Anonymous wrote:Last year DD 3.45, ACT 33 Accepted with Merit Aid:

Oberlin (attends - well half on campus)
SMCM - in state
Gettysburg
CNU

Yikes. How Oberlin has fallen, compared to few decades back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not bitter. I was asked to share an update, so I did. Covering all the bills doesn't elevate anyone's life. He's not achieving any adult milestones, no girlfriend, no assets, there's no room for advancement at his current job.

More teens like my son should consider military service after high school. My husband and I just didn't know enough about it for it. It's not like 4 years of service automatically means frontline canon fodder, which is what we naively assumed.

I have mostly girls but honestly, I see a lot of this in one of them. She’s not very motivated, does the bare minimum, and is probably below average GPA. my thinking, she hadn’t demonstrated that she earns the privilege of going away to any school, whether we can pay for it or not. She might be best to start at nova and go from there.

Same here. I think there are a lot of benefits to living at home.and going to school locally for kids like this. Yes, I know they have to grow up and mature sometime, but some just aren't ready at age 17/18 to manage it all. If your kid worked hard for a 3.25, they'll probably be fine in a major that suits their talents and interest. If the 3.25 is a result of your kid blowing off a lot, then...???

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Does it make any difference at all (positively or negatively) if my 3.15ish DC is coming from a big 3? 1480 SAT.

My big 3 kid with slightly higher GPA (3.3 GPA) and similar scores has several acceptances to universities in the USNWR top 30-45 range. Your kid will be fine. Look at the scattergrams from your school, not the posters on here. At public schools, a 3.1 to 3.4 is really low. Middle of the pack at our Big 3.

+1 No chance of 50% of the class having a 4.0, and colleges don't expect it from private schools. Completely different grading system.

Many options:
ODU, Longwood, Radford, Mary Baldwin, McDaniel, Elon, Frostburg, Montgomery College in MoCo, Western Carolina, Christopher Newport

Anonymous wrote:I'm not bitter. I was asked to share an update, so I did. Covering all the bills doesn't elevate anyone's life. He's not achieving any adult milestones, no girlfriend, no assets, there's no room for advancement at his current job.

More teens like my son should consider military service after high school. My husband and I just didn't know enough about it for it. It's not like 4 years of service automatically means frontline canon fodder, which is what we naively assumed.

Just say no to the war machine. My kid isn’t gonna be another number for a Uncle Sam. Now he has a 4.0 GPA, but I would say the same thing no matter what it was.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not bitter. I was asked to share an update, so I did. Covering all the bills doesn't elevate anyone's life. He's not achieving any adult milestones, no girlfriend, no assets, there's no room for advancement at his current job.

More teens like my son should consider military service after high school. My husband and I just didn't know enough about it. It's not like 4 years of service automatically means frontline canon fodder, which is what we naively assumed.

I'm sorry OP. I do think that your advice is on point for completely disinterested students.

As to your B average being in the bottom 50%, are you talking about weighted average, meaning that a student took no advanced courses at all and is still barely getting Bs? I know plenty of motivated students who get Bs and occasional Cs in AP and other advanced classes who turned out just fine and were very successful in college.

I don't put much stock in AP grades. I know plenty of kids who earned As or Bs in AP courses but then just skipped the AP Exams or bombed them. The grades were fake just like the rest and the no or low AP Exam scores demonstrates they lack maturity, work ethic, and study skills.

Of course some average unmotivated students can still plow through some easy bachelor's at a degree mill, especially with how watered down most departments are in an effort to inflate college completion rates, ex. doing away with college algebra and chemistry requirements.

But most slackers, especially boys, still don't finish.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not bitter. I was asked to share an update, so I did. Covering all the bills doesn't elevate anyone's life. He's not achieving any adult milestones, no girlfriend, no assets, there's no room for advancement at his current job.

More teens like my son should consider military service after high school. My husband and I just didn't know enough about it for it. It's not like 4 years of service automatically means frontline canon fodder, which is what we naively assumed.

I have mostly girls but honestly, I see a lot of this in one of them. She’s not very motivated, does the bare minimum, and is probably below average GPA. my thinking, she hadn’t demonstrated that she earns the privilege of going away to any school, whether we can pay for it or not. She might be best to start at nova and go from there.

Anonymous wrote:NP. Does it make any difference at all (positively or negatively) if my 3.15ish DC is coming from a big 3? 1480 SAT.

My big 3 kid with slightly higher GPA (3.3 GPA) and similar scores has several acceptances to universities in the USNWR top 30-45 range. Your kid will be fine. Look at the scattergrams from your school, not the posters on here. At public schools, a 3.1 to 3.4 is really low. Middle of the pack at our Big 3.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Does it make any difference at all (positively or negatively) if my 3.15ish DC is coming from a big 3? 1480 SAT.

Yes it makes a difference. Use your school counselor or Naviance to guide you, not the anonymous public.

Yes! My sophomore has an 86 in Chem at present. It is the highest grade in the class.

