A "is this a good college" thread for all college searchers...

[js]

He didn't take Algebra III/Trig until second block junior year, so he'd only had about a month of it when he took the March test. Then again, maybe he just bombed or didn't take it seriously enough the first time. He's diabetic and his sugar was pretty high the first time from stress, too, so that could have been it. He was in the 1100s, so it wasn't horrible, but it made the schools he was interested in a reach. He went up almost 100 in CR and 200 in Math. We were shocked because I know that's not typical when you do nothing in between the tests to improve your scores. It made a huge difference for the out-of-state schools he was interested in because he qualified for in-state tuition with the second set of scores at several of them.

So that would be my second piece of advice--if the kids score much better on fall tests, go back and check schools you might have written off right away because some of the applications are due earlier if you're trying to get scholarships or out-of-state tuition waivers. We got scores back only days/weeks before some of the deadlines for that came up.

Just an FYI:
There isn't any Trig or Algebra III on the SATs. The math isn't that advanced. It's all about the tricks and reinforcing the math that you learned early on. That is a fact.

 

[Buckalew11]

These are the subject area tests. You can test in various histories, languages, math in 2 levels, the sciences. If schools are requesting ACT test scores over SAT scores, they might not care about the subject tests. But some schools want to see the core content areas via standard tests for home school students, even if not required for traditionally schooled kids.

Some colleges just require SAT II scores, usually 2 from 2 different areas. A math whiz can't submit Math I and Math 2, maybe Math and Physics, or Math and History etc.

I think of the 5 colleges one of mine applied to, 3 required SAT II, 1 requested, and 1 had no requirement for them.

Thanks! I'll definitely check the website again.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Well, as I have a tendency to do, it looks like I've put the cart before the horse. DD is in all honors this year (Freshman year). I assumed if she did well enough (80 or better) that would continue. Now (at almost the end of the third marking period), we've been told that in order to move into Honors classes next year, she'll need to be recommended by her teachers and have a certain average. Algebra see needs a minimum of an 87 average and a letter of recommendation. Biology (science) they haven't told us yet what the requirements are (and this is her worst class). The thing that concerns me is English/History. These two are a package deal. If you take Honors English you MUST take Honors History and vice versa. Well she's doing great in history and okay in English. So what if the History teacher recommends her and the English teacher doesn't? And the most frustrating thing is she does good in class, and then completely bombs on the quarterly exams, so that drags her average right down. I'm feeling so disappointed. And yes, I have a tendency to think she's a snowflake. I just didn't realize how quickly she'd get the smackdown if she wasn't the best of the best. I thought I'd really have to worry about things like this for Junior year. I"m guessing without all honors/AP courses throughout her high school years, Rutger is just a pipe dream. I'd better start considering all my option and use Rutgers as a far reach. Thank you all once again and I'm sorry to have bothered you. Guess I need to learn to take one step at a time.

And of course I wish you and your families all the best in your search for colleges. I hope you each get your first choice and the funding to afford it.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Well, as I have a tendency to do, it looks like I've put the cart before the horse. DD is in all honors this year (Freshman year). I assumed if she did well enough (80 or better) that would continue. Now (at almost the end of the third marking period), we've been told that in order to move into Honors classes next year, she'll need to be recommended by her teachers and have a certain average. Algebra see needs a minimum of an 87 average and a letter of recommendation. Biology (science) they haven't told us yet what the requirements are (and this is her worst class). The thing that concerns me is English/History. These two are a package deal. If you take Honors English you MUST take Honors History and vice versa. Well she's doing great in history and okay in English. So what if the History teacher recommends her and the English teacher doesn't? And the most frustrating thing is she does good in class, and then completely bombs on the quarterly exams, so that drags her average right down. I'm feeling so disappointed. And yes, I have a tendency to think she's a snowflake. I just didn't realize how quickly she'd get the smackdown if she wasn't the best of the best. I thought I'd really have to worry about things like this for Junior year. I"m guessing without all honors/AP courses throughout her high school years, Rutger is just a pipe dream. I'd better start considering all my option and use Rutgers as a far reach. Thank you all once again and I'm sorry to have bothered you. Guess I need to learn to take one step at a time.

