What colleges to aim for?

[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.

3.3 is B+, not B.

And yes, admissions officers know it is harder to get a B+ average at sidwell than an average public high school.

OP didn't indicate her son is at Sidwell. He could easily be at one of those privates that people call "publics you pay for." We just don't know. So please take your bizarre public-bashing agenda elsewhere. TIA!

Sounds like you're a private school basher with your comment "publics you pay for." You should calm down or maybe follow the advice you gave to PP.

[Anonymous]

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

I think William and Mary would be a real stretch with the reported GPA.

[Anonymous]

What about University of Richmond?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about University of Richmond?

Bingo. A really good school that flies under the radar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about University of Richmond?

That GPA may be a stretch for Univ of Richmond

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about University of Richmond?

That GPA may be a stretch for Univ of Richmond

True.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quirky-ish boy (kind of a conventional quirky type) from an area private. 3.3 GPA, but he doesn't have a single C or D on his transcript thus far (junior). He took the SAT this fall and got 2100 without prep, so we are thinking he might be able to raise it a bit. Good ECs - varsity sport, forensics, service club, and does volunteering with underprivileged kids on a regular basis. Looking to major in economics or maybe finance.

The only criteria he has said is important to him is that it's in a mid-size city or above (say, Richmond size). Nothing rural.

Any thoughts?

I would suggest U of R or VCU.

[Anonymous]

Richmond will be a reach but VCU should be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child with over a 4.0 and similar SAT's was rejected from MacAlester, Emory, and Oberlin. Your child will not get into those schools.

And my 3.3. kid ('tho w/higher SATS -- above 2300) is at an Ivy. There are so many factors involved that you can't lay bets. At this point, OP and her DS are looking at schools and starting to put together a list, so it makes sense to cast the net broadly.

Your DC had no hooks?

No hooks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child with over a 4.0 and similar SAT's was rejected from MacAlester, Emory, and Oberlin. Your child will not get into those schools.

And my 3.3. kid ('tho w/higher SATS -- above 2300) is at an Ivy. There are so many factors involved that you can't lay bets. At this point, OP and her DS are looking at schools and starting to put together a list, so it makes sense to cast the net broadly.

Your DC had no hooks?

No hooks.

I find that hard to believe since I know kids with perfect SATs and higher GPAs who didn't get into an Ivy. There had to be something about your child that made him/her stand out. A sport or special talent, maybe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child with over a 4.0 and similar SAT's was rejected from MacAlester, Emory, and Oberlin. Your child will not get into those schools.

And my 3.3. kid ('tho w/higher SATS -- above 2300) is at an Ivy. There are so many factors involved that you can't lay bets. At this point, OP and her DS are looking at schools and starting to put together a list, so it makes sense to cast the net broadly.

Your DC had no hooks?

No hooks.

I find that hard to believe since I know kids with perfect SATs and higher GPAs who didn't get into an Ivy. There had to be something about your child that made him/her stand out. A sport or special talent, maybe?

OR PP is making stuff up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child with over a 4.0 and similar SAT's was rejected from MacAlester, Emory, and Oberlin. Your child will not get into those schools.

And my 3.3. kid ('tho w/higher SATS -- above 2300) is at an Ivy. There are so many factors involved that you can't lay bets. At this point, OP and her DS are looking at schools and starting to put together a list, so it makes sense to cast the net broadly.

Your DC had no hooks?

No hooks.

I find that hard to believe since I know kids with perfect SATs and higher GPAs who didn't get into an Ivy. There had to be something about your child that made him/her stand out. A sport or special talent, maybe?

Well, SATs were close to perfect and he earned national recognition in a STEM-related competition, but, no, not a legacy, URM or recruited athlete.

[Anonymous]

Carnegie Mellon.

U. Michigan.

[Anonymous]

We have three in college and one who graduated from an SEC school last year. I've never been able to figure out the logic. My kids knew exactly where they wanted to go and none of the schools were difficult to get into. They all got academic scholorships which was wonderful! The process was easy for us, thankfully.

Here's an example of how bizarre the admissions process can be- My neighbor's son. 4.45 weighted. Great SAT scores. Senior Class President. Tons of service hours. Accepted to two Ivys. Wait listed at University of Florida, which was his dream school. Same year my daughter's best friend was accepted at University of Florida with a 3.4 and much weaker scores. Her only extra-curricular was chorus. The only thing I can think of is maybe the essay made the difference??? But I can't imagine my neighbor's son wrote a bad essay. He's brilliant.

My advise as someone who has had four kids go through the process- Encourage him to apply to schools he is interested in regardless of what you think his chances are. Just make sure you include some reach schools and some safe ones in the bunch. You just never know....

[Anonymous]

Washington Lee is a $65,000 a year school.