Anyone who describes their adult son as "acting like a 15 year old" is bitter about their son.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not bitter. I was asked to share an update, so I did. Covering all the bills doesn't elevate anyone's life. He's not achieving any adult milestones, no girlfriend, no assets, there's no room for advancement at his current job.

More teens like my son should consider military service after high school. My husband and I just didn't know enough about it for it. It's not like 4 years of service automatically means frontline canon fodder, which is what we naively assumed.

I'm sorry OP. I do think that your advice is on point for completely disinterested students.

As to your B average being in the bottom 50%, are you talking about weighted average, meaning that a student took no advanced courses at all and is still barely getting Bs? I know plenty of motivated students who get Bs and occasional Cs in AP and other advanced classes who turned out just fine and were very successful in college.

I'm not bitter. I was asked to share an update, so I did. Covering all the bills doesn't elevate anyone's life. He's not achieving any adult milestones, no girlfriend, no assets, there's no room for advancement at his current job.

More teens like my son should consider military service after high school. My husband and I just didn't know enough about it for it. It's not like 4 years of service automatically means frontline canon fodder, which is what we naively assumed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oldest son had a 3.3 or 3.4. Went to Indiana University. Failed out.

No light switch goes on* at college. You know how you ride him now for the 3.3? Well, you can't at college, he can do literally anything he wants at college. And will. The 3.3 tells me your son hates school.

If we could do it over again we would have encouraged him to go into the military for a few years. He was smart but way too immature, zero discipline, and didn't appreciate anything.

Can you tell us how your DS is doing now? (I'm worried that something like this will happen to my DS -- a current 12th grader.)

Never went back to finish. Has a full-time job that covers his bills and not much else. Single. Mid 20s but still acts 15 years old.

50% of all 12th graders in the nation have an A average GPA. This is a fact. So if your child has a low B average, they're in the bottom half of the nation. A fact. Another fact, about 50% of the kids who enroll in college never actually graduate. Guess who usually finishes on time -- and who doesn't finish and who takes 5 or 6 or 7 years to finish?

Again, every parent with a slacker teen boy knows you ride his a** for that low B average. At college you can't ride them. They do what they want, including skip most classes and do all the assignments last minute. Plus they eat garbage all day and of course many party or will pick up pot. Plus video games and whatever other dumb crap to squander their days and nights away.

There are so many red flags in your face telling you not to waste your money on a slacker boy, but nobody calls their baby ugly, your own slacker is special; the circumstances are unique. Delusional magical thinking.

Would you give an immature slacker a new Porsche 911 for his efforts? No, but millions of parents don't think twice about rewarding their slacker boy with a $25,000+ per year spring break trip to a college of his choice.

I have to say, you're a terrible and bitter parent. If your son has a job that pays all of his bill and he's happy, then that should be enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oldest son had a 3.3 or 3.4. Went to Indiana University. Failed out.

No light switch goes on* at college. You know how you ride him now for the 3.3? Well, you can't at college, he can do literally anything he wants at college. And will. The 3.3 tells me your son hates school.

If we could do it over again we would have encouraged him to go into the military for a few years. He was smart but way too immature, zero discipline, and didn't appreciate anything.

Can you tell us how your DS is doing now? (I'm worried that something like this will happen to my DS -- a current 12th grader.)

Never went back to finish. Has a full-time job that covers his bills and not much else. Single. Mid 20s but still acts 15 years old.

50% of all 12th graders in the nation have an A average GPA. This is a fact. So if your child has a low B average, they're in the bottom half of the nation. A fact. Another fact, about 50% of the kids who enroll in college never actually graduate. Guess who usually finishes on time -- and who doesn't finish and who takes 5 or 6 or 7 years to finish?

Again, every parent with a slacker teen boy knows you ride his a** for that low B average. At college you can't ride them. They do what they want, including skip most classes and do all the assignments last minute. Plus they eat garbage all day and of course many party or will pick up pot. Plus video games and whatever other dumb crap to squander their days and nights away.

There are so many red flags in your face telling you not to waste your money on a slacker boy, but nobody calls their baby ugly, your own slacker is special; the circumstances are unique. Delusional magical thinking.

Would you give an immature slacker a new Porsche 911 for his efforts? No, but millions of parents don't think twice about rewarding their slacker boy with a $25,000+ per year spring break trip to a college of his choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are these weighted or unweighted GPAs being discussed? I'm new to the process so just trying to figure it all out.

Unweighted for my kid. About the same GPA. Also wondering for my kid who is pretty average. I don’t anticipate getting any merit aid but I’ve heard southern schools are more generous to average kids.

True for some (where's our ROLL TIDE friend?! ), but not UF, UGA, Chapel Hill, Ga Tech, Clemson engineering. Yes for LSU, Ole Miss, South Caroline, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Are we talking about getting in, or getting merit aid? I think for Kentucky and 'BAMA, to get merit aid, you need to have a fairly high GPA and standardized test scores. If you're not submitting standardized test scores, your GPA needs to be higher.