What colleges to aim for?

[Anonymous]

William & Mary, Macalester, Tulane, Occidental
Also look at the larger public universities - Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado, Washington, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine

[Anonymous]

Buy the Fiske Guide. It has great school profiles and no ranking BS. We used it to come up with a list of colleges to visit. You'll get a good sense of the quirky factor, sports culture, greek life, etc.

One other school comes to mind for your son -- College of Wooster.

Also keep in mind OP that a boy has a better shot at most liberal arts schools than a comparable girl. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's "conventionally quirky"? You said no Cs or Ds, but does he have any As on his transcript? Will his transcript demonstrate an upward trend? Will it demonstrate high ability in some area -- e.g., is he getting As in the most challenging STEM classes, but Bs in humanities, or vice-versa? In terms of class rank, is he second quarter of the class or third quarter? What will his recommenders say about him?

Quirky as in he's got a very dry sense of humor, likes to discuss literature, music, etc, but conventional in the way he dresses, he likes sports, and is very social. I don't know. He was about 3.2 freshman year, 3.4 sophomore year, probably 3.3 ish junior year. Yes, As on his transcript. He is very strong in humanities, his lower grades were in STEM. He's in the top half. His recommenders will likely say good things about him. He's very participative and curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what has he scored on AP exams?

He had 4s in both his tests - AP European and AP Microeconomics, In AP biology, US History, and Statistics this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are giving too much credit to private school aspect. A B student will be viewed as a B student no matter what. 2100 SAT kids are dime a dozen in MCPS.

Not true at all.

The Ivy League's academic index always favors class rank over GPA if available. Why? Because they know that not all GPAs are the same. Some schools are more competitive/harsher than others. They want to know where you stand in relation to other students.

Schools send a school report that breaks down the GPA distribution. Colleges will know what your GPA means in the context of your school. They don't look at your GPA in a vacuum.

Don't spread lies about things you don't know anything about.

Where did I lie? OP's son with 3.3 GPA is a B student within the context of his school peers. Now, if his HS is so grade deflated no one gets an A, that's one thing. But I highly doubt that. Colleges having HS profile is no news. EVERYBODY knows that.

[Anonymous]

Quirky as in he's got a very dry sense of humor, likes to discuss literature, music, etc, but conventional in the way he dresses, he likes sports, and is very social. I don't know. He was about 3.2 freshman year, 3.4 sophomore year, probably 3.3 ish junior year. Yes, As on his transcript. He is very strong in humanities, his lower grades were in STEM. He's in the top half. His recommenders will likely say good things about him. He's very participative and curious.

I went to Reed, and your son sounds like he would fit in there. Reed has a reputation for being super out there, and people who are certainly fit in, but as long as he isn't alienated by people who present themselves less conventionally, there is room for more conventional types as well. If he's inquisitive and curious and loves to discuss literature and music, and more focused on learning/enjoying the material in his courses than being an uber-overachiever it could be a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Where did I lie? OP's son with 3.3 GPA is a B student within the context of his school peers. Now, if his HS is so grade deflated no one gets an A, that's one thing. But I highly doubt that. Colleges having HS profile is no news. EVERYBODY knows that.

To be fair, a 3.3 GPA is a B+ GPA. He could easily be somewhere where that puts him in the top half of his class, well prepared for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are giving too much credit to private school aspect. A B student will be viewed as a B student no matter what. 2100 SAT kids are dime a dozen in MCPS.

Not true at all.

The Ivy League's academic index always favors class rank over GPA if available. Why? Because they know that not all GPAs are the same. Some schools are more competitive/harsher than others. They want to know where you stand in relation to other students.

Schools send a school report that breaks down the GPA distribution. Colleges will know what your GPA means in the context of your school. They don't look at your GPA in a vacuum.

Don't spread lies about things you don't know anything about.

here did I lie? OP's son with 3.3 GPA is a B student within the context of his school peers. Now, if his HS is so grade deflated no one gets an A, that's one thing. But I highly doubt that. Colleges having HS profile is no news. EVERYBODY knows that.

You're correct that context matters, but that's exactly what a single student's GPA doesn't provide. There are high schools in this area where a 3.3. might land you at the bottom of the top quarter some years, or in the second quarter other years. There are other local high schools where a 3.3. is always in the bottom half of the class. Moreover, an applicant with a 3.3 GPA who took the most challenging courses the school offers will be regarded very differently from an applicant with a 3.3 who took easier courses. This is why admissions reps focus so much on learning everything they can about the schools in their regions -- and why they don't simply rely on the school's official profile. And this is why, even at school that don't rank students, the admissions reps will push counselors to place the student in the context of his/her peers.