And of course I wish you and your families all the best in your search for colleges. I hope you each get your first choice and the funding to afford it.

You sound like you are leaving this thread and I hope that is not the case. Keep reading here for college info. Believe me, the more you know, the less baffled you'll be later. I have a DD who's a senior and a DS who's a freshman and there's just so much to know! Even if she doesn't get into where you thought she was gonna, she's still going to go somewhere and knowledge is power!

What math is your DD in now if it's not algebra? You make it sound like she'll take algebra next year.

As far as the whole "signing off" thing. Well at our school the kids get a piece of paper which they fill out their choices for the following year on. There is a spot next to the math, eng, hist, and science choices for the teacher to sign off on your choice. It really wasn't a huge deal. You put whatever you wanted and brought it to the teacher and usually they just signed off on whatever you picked. Only one time did a teacher not sign off on DD's paper, her 10th grade english teacher did not sign off for honors for 11th grade saying it was a very difficult course and so DD bumped down to regular English for 11th and 12th grade which was probably the appropriate place for her anyway.

I hope it all works out the way you want, you could see who signs off on the paper and then email the ones that don't and ask them about their decisions.

 

[Buckalew11]

Well, as I have a tendency to do, it looks like I've put the cart before the horse. DD is in all honors this year (Freshman year). I assumed if she did well enough (80 or better) that would continue. Now (at almost the end of the third marking period), we've been told that in order to move into Honors classes next year, she'll need to be recommended by her teachers and have a certain average. Algebra see needs a minimum of an 87 average and a letter of recommendation. Biology (science) they haven't told us yet what the requirements are (and this is her worst class). The thing that concerns me is English/History. These two are a package deal. If you take Honors English you MUST take Honors History and vice versa. Well she's doing great in history and okay in English. So what if the History teacher recommends her and the English teacher doesn't? And the most frustrating thing is she does good in class, and then completely bombs on the quarterly exams, so that drags her average right down. I'm feeling so disappointed. And yes, I have a tendency to think she's a snowflake. I just didn't realize how quickly she'd get the smackdown if she wasn't the best of the best. I thought I'd really have to worry about things like this for Junior year. I"m guessing without all honors/AP courses throughout her high school years, Rutger is just a pipe dream. I'd better start considering all my option and use Rutgers as a far reach. Thank you all once again and I'm sorry to have bothered you. Guess I need to learn to take one step at a time.

And of course I wish you and your families all the best in your search for colleges. I hope you each get your first choice and the funding to afford it.

I know you are disappointed but I just need to say that it sounds like your DD is doing her best, trying hard and is making good grades. Please, please, please do not let her see your disappointment. She's at an age where disappointment while doing well could 'cause her to feel like giving up, like she is not good enough or measuring up.

At this point we aren't doing "honors" classes because I'm not sure how to do an honors class and I doubt she'll do any AP classes. We're looking at dual enrollment but that's about it. I'm seriously not worried about her getting into the private institution of her choice. I *hate* that fact that your DD doesn't test well because so much rides on tests these days and all too often kids just freeze.

 

[bballmom56]

I"m guessing without all honors/AP courses throughout her high school years, Rutger is just a pipe dream. I'd better start considering all my option and use Rutgers as a far reach.

Good heavens, not necessarily!! One does not need all honors or APs for Rutgers.

I can't help with the English/History combination issue, but certainly don't think she is out of the running for Rutgers! IF she ends up in the regular academic level of those courses and can ace them, she can be a strong candidate. And if she can do well on the SAT/ACT, she will still have a good profile.

She is only a freshman, don't give up yet!!

 

[Robinrs]

I know you are disappointed but I just need to say that it sounds like your DD is doing her best, trying hard and is making good grades. Please, please, please do not let her see your disappointment. She's at an age where disappointment while doing well could 'cause her to feel like giving up, like she is not good enough or measuring up.

At this point we aren't doing "honors" classes because I'm not sure how to do an honors class and I doubt she'll do any AP classes. We're looking at dual enrollment but that's about it. I'm seriously not worried about her getting into the private institution of her choice. I *hate* that fact that your DD doesn't test well because so much rides on tests these days and all too often kids just freeze.

