Reply to HS sophomore decision that may affect college acceptance

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "HS sophomore decision that may affect college acceptance "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]"DS, however, is absolutely sure that CS, info/data systems, business systems and security are his path."

DC may understand this but the OP should hear it too, in case they are not a STEM grad themselves and/or DC doesn't.

OP, you don't want to point this out to DC right now.  He won't benefit from the information in HS but knowing it should help you steer him without pushing him into a swamp he can't work through.

The subjects on the list do not describe a single path.  Additionally, there are many levels of college and university for each of those paths.

To do a CS major at a top CS school like Carnegie Mellon is really hard and most likely DC's C this year in Alg II rules a path like that out.

Luckily, even a top school like Carnegie has at least two other paths that are possible from your list.

I would suggest that neither a info/data system degree or a business systems type program at Carnegie would be ruled out by the C in Alg II even though DC would certainly need Calc as a senior to get into either.

Then there are intermediate/strong level schools from UMdCP to GMU to UMBC where DC could do any of the programs but would need calc as a senior.

If calc as a senior is not possible or is just too much of a grind, then at schools like GMU or UMBC info/data systems or business systems type programs would be matches with the rest of DC's record.

Then there are a host of "solid" schools that offer an array of programs similar in name to those already mentioned.  These "solid" schools have a variety of students from quite strong taking advantage of merit aid to somewhat weak but improving.

At these schools the true variety of paths in these areas shines through.  While they pretty much don't offer the beyond "graduate" level courses that Carnegie specializes in offering their undergrad in CS, students can still get a degree that is called CS.

They offer many watered down courses (compared to say MIT) that allow students to mix and match all possible business and computer related programs all of which are highly employable by average companies.

At these average companies they wouldn't even know what a Carnegie CS grad was even talking about.  Similarly, the Googles of the world would never recruit at a "solid" school.

I bothered to type all that out OP because it means that your DC WILL find his place among the paths you list.  All he needs is to keep trying at what interests him.  It really doesn't matter whether any particular effort succeeds or fails, grade wise.

If DC isn't happy with his understanding, he should just take the class over.  Eventually a company will pay him for what he understands, they won't care how long or how many tries it took him to get there.[/quote]

It's OP - this is very thoughtful thank you! You are right. In the past year a few things became apparent; he continued showing tech passion and talent by purchasing components and building a computer in 11 hours,  friends asked if he would build them a custom gaming computer (he's now talking small business on the side)n he's writing a malware program that is a work in progress, choosing advanced business classes including biz finance and law, his biz teacher gave him a spot on the HS business advisory board and advised him to take Virtual Enterprise next year as a junior. (it's a senior project class requiring pre reqs) , he LOVES business courses and math but is also getting the best grades he's ever had in English, History and Science. Spanish 3 is not great but in his words he is "ending his misery" and not continuing on with Spanish 4 because it also drags his GPA down.

He has not taken any APs at this point and he needs at least a few. His English, Science and Global teachers gave approved APs. He declined AP lit and APUSH because he feels that pre calc, AP computer science and AP physics are more important and all he can handle. So he has done the work of figuring out what he needs for college. It's frustrating that there aren't standard physics or computer science classes offered so he can work into AP CS and AP physics senior year. Taking AP environmental science makes no sense. There are many balls in the air.

Since we are in NY, he has 5 regents exams in June. Of course Alg 2 and Geometry are the same day!! He has a summer job too. Oh and let's not forget SATs which he'll need to prep for since tests of a cumulative nature are hit or miss for him.

He won't apply to the likes of Carnegie Mellon or top schools because he won't have the stats. He has B's mixed in with A's. He's overall a really good student with a  really good work ethic. He's very interested in urban with CS/biz programs. His list of colleges are a mix of public (Pitt) mixed with privates (Fordham). His dream school in Boston (Northeastern) is such a reach and he's aware that it's not happening. He's also fallen in love with JMU (sight unseen) based on reddit and niche. He said the kids at Pitt and JMU are active on reddit and college confidential and they seem really happy. He thinks JMU has a good CS program and the dining is top rated lol. He liked the JMU rep at a college fair. He's still just a happy kid and wants to be around other happy kids at a good school. We aren't aiming for tippy top.

The advice I gave him this morning is despite the C in Alg 2, he also juggled Geometry in the same year. Just focusing on one math (pre calc) in junior year should be easier and he can continue with tutor this summer. He takes the grade, sucks it up and moves on. This may be terrible advice. But, I feel that admissions (not top schools) will see a typical kid that doesn't have 10+ AP's and a 4.8 GPA with service awards, a few academic awards, leadership positions, one varsity sport plus an unique non school related sport and think "we need a regular kid like him". Maybe I'm too optimistic.

Yikes this is way too long. So sorry. Thanks so much for your help DCUM.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics