Worried about college for "standard strong" DS

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03/15/2026 15:00

Subject: Worried about college for "standard strong" DS

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apologies that I am posting as a NYC parent but this group is so helpful! My 10th gr DS it a giant NYC selective public school. I feel like he's going to fall between the cracks in college admissions. Too strong for the "awesomely average" group, not strong enough for the 4.0/1500 group. Not super interested in rah-rah and I worry he'll get lost at a giant state school, but also worry he won't find his people at a tiny LAC. Very NOT quirky. Just a normal hard-working bright teenage boy who likes playing sports and "chilling" with his many friends, and likes the challenge of being surrounded by the smart kids at his school. Has a 3.7 and I'm guessing SAT will land somewhere around 1400?? At his school this is middle of the pack - about 20% of kids get into Ivy+. Best subjects are history and math, but will probably apply as a humanities major since there are so freaking many genius STEM kids. The school is so large that Naviance scattergrams look like a giant ink blot and literally everything appears to be a reach. Anyone here have a kid with a comparable profile? We will of course apply to many SUNYs, but want a solid list of privates as well. We are fortunate to be able to pay in full.

MY advice is more general

- Academically dig in a little more to history and math potential major and how that ties into quality of program, alumni, and post graduation plans when building the list. My kid applied with social science area as potential major and also enjoyed math but didn’t have the heavy STEM background to be sure about it as a major or for it to help versus hurt by putting that as intnded major. I think 100% that being at a SLAC made it easier to make the decision to major in math and be in environment where they weren’t starting behind by only taking AP Calc in high school. That said, now looking for a job and not grad school, they wish they had done Math/Econ or something else with Math to help in the job hunt and even the internship experiences prior.

- Socially your kid can probably make it work at a larger school or a medium size SLAC. First they have to decide Greek Life or not. Then how do people not in Greek life either by choice or didn’t get a bid where they wanted or with friends - how are they making friends, finding roommates, being social etc. and does that feel likely for your son if he went there? I wasn’t in Greek Life at what felt like a Greek heavy school and there were times it felt tough. I think the location of not having much to get to without a car off campus gave Greek parties even more social importance. My kids wanted to be more suburban/urban and went for schools where many different people could thrive and you didn’t have to be one way to fit in.

- As for suggested schools, I would have made similar suggestions about American/GW, Pitt, Syracuse, University of Rochester, Richmond, if willing to attend Catholic school look at some of the Catholic colleges on the east Coast, and consider if open to any mid-west colleges.

Above PP has a point regarding understanding where various liberal arts majors may lead to. If your son is interested in humanities and social sciences, also consider English and Political Science. These are other classic liberal arts majors. I believe English is short of male majors. Regarding history, I'd check to make sure your kid had areas/periods of specific interest and that the school supports them well. Review the departmental websites and look at faculty count and bios. In my opinion, the departments are too small at some SLACs for you to have access to a large variety of classes and faculty. That can be a risk if you end up not vibing with the department chair or key gatekeeping professors.

I know you are leery of big schools but the University of Michigan likes your DS's high school and New Yorkers. Just started ED and may still allow TO. DCUM says that private DMV school students don't have to have the 3.8 that seems to be the typical cutoff line for in-staters. (My son is in-state LSA social sciences and was around 3.9 unweighted). There will probably be an AO visiting your school as well as college fairs. Definitely try to do that if of interest.

I know that DMV kids tend to have 1500+ SATs but there may be wiggle room for your high school Michigan. Your kid would certainly get into Michigan State if that's of interest.

Michigan has a "Residential College" that offers a four year living experience while getting a liberal arts degree with special seminars and course requirements. Look into that if interested in a more SLAC-like experience.

Michigan is a purple state with a female Democrat Governor (and not the first either). Pete Buttigieg lives here now. The two big universities have lots of kids from Oakland County which is a demographically affluent county similar to Montgomery County, Maryland.

This is a random idea but it aligns with the interest pattern and possible hooks. Also your kid's credentials would line up well with in-state students. Michigan kids are smart but we don't have relentless grinding and SAT prep norms in many of our school districts. Simply put, it's a quite different environment from high-competition areas like DMV and NYC top publics.