Good heavens, not necessarily!! One does not need all honors or APs for Rutgers.

I can't help with the English/History combination issue, but certainly don't think she is out of the running for Rutgers! IF she ends up in the regular academic level of those courses and can ace them, she can be a strong candidate. And if she can do well on the SAT/ACT, she will still have a good profile.

She is only a freshman, don't give up yet!!

Wow, don't put so much stress on yourself OR your child. I hope she doesn't feel your anxiety.

Getting into the best college is NOT the end all and be all. It's great but having a stress free and happy child is a better goal than Rutgers. Relax.

 

[Robinrs]

A PP mentioned the site studentsreview. I just looked at some of the comments on the site about 3 different universities my junior dd might consider. Oh my gosh- they were all horrible. I don't even want to take her to
go visit them now. Has anyone else looked at this site and noticed it to be more negative than useful?

I suppose if people are happy, they tend not to write reviews. I did find it slanted toward the negative too much. Take it with a grain of salt.

As the old saying goes, a happy person will tell 10 people and an UNhappy person will tell 10,000..

I assume the happy ones don't go out of their way to report their "happiness". I check the site for other info, like tips to getting in and info about the campus. Some kids are very positive, and the retention rate is put into the equation. The negative ones sometimes sound like they'd complain about heaven, so you have to read deep into it. Remember, most of the comments are from kids so sometimes something may bother them that might thrill you as a parent!

 

[kbeverina]

Just an FYI:
There isn't any Trig or Algebra III on the SATs. The math isn't that advanced. It's all about the tricks and reinforcing the math that you learned early on. That is a fact.

Interesting--that's really good to know because my daughter is moving at a year behind my son in math and I was concerned it was going to affect her SATs. Thanks for that info.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

You sound like you are leaving this thread and I hope that is not the case. Keep reading here for college info. Believe me, the more you know, the less baffled you'll be later. I have a DD who's a senior and a DS who's a freshman and there's just so much to know! Even if she doesn't get into where you thought she was gonna, she's still going to go somewhere and knowledge is power!

What math is your DD in now if it's not algebra? You make it sound like she'll take algebra next year.

As far as the whole "signing off" thing. Well at our school the kids get a piece of paper which they fill out their choices for the following year on. There is a spot next to the math, eng, hist, and science choices for the teacher to sign off on your choice. It really wasn't a huge deal. You put whatever you wanted and brought it to the teacher and usually they just signed off on whatever you picked. Only one time did a teacher not sign off on DD's paper, her 10th grade english teacher did not sign off for honors for 11th grade saying it was a very difficult course and so DD bumped down to regular English for 11th and 12th grade which was probably the appropriate place for her anyway.

I hope it all works out the way you want, you could see who signs off on the paper and then email the ones that don't and ask them about their decisions.

Not necessarily leaving the thread, just realizing I need to deal with Freshman high school before I worry about Freshman college. She's in Honors Algebra now. The beginning of the year was a rough start, but if she maintains, she'll make the 87 average required to get her into Honors Geometry/Algebra II next year. As for the signing off, apparently there are 3 Freshman classes of Honors Algebra, but only 1 class of Honors Geo/AlgII for next year so it's extremely competitive. Also, there are only 2 classes of Honors English/History next year, paired down from 3. Again, she's doing better in History than English, so I'm not sure where that will leave her. Of course it wouldn't be the end of the world if she doesn't get in next year, but it burns me that it's an all or nothing thing with English and History.

I know you are disappointed but I just need to say that it sounds like your DD is doing her best, trying hard and is making good grades. Please, please, please do not let her see your disappointment. She's at an age where disappointment while doing well could 'cause her to feel like giving up, like she is not good enough or measuring up.

At this point we aren't doing "honors" classes because I'm not sure how to do an honors class and I doubt she'll do any AP classes. We're looking at dual enrollment but that's about it. I'm seriously not worried about her getting into the private institution of her choice. I *hate* that fact that your DD doesn't test well because so much rides on tests these days and all too often kids just freeze.

DD and I have had some talks about her grades in the past, but learning this info in the past few days has upset and motivated her. She just thought my pushing was me being me. Now she realizes it's not me, it's the way school is going to be and she needs to step up. Bio seems to be the thorn in her side and she definitely stresses that class, but she really wants to take Chem next year, so she's taking studying seriously now. Wish she's done that from the beginning. She's very much like me, if it doesn't come easy, she's immediately put off and assumes she'll never get it. And that's what gets in her way. When we discuss her grades she likes to remind me that I didn't take any honors classes in high school and never went to college. Showing me that she's smart than me and a better student seems to ignite a flame in her, and I'm good with that. Whatever it takes to motivate her. And the test taking --- ughh. Algebra first marking period 85, second marking period 81, exam average for first and second marking period 60. That killed her average. Thankfully she'll pulling all upper 90s-100 this marking period. Hopefully we will not have a repeat of her exam grade.

Good heavens, not necessarily!! One does not need all honors or APs for Rutgers.

I can't help with the English/History combination issue, but certainly don't think she is out of the running for Rutgers! IF she ends up in the regular academic level of those courses and can ace them, she can be a strong candidate. And if she can do well on the SAT/ACT, she will still have a good profile.

She is only a freshman, don't give up yet!!

I didn't mean to sound like I was throwing in the towel, just trying to maybe be more realistic with my expectations for college. At one point in grammar school I was thinking Princeton. Sometimes I need to get my feet back on the ground and realize she doesn't have to go to the BEST school, just the one that's right for her. The Rutgers website listed everything they consider, including: class ranking, SAT/ACT, number of honors/AP courses taken, grade point average... I just assumed it would be harder to compete if your last honors classes were Freshman year and you never got to AP courses. I also assume it would make getting a good score on the SAT/ACT much harder without those classes.

Again, nothing is definitive. Her schedule will be set in the next few weeks so I'll know more then. In the meantime, I'll keep reading here and reviewing more of the website you've all recommended. If life has taught me nothing else, it's that things have a way of working out the way they're supposed to. You all have truly been a huge source of information, support and help. Thank you!!!!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

As the old saying goes, a happy person will tell 10 people and an UNhappy person will tell 10,000..

I assume the happy ones don't go out of their way to report their "happiness". I check the site for other info, like tips to getting in and info about the campus. Some kids are very positive, and the retention rate is put into the equation. The negative ones sometimes sound like they'd complain about heaven, so you have to read deep into it. Remember, most of the comments are from kids so sometimes something may bother them that might thrill you as a parent!

Weird. I post and get a message that it's a double post so I delete the last one, only to see the first one disappear.

Anyway, my comment was: Haven't the Resort and Restaurant boards taught us anything? LOL

 

[kbeverina]

Good heavens, not necessarily!! One does not need all honors or APs for Rutgers.

I can't help with the English/History combination issue, but certainly don't think she is out of the running for Rutgers! IF she ends up in the regular academic level of those courses and can ace them, she can be a strong candidate. And if she can do well on the SAT/ACT, she will still have a good profile.

She is only a freshman, don't give up yet!!

I so agree with this. A lot can change in three years. Just let her do her best at whatever level she's at and she'll be fine.

 

[bballmom56]

At one point in grammar school I was thinking Princeton.

DS had a friend who had been aiming for Princeton in elementary school. He ended up at Gettysburg and is very happy there.

If nothing else, this thread should show you that there are a TON of good colleges out there for all shapes and sizes of students and you will find the one that is right for your DD. Even if she had the stats for a Princeton or any Ivy league school, it's possible that she might prefer something else.

Right now she should just be working hard, but enjoying high school. Don't forget this is a journey to be lived, not just a race to that end point of college. Those four years go by so fast!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I so agree with this. A lot can change in three years. Just let her do her best at whatever level she's at and she'll be fine.

You're absolutely right.

DS had a friend who had been aiming for Princeton in elementary school. He ended up at Gettysburg and is very happy there.

If nothing else, this thread should show you that there are a TON of good colleges out there for all shapes and sizes of students and you will find the one that is right for your DD. Even if she had the stats for a Princeton or any Ivy league school, it's possible that she might prefer something else.

Right now she should just be working hard, but enjoying high school. Don't forget this is a journey to be lived, not just a race to that end point of college. Those four years go by so fast!

Who am I kidding, I couldn't afford Princeton. I can't even afford Rutgers. And I'm so grateful that she is very much enjoying high school and has made the transition from small Catholic grammar school to large public high school flawlessly. That was a huge concern for me during the summer. I'm truly proud of her and tell her every chance I get.

 

[js]

You're absolutely right.



Who am I kidding, I couldn't afford Princeton. I can't even afford Rutgers. And I'm so grateful that she is very much enjoying high school and has made the transition from small Catholic grammar school to large public high school flawlessly. That was a huge concern for me during the summer. I'm truly proud of her and tell her every chance I get.

PLEASE don't leave. You need to be as informed as you can to help your dd make the best possible choices. While this thread is a great, first start, you need to start exploring other websites.

Start with collegeboard.com Learn about PSATs (for your Freshman/Sophs) and about the SATs and SATII (SATII are subject tests) for your sophs and juniors and seniors that are taking them as last chance hoping to get their scores up.

Purchase Princeton Review, US News & World Report, etc.

It's all about finding the best fit for your child for the best school they can excell in.

While there are many, many choices for your dd, she needs to learn now that her grades will begin making an impact on her transcripts. If she progresses and her grades climb, colleges will take note that she put herself on track and has succeeded. She needs to keep getting better grades, not slip or stay stagnant. Rutgers really shouldn't be too much of a problem with middle scores and average SAT. Look on collegeboard and see what they require.

NOW is the time to begin exploring options for summer job, internship and/or volunteering. These all help make a well-rounded applicant that isn't just about grades. You don't have to do a million things, but she should be consistent. Make sure she gets letters of recommendations, etc. It's never too early to start, especially that you know you want her to go to college. Don't wait until May for her to look for the above options, if you don't have something secure now, begin hunting. What does she like? If she knows what she wants to do after HS, see if you can find a place for her to intern so she can show a college she is confident that she knows what career path she wants and shows interest. If she doesn't know, NO BIG DEAL, MOST don't. Volunteer work is taken into consideration on most/all college CVs. Get her started if she hasn't already.

Good luck with your dd and hs and college searches next year.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

PLEASE don't leave. You need to be as informed as you can to help your dd make the best possible choices. While this thread is a great, first start, you need to start exploring other websites.

Start with collegeboard.com Learn about PSATs (for your Freshman/Sophs) and about the SATs and SATII (SATII are subject tests) for your sophs and juniors and seniors that are taking them as last chance hoping to get their scores up.

Purchase Princeton Review, US News & World Report, etc.

It's all about finding the best fit for your child for the best school they can excell in.

While there are many, many choices for your dd, she needs to learn now that her grades will begin making an impact on her transcripts. If she progresses and her grades climb, colleges will take note that she put herself on track and has succeeded. She needs to keep getting better grades, not slip or stay stagnant. Rutgers really shouldn't be too much of a problem with middle scores and average SAT. Look on collegeboard and see what they require.

NOW is the time to begin exploring options for summer job, internship and/or volunteering. These all help make a well-rounded applicant that isn't just about grades. You don't have to do a million things, but she should be consistent. Make sure she gets letters of recommendations, etc. It's never too early to start, especially that you know you want her to go to college. Don't wait until May for her to look for the above options, if you don't have something secure now, begin hunting. What does she like? If she knows what she wants to do after HS, see if you can find a place for her to intern so she can show a college she is confident that she knows what career path she wants and shows interest. If she doesn't know, NO BIG DEAL, MOST don't. Volunteer work is taken into consideration on most/all college CVs. Get her started if she hasn't already.

Good luck with your dd and hs and college searches next year.

Her school requires 20 hours of community service of four years. She has already completed 24 at the local soup kitchen, with another 9-12 to be worked in May. At this point she has no idea what she wants out of life, so there really isn't anything to intern for. She will also have between 8-15 extra curricular credits by the end of this year so she's also ahead of schedule with that. She has expressed an interest in the video journalism class available at her school as well as working for the school TV station. She can't do either until next year (TV station) and Junior year for video journalism. Maybe that will be what she decides to pursue in the future.

