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[quote=Anonymous]I'm trying to understand why you're feeling overwhelmed.  I understand that you might have been disappointed in your counselor's advice, and while I agree that s/he could have been more helpful by providing suggestions for schools to consider, the advice that your son focus on bringing his grades up this semester is spot-on.  Moreover, the counselor's suggestion that you start by thinking about safeties/likelies is also prudent.

That said, you still have to figure out where to visit, and I know that can be the hardest part.  This is true regardless of your child's GPA and scores.  Many of the suggestions that PPs have made sound right to me, but my baseline could be very different from yours -- so much depends on which school your son attends and where he is in terms of class rank.  Yes, I know most schools, including my kids' school don't publicize class rank, but admissions officers care very much where a student falls in the class and they ask counselors for this information.  Counselors may try to fudge it, but they have to be pretty honest or risk alienating the admissions rep.

OK, so where should you look?  At my kids' school (a DC independent), I'd say that a student with a 3.1 GPA and SATs in the mid-600s would be looking at Bucknell or Gettysburg or University of Miami or Brandeis as likelies and maybe Michigan or Lehigh or Colgate or maybe, maybe Emory as reaches.  I realize these schools vary considerably in terms of locations, size, and academic and social culture, but perhaps they're helpful as a starting point.  Maybe take a look at the Fiske Guide (the section on application overlaps for each school can be helpful), then sit down with your DS and look at websites, and then go back to the counselor with a tentative list and ask if you're in the right ball park.       [/quote]

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