Where to apply with below average stats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not typical for this forum but looking for suggestions for my below average kid.
Last year (11th grade) was extremely difficult year with personal and family issues which resulted in terrible grades - basically gave up on the 2nd semester.
GPA at the end of 10th grade was 3.31/3.66.
GPA at the end of 11th grade was 2.87/3.31.
1st ACT was 22. Currently working with a tutor and taking again on 9/11. Not a good test taker.
DS is at a public HS in MD (one of the W schools) so his stats will not look good. Has taken 3 AP classes.
Not many extracurricular activities (2 sports) and a part time job for the last 2 years at the same place.
Looking to get into a Business program or possibly Hospitality management. Cost is not a factor.

DD had similar stats 3.4uw, 5 AP classes 1210 SAT and got into 8/9 schools including Delaware, South Carolina, and UMass. Don’t panic. She is now at different large university and loving life. South Carolina and Costal Carolina have strong Hospitality programs.

[Anonymous]

If he decides on hospitality definitely look at South Carolina. That program is part of the academic common market so you get in-state tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.......

HC is a two-year school.

[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.

NP. I love this!!! Thank you.
Our DC struggled through HS and has similar stats with OP.
We chose not to do community college because we needed for DC the encompassing support that a community college may not be able to provide.
We really liked McDaniel but DC chose a different school and found a place that DC feels at home in. First year during the pandemic was tough. Grades could have been better but there are a lot of intangibles, personal successes that have been more important than the grades.

[Anonymous]

Grant College. Don’t forget to return “the book” to the library when you are done!

[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.

Fog a mirror is the best line I have heard in a while.

[Anonymous]

Check out Hobart and William Smith in upstate NY. A friend's child with low stats in high school was accepted and really thrived there.

[Anonymous]

Moravian? Ursinus?

[Anonymous]

Poster after poster is suggesting schools that this student will not get into with those stats.

[Anonymous]

Endicott College in Mass, Johnson & Wales in Providence, App State in NC.

[Anonymous]

Allegheny
Duquesne
Dayton

[Anonymous]

Salisbury
Coastal Carolina
Drew
West Chester
Widener

[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

It's been a few years but I went to one of these schools and met quite a few rich kids with very poor grades and test scores. Their scores well below the published averages at the time and I (very naive) remember being surprised, thinking how did they get in? Then some friends explained it to me.

OP, if money isn't a factor then it's worth applying to some school where his stats may be a bit low if he really likes the school

[Anonymous]

Purdue Fort Wayne, IUPUI, Ball State, University of Saint Francis (Fort Wayne)

[Anonymous]

Big school - auburn fur example get a business degree it’ll all be ok. Been there. Trust me