Thanks again for your support, encouragement, guidance and patience. You're all much further along in this journey but have made me feel more than welcome and accepted. Now enough about me and my DD, I'm going to sit back and stalk this thread while I do more research.

 

[golfgal]

Well, as I have a tendency to do, it looks like I've put the cart before the horse. DD is in all honors this year (Freshman year). I assumed if she did well enough (80 or better) that would continue. Now (at almost the end of the third marking period), we've been told that in order to move into Honors classes next year, she'll need to be recommended by her teachers and have a certain average. Algebra see needs a minimum of an 87 average and a letter of recommendation. Biology (science) they haven't told us yet what the requirements are (and this is her worst class). The thing that concerns me is English/History. These two are a package deal. If you take Honors English you MUST take Honors History and vice versa. Well she's doing great in history and okay in English. So what if the History teacher recommends her and the English teacher doesn't? And the most frustrating thing is she does good in class, and then completely bombs on the quarterly exams, so that drags her average right down. I'm feeling so disappointed. And yes, I have a tendency to think she's a snowflake. I just didn't realize how quickly she'd get the smackdown if she wasn't the best of the best. I thought I'd really have to worry about things like this for Junior year. I"m guessing without all honors/AP courses throughout her high school years, Rutger is just a pipe dream. I'd better start considering all my option and use Rutgers as a far reach. Thank you all once again and I'm sorry to have bothered you. Guess I need to learn to take one step at a time.

And of course I wish you and your families all the best in your search for colleges. I hope you each get your first choice and the funding to afford it.

Our school is similar to this, especially the combined History/English. We found that the school is very willing to work around this too. DS18 excels in History, hates English. In 10th grade his History teacher recommended him for AP US History, his English teacher probably though he should go back to 8th grade . The counselors just put him in those classes. They used to play Jepordy for test reviews in History and the teacher often put DS on his own team because he would answer all the questions anyway.

Also, I suspect that if your school only has one section of AP/Honors classes that either your high school is VERY small or that the non-Honors classes are still college prep classes. Keep in mind that colleges look for what is available to the students and if there is only one section of an AP class available they know that very few kids from your school will get into that class and it isn't held against you. It would probably make a difference if she is trying to get into Harvard or Yale, but not for most schools out there. Rutgers isn't a "highly selective" school and getting a pretty good SAT score (the high end of average there was about 1700 for all 3 parts of the SAT-very doable-the low end was only 1480. Nationwide the average ACT score is 1509 so she just needs to be 'average').

You are doing the right thing figuring this out now. You do need a 4 year plan in high school to fit everything into a schedule.

Call her counselor and set up an appointment to find out how things work in your school for the placements.

 

[Robinrs]

DS had a friend who had been aiming for Princeton in elementary school. He ended up at Gettysburg and is very happy there.

If nothing else, this thread should show you that there are a TON of good colleges out there for all shapes and sizes of students and you will find the one that is right for your DD. Even if she had the stats for a Princeton or any Ivy league school, it's possible that she might prefer something else.

Right now she should just be working hard, but enjoying high school. Don't forget this is a journey to be lived, not just a race to that end point of college. Those four years go by so fast!

You're absolutely right.



Who am I kidding, I couldn't afford Princeton. I can't even afford Rutgers. And I'm so grateful that she is very much enjoying high school and has made the transition from small Catholic grammar school to large public high school flawlessly. That was a huge concern for me during the summer. I'm truly proud of her and tell her every chance I get.

Amen. We all have to look deeply and ask ourselves, is this OUR dream or our child's dream? Is this OUR brag or our child's future? I question several parents I see about their quest and wonder what their kids think.

My son's friend's parents threaten and push him so much he takes medication. He quotes all of their standard lines all the time about what they expect from him and what he MUST accomplish. The poor kid is a wreck.

If we mirror who we are and become an influence instead of control in their lives, they'll see by example what they need to be, and achieve it.

