Junior w/ 3.0 GPA and 30 ACT. College prospects?

[Anonymous]

Those are stats for DH. Several threads are wondering about college prospects for Class of 2021. And saying they’re screwed for various reasons, including lack of access to standardized testing. Most colleges are going test optional. My kid needs to rely on ACT. He needs a SLAC with small classes, nurturing professors, and a lower stress environment (there’s some anxiety issues). No snarks please. What would be his best shot reach school? So far he likes Elon or Providence. Out of reach? Other suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Op. I meant DS not DH!

[Anonymous]

Look at CTCL schools.

https://ctcl.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. I meant DS not DH!

Best shot is probably 1) full pay 2) hit it out of the park with an essay, and 3) ED.

I would look at why the kid is getting a 3.0 (I assume that is either at a private or UW).

My guess is with a 3.0, the targets should be something like Longwood or Radford (if in Virginia). I do not know the comparable privates.

[Anonymous]

Is the 3.0 weighted or unweighted?

My DC had a 3.4 weighted from an FCPS school, a 30 ACT, and an anxiety diagnosis but wasn't very interested in SLACS. (Unweighted was probably 3.2 or so, some As, many Bs, 3 Cs). DC did apply to one CTCL school (Eckerd) and was admitted with $19,000 in merit. Schools that admitted DC included Indiana University (Bloomington), University of Minnesota, and Colorado State and they went to one of those.

They get ridiculed by some on here, but many of the CTCL schools have a reputation for being nurturing.

[Anonymous]

There are some schools that will give significant merit aid for that ACT. Like $35-40k per year

[Anonymous]

There's a thread for parents of NORMAL kids (3.0 types) on College Confidential. The exceptional students are going to go to the top schools, but there are 4000 colleges in this country. The list of possibilities for the normal kids is long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those are stats for DH. Several threads are wondering about college prospects for Class of 2021. And saying they’re screwed for various reasons, including lack of access to standardized testing. Most colleges are going test optional. My kid needs to rely on ACT. He needs a SLAC with small classes, nurturing professors, and a lower stress environment (there’s some anxiety issues). No snarks please. What would be his best shot reach school? So far he likes Elon or Providence. Out of reach? Other suggestions?

My child with a 1310 sat (so converts to a 28 ACT) with high grades from a poor high school (just to be blunt) got 20k/yr + Fa grants from Fairfield, 38k/yr + Fa grants from Susquehanna, 36k/yr from Juniata, 10k/yr from Binghamton (oos), 15k/year + FA from Udel (oos), and $2k/yr from West Chester univ. Also was admitted to Penn State.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those are stats for DH. Several threads are wondering about college prospects for Class of 2021. And saying they’re screwed for various reasons, including lack of access to standardized testing. Most colleges are going test optional. My kid needs to rely on ACT. He needs a SLAC with small classes, nurturing professors, and a lower stress environment (there’s some anxiety issues). No snarks please. What would be his best shot reach school? So far he likes Elon or Providence. Out of reach? Other suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some schools that will give significant merit aid for that ACT. Like $35-40k per year

Um, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those are stats for DH. Several threads are wondering about college prospects for Class of 2021. And saying they’re screwed for various reasons, including lack of access to standardized testing. Most colleges are going test optional. My kid needs to rely on ACT. He needs a SLAC with small classes, nurturing professors, and a lower stress environment (there’s some anxiety issues). No snarks please. What would be his best shot reach school? So far he likes Elon or Providence. Out of reach? Other suggestions?

Weighted or unweighted gpa?

[Anonymous]

PP here. There are actually threads for parents of 3.0-3.4 kids for each year on College Confidential.

Here's the thread for parents of rising seniors: https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/2138515-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2021-3-0-3-4.html#latest

Here's the thread for rising juniors: https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/2137969-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2022-3-0-3-4.html#latest

[Anonymous]

Tank you all who responded. DS goes to private that does not weight the GPA. They have a long history getting kids into certain schools Like High Point, Loyola MD, Xavier, and such, even for kids whose GPA is much lower than the averages for those schools. But most of the kids at this private (those in the know can probably figure out the one I'm speaking of) do poorly on the ACT/SAT, so many go test optional. With a 30 ACT I wondered if DH's options had opened up, but maybe we should stick with the colleges his school has the relationships with. The counselors like to push all the kids towards the same set of colleges; the ones that this private HS already has a pipeline set in place.

[Anonymous]

Has he looked at Furman? We visited it with our daughter and I loved it. She thought it was too relaxed...she’s a high achiever. Their GPA stats are typically higher, but I’m sure they include weighted GPAs. They have early decision and I’m sure full pay would go a long way this fall.

[Anonymous]

Both Elon and Providence are within reach. I would look at Conn College as well.