?
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Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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OP - talk to your private's counselor first. Run these ideas by them.
1) double down on the Div 3 opportunities and focus there. 2) If in VA, consider the community college guarantee transfer program. It's perfect for someone who needs time to mature (don't know about track opportunities, though). 3) If in-state VA, your DD's scores fit the bottom 25th percentile of NSU (Norfolk State - 2.59); ODU 3.00; Radford 3.16 and VSU (Virginia State U. 2.63). I'm pulling these stats from the SCHEV site. 4) consider a gap year. |
Anonymous
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Agree with the posted who suggested test for ADHD or learning differences. Is she full pay?
I would look at these D3 schools: allegheny college (We know someone who ran there and loved it and went on to NP school) beloit lake forest goucher Lewis and clark Wooster sewanee Also consider if going to ED full pay, as you may have a shot, and these have better East Coast prep school name recognition: connecticut college muhlenberg gettysburg william smith catholic |
Anonymous
Also St. Lawrence -- lots of prep school kids. |
Anonymous
| Join the FB group called "College admission advice for awesomely average kids". You'll get far better answers there than here. |
Anonymous
Those grades and SAT (is similar to PSAT) aren’t going to get into St Lawrence - unless of course she can run REALLY fast. Same with Conn College and many others recommended (Scripps? Tulane? really?). OP, focus on small D3s in the northeast. Curry College in MA, Colby Sawyer in NH, Univ of New England in ME. If she’s a good athlete, Salisbury and Frostburg in MD, UMASS Boston, and University of Southern Maine are also options. |
Anonymous
| We found some nice colleges for similar stat kid that give decent merit. Randolph-Macon in VA, Ohio Wesleyan, and a small one in PA that really seems to be giving the personal touch, Eliazabethtown. |
Anonymous
| I had a very smart, but low GPA student due to executive function challenges and ADHD. I think DC had a 2.8 in 10th grade. In 11th grade the switch flipped and suddenly grades were much, much better. Doing well in college now. Had a low GPA and pretty good test score (1490 SAT). Went to a top private school, which definitely helped with college results (Syracuse, Indiana, Penn State, Tennessee, SMU, South Carolina, VT). DC could have gotten into even higher ranked schools if they were willing to consider SLACs that liked grads from their school, but didn’t want a small, remote or rural campus. I would ask your college counselor because no one here will know what tier of school to aim for and where your school might have a relationship that might help your DC get in. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| We have been down the D3 sports road with a less-than-perfect student. Echoing prior suggestions based on first hand experience of recruiting in the order of difficulty of getting in: Conn Coll, Gettysburg, Dickinson, Ithaca, Mary Washington. YMMV on the first three depending on what support the coach can give, the final two are more forgiving in GPA overall. |
Anonymous
| Echo Gettysburg, Franklin & Marshall, Muhlenberg. Good luck!! She’ll find her place. |
Anonymous
Although elite college admissions is exponentially more difficult than a generation ago, admission to very solid and respectable schools for a candidate like this is easier. |
Anonymous
| OP, my kid was an upward trend kid. Never broke 3.5 and junior/senior grades were pulling a lot of weight relative to the first couple of years, SATs in low 1400s superscored. A few of our favorites were Wooster, Beloit, Puget Sound, and a great little college in Arkansas (seriously!) called Hendrix. Wooster, Beloit, and Hendrix seemed especially great for good kids who were later bloomers. |
Anonymous
Many similar stories at our private high school. Your high school is the single, most powerful determinant of where your kid will end up in college. For this type of a story you need to talk to your college counseling staff. |
Anonymous
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She won't need a 3.5. There are lots of D3 schools who would take an athlete, and the schools value upward trajectory in grades. Definitely focus on grades this year. I could see her at one of the smaller PA schools like Muhlenberg or Susquehanna, depending on her interests. One of my son's former HS teammates is doing track at Elon, that's also a good option. Ithaca College also has a great D3 athletic program and strengths in music and performing arts, and communications.
Look at D3 with 50% acceptance and above. If she's an athletic recruit, that will help even out the poor GPA. if you have access to it, look at your school's Naviance or SCOIR, whatever they use. That's a better gauge of what GPA will generally get kids accepted from your school than what the colleges list on their website. Try to get a tutor for the SAT or ACT (would recommend to take a practice test of each and see where she does better) and try to get the score at 1300+ (or 30+ if ACT). I'd also schedule a meeting with yourself, your DD and the guidance counselor, who could provide good suggestions. |
Anonymous
FYI - DC's college counselors were former admissions reps at Pitzer and Pomona. DC has a 3.4 and they encouraged us to remove Pitzer and Scripps from consideration for RD. Of course that changes if you have the coach's support (or if your daughter is EDing) - so if you're interested in these two, definitely talk with the coach, push for a pre-read, and definitely consider EDing. |