I think some of us, including myself, need to land the "helicopter".

 

[MrsPete]

Wow, don't put so much stress on yourself OR your child. I hope she doesn't feel your anxiety.

Getting into the best college is NOT the end all and be all. It's great but having a stress free and happy child is a better goal than Rutgers. Relax.

Agreed.

Kids don't progress at the same level. One of my daugthers just began reading shortly before she started Kindergarten. The younger was average, and in comparison it "felt" slow to me, so I worried. Today they both read better than most of the kids in my general senior classes, and -- speaking of pure enjoyment of reading -- the one who was average loves reading more than the one who took it up so quickly.

Similarly, the older learned her multiplication tables in about a day. The younger struggled; I helped her, bought her games, had her make posters, had her recite them to me . . . it was torture. For me! They both got to the same place, but they didn't arrive at the same pace.

So many people on these boards talk about their kids going to Ivy League colleges, etc. With only 10 Ivy League schools, it's not possible -- or at least highly improbable. Most college-bound students will attend average, mid-tier colleges. That's not a bad thing.

And don't lose sight of the fact that less than half the adult population in America has a Bachelor's degree anyway. At our high school something like 80-85% of all our students START college, but no one keeps stats on how many finish. I know that I hear about who did and didn't make it through first year, or who is moving home to go to community college, but I lose track of them after a couple years -- they stop coming back to visit me.

I didn't mean to sound like I was throwing in the towel, just trying to maybe be more realistic with my expectations for college.

Realistic is good. If she's interested in a school that might be a stretch for her, encourage her to pursue that . . . but at the same time, discuss some more realistic schools. My oldest is a junior, and she's IN LOVE with a particular school (and I think it's perfect for her), but I'm encouraging her to keep her options open, especially since we don't know yet how money will fall out. She's being very realistic about it.

I've lost track . . . are we talking about the girl who's a freshman? When my oldest was a freshman, we didn't really talk about specific schools. We talked about size of schools, distance from home, specific things that schools offer. I wanted her to develop a "picture" of her ideal school before we got serious about particular schools. When she was a sophomore and was fairly set on nursing, we then searched the web to see what schools in our state offered nursing AND fit her description. That gave us a list of about 5 good candidates -- and we added some neighboring states as "maybes, but not likelys". Now that we're attending Open Houses (is that kid ever putting some miles on my car), she's going in with a clear picture of what she wants.

A couple times we've gone with friends, and I'm surprised at how much more prepared my daugther is than her friends -- and these aren't dumb friends whose parents don't know colleges. But her friends seem to know only about the school's reputations: I wanna go here because they're a great football school! or I want to go there because it's so near the beach. I really think my criteria-first, names-second method has worked out well for my daughter.

I think my upcoming freshman will be more of a challenge. I've had it easy with my oldest: She has wanted to do something medical since before she started kindergarten -- first she vascillated between doctor and nurse, and as she grew older, she mentally "tried on" radiology, physical therapy, midwife, and others. My youngest is more typical: Her interests are everywhere. Right now she's talking about architecture, and she's signed up for Drafting 1 as a freshman elective next year . . . but I don't really feel sure that's what she'll stick with. REGARDLESS, we can talk about size of school, location, etc.

Here's what's going to be the sticky part: The best architecture school in this area -- well, the best in several areas -- is 20 minutes down the road, but I want her to go away to college. We'll never pay for a dorm 20 minutes down the road. Oh, well . . . we don't even know that's what she'll stick with. We'll see how she likes Drafting 1.

 

[allison443]

Rutgers isn't a "highly selective" school and getting a pretty good SAT score (the high end of average there was about 1700 for all 3 parts of the SAT-very doable-the low end was only 1480. Nationwide the average ACT score is 1509 so she just needs to be 'average').

You are doing the right thing figuring this out now. You do need a 4 year plan in high school to fit everything into a schedule.

Call her counselor and set up an appointment to find out how things work in your school for the placements.

People looking at Rutgers need to be aware that Rutgers has three separate campuses (New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark), and each campus has different "schools" within it. Certain divisions of Rutgers have higher entrance requirements than others.