Anonymous wrote:3.8 GPA (which is about avg) at top tier nyc private. 1480 SAT/34 ACT. Debater. Leadership in clubs. Worked summer jobs (this part is kinda interesting). Outgoing and popular but not athletic - concerned about being left out at smaller SLACs with highest # of athletes. Good writer.

No honors or awards.

Humanities - history/philosophy/politics. Movie buff. Maybe wants to teach or law school.

East coast preferred but open.
Size 2k-10k

Full pay if need be.

Okay w ED. He knows the GPA is not great - 9th grade was rough and improved (some) - and he has no
passion project etc

3.8 at private is good. Don’t pay for him to teach. May as well burn your cash.

it's hard for a kid to not feel "average" at a selective top tier private since they have their pick and mostly admit other A students from educated/well resourced families.

but your kid sounds pretty strong candidate. especially since grades have gone up in 10th & 11th compared to 9th. many colleges like emory or UCs recalculate gpa to exclude all of 9th grade.

aim high, but include 2-3 safeties in your back pocket.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.8 GPA (which is about avg) at top tier nyc private. 1480 SAT/34 ACT. Debater. Leadership in clubs. Worked summer jobs (this part is kinda interesting). Outgoing and popular but not athletic - concerned about being left out at smaller SLACs with highest # of athletes. Good writer.

No honors or awards.

Humanities - history/philosophy/politics. Movie buff. Maybe wants to teach or law school.

East coast preferred but open.
Size 2k-10k

Full pay if need be.

Okay w ED. He knows the GPA is not great - 9th grade was rough and improved (some) - and he has no
passion project etc

My somewhat comparable son got in without honors at an in-state state flagship; in with honors and merit aid at a interesting program at another in-state university; rejected by Yale and Northwestern; in with good merit aid at Fordham; Seton Hall; Temple and Catholic University.

So, it might make sense to apply to dream schools ranked T15 through T30 but focus more on T30 through T150.
Maybe

Was your son at a selective private?

At a selective public. Obviously: The OP’s son *could* get in at Yale. If he loves Yale, he should try and see what opens.

He probably could squeeze into Tufts or Emory if he really tries.

But a Fordham or George Washington would really love him for himself, not just squeeze him in. The important think is to make sure a mid-tier school is strong enough to survive the current turmoil. The strong mid-tier schools will probably climb up over the shakier high-tier schools.

Fordham and GW are sub 3.5 schools from competitive privates. (like 3.3-3.4).

3.8 gpa - is that unweighted or weighted? If it's unweighted and from a top tier (academically competitive) private school in nyc, that sounds above average from my experience.

The fact that his grades have upward trajectory since grade 9 is a great story too!

Given that he's a humanities boy, I think he'd have a good shot at several SLACs. Some like Wesleyan may be reachy but still worth looking at, but Skidmore could be a good fit for his interests. Also look at Bates, Colby.

If he is interested in law, the college won't matter for jobs. It's all about the law school he gets into. Good luck to your son OP!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.8 GPA (which is about avg) at top tier nyc private. 1480 SAT/34 ACT. Debater. Leadership in clubs. Worked summer jobs (this part is kinda interesting). Outgoing and popular but not athletic - concerned about being left out at smaller SLACs with highest # of athletes. Good writer.

No honors or awards.

Humanities - history/philosophy/politics. Movie buff. Maybe wants to teach or law school.

East coast preferred but open.
Size 2k-10k

Full pay if need be.

Okay w ED. He knows the GPA is not great - 9th grade was rough and improved (some) - and he has no
passion project etc

My somewhat comparable son got in without honors at an in-state state flagship; in with honors and merit aid at a interesting program at another in-state university; rejected by Yale and Northwestern; in with good merit aid at Fordham; Seton Hall; Temple and Catholic University.

So, it might make sense to apply to dream schools ranked T15 through T30 but focus more on T30 through T150.
Maybe

Was your son at a selective private?

At a selective public. Obviously: The OP’s son *could* get in at Yale. If he loves Yale, he should try and see what opens.

He probably could squeeze into Tufts or Emory if he really tries.