(BTW, to clarify, I'm not the PP who implied that you lied.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's "conventionally quirky"? You said no Cs or Ds, but does he have any As on his transcript? Will his transcript demonstrate an upward trend? Will it demonstrate high ability in some area -- e.g., is he getting As in the most challenging STEM classes, but Bs in humanities, or vice-versa? In terms of class rank, is he second quarter of the class or third quarter? What will his recommenders say about him?

Quirky as in he's got a very dry sense of humor, likes to discuss literature, music, etc, but conventional in the way he dresses, he likes sports, and is very social. I don't know. He was about 3.2 freshman year, 3.4 sophomore year, probably 3.3 ish junior year. Yes, As on his transcript. He is very strong in humanities, his lower grades were in STEM. He's in the top half. His recommenders will likely say good things about him. He's very participative and curious.

OK, so, considering that he wants a city, why don't you take a look at NYU, Tufts, Macalester, Occidental and Emory (I'm trying to cover all regions of the country). I know some folks will say that there schools aren't quirky enough, but I'd say your son sounds more conventional than the kids who really love those schools like Reed or Oberlin.

[Anonymous]

UMD

[Anonymous]

6:29's list would in my view be reaches - appropriate ones - but not necessarily matches. The 4s on AP tests are good, but suggests the Bs on the transcript should be seen as Bs -- the strongest students in privates generally should get 5s. So if he likes Boston, do Tufts and Northeastern. But the smaller colleges soundblike the better fit

[Anonymous]

All the schools you're listing won't take a 3.3 student. (I have a 3.3. kid myself.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are giving too much credit to private school aspect. A B student will be viewed as a B student no matter what. 2100 SAT kids are dime a dozen in MCPS.

Not true at all.

The Ivy League's academic index always favors class rank over GPA if available. Why? Because they know that not all GPAs are the same. Some schools are more competitive/harsher than others. They want to know where you stand in relation to other students.

Schools send a school report that breaks down the GPA distribution. Colleges will know what your GPA means in the context of your school. They don't look at your GPA in a vacuum.

Don't spread lies about things you don't know anything about.

Weird. Why are you talking about Ivy League schools? Neither OP nor the PP you're calling a liar (who is not me) is talking about Ivy League schools. The reason being, 3.3 is out of the range for Ivies even if it's a 3.3 at a so-called Big 3 private. The kids I know with even 3.6s at Big 3s are not at Ivies, and in fact were turned down at competitive schools like Northwestern.

Any way, since you brought it up, and also because I hate to see bullies, especially bullies who are wrong, let me set this straight. There is no such thing as an "Ivy League Academic Index." Individual universities often have their own proprietary indices, which they create by applying their own weights to different classes. So a given Ivy might (and we have no way of knowing) rate an A in a junior Enlighten Lit class at Sidwell as a "5" not a "4." But they might also give a "5" to an A in an AP or IB class at a top area public. Also, public school kids who get 5s on their AP tests routinely send these in, to document that the "A" really means something on a national scale.

Also, like a PP mentioned, college admin offices have regional reps who are familiar with the schools in their regions and what class rank means in terms of the competitiveness of your peers. Instead of some mythical academic index, their input is going to be more subjective, like a thumb on the scale.

[Anonymous]

Ivy League academic index is for athletes.

http://home.comcast.net/~charles517/ivyai.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Quirky as in he's got a very dry sense of humor, likes to discuss literature, music, etc, but conventional in the way he dresses, he likes sports, and is very social. I don't know. He was about 3.2 freshman year, 3.4 sophomore year, probably 3.3 ish junior year. Yes, As on his transcript. He is very strong in humanities, his lower grades were in STEM. He's in the top half. His recommenders will likely say good things about him. He's very participative and curious.

I went to Reed, and your son sounds like he would fit in there. Reed has a reputation for being super out there, and people who are certainly fit in, but as long as he isn't alienated by people who present themselves less conventionally, there is room for more conventional types as well. If he's inquisitive and curious and loves to discuss literature and music, and more focused on learning/enjoying the material in his courses than being an uber-overachiever it could be a good fit.

I have heard wonderful things about Reed which produces a high number of PhDs. If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone to Reed just to be able to enjoy learning for, well, for the joy of it! I missed out on that the first time around.