Those of you who think this child has fair chance at UMCP, UMBC, and JMU are dreaming! Those would be long shots. Frostburg would be a school I'd seriously look at for in-state, ODU for out-of-state. There are also some other smaller schools in VA that would be options. If this were my child, I'd lean towards two years of community college with a transfer to a 4-year university.

Anonymous wrote:She's always wanted to go to college, she had good grades (A&B) but this year she started working and taking AP's. It dropped her GPA significantly. Also she has been in the advanced program since middle school. So she's academically focused, just not an overacheiver.

Ok, if you do consider private colleges, make sure to check out the ones that are test optional.

Also, read the book Colleges that Change Lives.

This is 21:07 and 21:50.

I disagree with some of the gloomy PPs. OP's DD has an ACT score at the 62nd percentile and an SAT score at the 48th percentile. This means she is around the average for college-bound students. HALF of college-bound students scored lower than this student did. Let's say that again: This girl is your average college-bound student.

That said, there is no question that, without some remarkable hook, she is not going to be admitted one of the more selective colleges or universities that graduate 90 percent of their students. She is going to go to a college that is less selective, but that doesn't mean the college can't provide a quality education. And it doesn't mean that she can't do well.

OP, your DD wants an urban area, and there is no question that that complicates the search, adding one more requirement to an already lengthy list. But you and she should talk about trade-offs and what is really important in terms of getting a college education. And you should help her put her "requirements" in order of priority. That will help her focus her search and concentrate on the pros and cons and think about what compromises she is willing to make.

It seems to me that the first issue is affordability. Generally speaking, the most affordable schools for your DD are likely to be Maryland state schools. (Though as I mentioned above, non-flagship state schools in the midwest and the south can be very comparable to state school costs on the east coast.) It is true that your DD could try to seek out private and OOS colleges that give merit aid. But merit aid is awarded only to students that are at the top of a college's applicant pool in terms of scores, grades, essays, overall appeal, and/or ECs--IOW, to students that schools really want. You will have to assess whether your DD has attributes that will stand out on her application and to which schools.

The second cut will be schools that have a business major.

The third concern should be where your DD might get admitted. For that, the middle range of CR SAT scores will help you target the right schools. And the 6-year graduation rates for the schools will help her focus on schools where a majority of students are able to complete a degree. These stats for the 4-year MD state schools that have a business major are:

UMCP 580-690 (82% grad rate)
UMBC 550-650 (61%)
Salisbury 530-610 (67%)
Towson 490-580 (66%)
Frostburg 440-530 (44%)
Baltimore 430-590 (not reported)
Bowie 410-490 (35%)
Coppin 400-470 (17%)
UMES 390-480 (32%)

The sweet spot for your DD is clearly Towson and Frostburg, with UMBC and Salisbury as possible reaches. She can add other private and OOS schools that interest her, but I would suggest that these four MD schools should form the spine of her list--these are affordable, have her major, and enroll students like her.

She should also think hard about what exactly is important to her. She wants an urban school, so that might make UMBC attractive. But only a small share of UMBC students live on campus and there might not be much campus life on weekends. Salisbury, OTOH, might be more isolated but may offer more of a traditional campus experience.

What about Mount St Marys or Hood College, both seem like they are generous about financial aid.

Anonymous wrote:She won't get into JMU, and maybe not GMU

I've known girls who got into JMU with exam scores this low, but they had 4.0s or higher. The low SATs/ACTs kept them out of U. Va and W&M.

Anonymous wrote:She's always wanted to go to college, she had good grades (A&B) but this year she started working and taking AP's. It dropped her GPA significantly. Also she has been in the advanced program since middle school. So she's academically focused, just not an overacheiver.

Does your school give you access to Naviance? You can get a good sense of where kids from her school with that test score and GPA are likely to get in. She should also be meeting with her guidance counselor and getting some suggestions from the counselor on likely schools.

She's always wanted to go to college, she had good grades (A&B) but this year she started working and taking AP's. It dropped her GPA significantly. Also she has been in the advanced program since middle school. So she's academically focused, just not an overacheiver.

Anonymous wrote:James Madison .

There is no way a student with those stats could get into JMU.

Maybe college is not for her. She could try a technical school and see if she like it -- some people do better when they are in a job that feels rewarding to them and then they can get a better degree if they need it.

She won't get into JMU, and maybe not GMU

OP ~ she is not a strong student. You two will need to make this decision carefully. Her choices will be schools that typically do not have high graduation rates. These types of schools may be easy to get into, but hard to get out of. She should apply to UMD to please her father. She won't get in but it's better for their relationship that she apply. Rather than focusing on finding the right school, for now try to find a dozen or so schools. There is no reason she can't apply widely especially if the money issue is as important as it seems. For any school - first thing before visiting - look up The Common Data Set online and study it. A business major will not be an easy major to complete for a truly average student. The CDS will outline what classes are required for each major and what the requirements are to be accepted into each major. This is the major reason students don't graduate - they are accepted into a college but they can't complete the prerequisites (with the required gpa) to gain admission into their/a major.

Salisbury
Jmu
Towson
Gmu

James Madison .

Arizona State!

OP if you don't want to do community college, then you need to start researching small LAC that are generous with merit aid, as well as need aid. College Confidential can be a pretty intimidating place, but there are several threads devoted to parents of children with 3.0-3.5 gpa. I found this thread invaluable for my own 3.5 gpa kid, and we were able to get her accepted into a few schools with generous merit aid. With the exception of Howard, they are all west coast schools though.
I would have never found out about these great schools without that thread. Take a look and see what kind of info on small but generous east coast LAC you can find for your kid.

Also, as soon as you can, do try to get a roundabout figure of your EFC online. If you know how much schools will expect you to pay ahead of time, you won't have any surprises later on.