But a Fordham or George Washington would really love him for himself, not just squeeze him in. The important think is to make sure a mid-tier school is strong enough to survive the current turmoil. The strong mid-tier schools will probably climb up over the shakier high-tier schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M

This is your answer. Second option GWU.

Disagree. W&M takes top students, not "average" (OPs own assertion). Last year's incoming class at the 75th percentile (where you should be if not hooked) had a 1520, a 34 and a weighted GPA of 4.53. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

It really, really depends on the high school. William and Mary took a bunch of 3.5 and below GPAs from my kid's DC private this year (2024).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the school have a track record of sending to Georgetown or BC? I think he has a shot.
Otherwise Tufts ED. Major in history go to law school.

history is way too common at GU though, right? Maybe philosophy?
Look at the #s on college raptor and decide on different major for each school depending on which is less popular.

None of these schools admit by major. He's a boy in humanities. That's all that matters. There's no gaming history v philosophy v English v classics.

Disagree. But you do you.
Ask your private college counselor - mine spent months parsing through the data on this for my kid.

Look at Davidson and Tufts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M

This is your answer. Second option GWU.

Again, OP needs to check their own school's stats.
W&M and GW and 3.4 schools from our DC private.

100%
The suggestions made here are for public school kids. Very different beast.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the school have a track record of sending to Georgetown or BC? I think he has a shot.
Otherwise Tufts ED. Major in history go to law school.

history is way too common at GU though, right? Maybe philosophy?
Look at the #s on college raptor and decide on different major for each school depending on which is less popular.

None of these schools admit by major. He's a boy in humanities. That's all that matters. There's no gaming history v philosophy v English v classics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.8 GPA (which is about avg) at top tier nyc private. 1480 SAT/34 ACT. Debater. Leadership in clubs. Worked summer jobs (this part is kinda interesting). Outgoing and popular but not athletic - concerned about being left out at smaller SLACs with highest # of athletes. Good writer.

No honors or awards.

Humanities - history/philosophy/politics. Movie buff. Maybe wants to teach or law school.

East coast preferred but open.
Size 2k-10k

Full pay if need be.

Okay w ED. He knows the GPA is not great - 9th grade was rough and improved (some) - and he has no
passion project etc

My somewhat comparable son got in without honors at an in-state state flagship; in with honors and merit aid at a interesting program at another in-state university; rejected by Yale and Northwestern; in with good merit aid at Fordham; Seton Hall; Temple and Catholic University.

So, it might make sense to apply to dream schools ranked T15 through T30 but focus more on T30 through T150.
Maybe

Was your son at a selective private?

Anonymous wrote:3.8 GPA (which is about avg) at top tier nyc private. 1480 SAT/34 ACT. Debater. Leadership in clubs. Worked summer jobs (this part is kinda interesting). Outgoing and popular but not athletic - concerned about being left out at smaller SLACs with highest # of athletes. Good writer.

No honors or awards.

Humanities - history/philosophy/politics. Movie buff. Maybe wants to teach or law school.

East coast preferred but open.
Size 2k-10k

Full pay if need be.

Okay w ED. He knows the GPA is not great - 9th grade was rough and improved (some) - and he has no
passion project etc

My somewhat comparable son got in without honors at an in-state state flagship; in with honors and merit aid at a interesting program at another in-state university; rejected by Yale and Northwestern; in with good merit aid at Fordham; Seton Hall; Temple and Catholic University.

So, it might make sense to apply to dream schools ranked T15 through T30 but focus more on T30 through T150.
Maybe

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M

This is your answer. Second option GWU.

Disagree. W&M takes top students, not "average" (OPs own assertion). Last year's incoming class at the 75th percentile (where you should be if not hooked) had a 1520, a 34 and a weighted GPA of 4.53. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

I think most of you are too ambitious.

I’d pick slacs w Ed 1 and ed 2

He’s a standard strong-ish kid.

Anonymous wrote:Does the school have a track record of sending to Georgetown or BC? I think he has a shot.
Otherwise Tufts ED. Major in history go to law school.

history is way too common at GU though, right? Maybe philosophy?
Look at the #s on college raptor and decide on different major for each school depending on which is less popular.