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

[marcyinPA]

I brought that up earlier as well. Evidently we are the only 2 people on The Dis who have an average kid.

Sometimes I think I don't fit in here...average kids, low paying job, very few big vacations....

 

[punkin]

I brought that up earlier as well. Evidently we are the only 2 people on The Dis who have an average kid.

Be glad your kids are "average". My kids have "issues" which is much worse IMO.

 

[kbeverina]

I haven't read every single post, so I might be missing something....but what about the kid who is not a 4.3 GPA student?

My sophomore DS is a decent student, but not great by any means. He had a horrible freshman year. HORRIBLE. This year has been better...he made honor roll three of the four quarters of last semester and was ranked in the top third of his class at the end of the semester.

We are just ending the first quarter of the second semester, and I believe he failed French. A's and B's in his other academic classes.

He's extremely inconsistent with his grades, and no amount of kicking his behind has seemed to make much difference. I have noticed, if he likes the teacher, he does great. He doesn't like his French teacher. At all. Voila`...F.

We talk about colleges looking at the bottom line. He is not there yet maturity-wise, if you know what I mean. He's 15, living in the moment.

Where does this leave us, when trying to do the college shopping thing? I need advice from parents of average students!!!

My kid is pretty average. I personally liked the college confidential search function because you can plug in their scores as part of the search and we used that to come up with a list of reaches, matches and safeties. We put in his actual GPA/SATs for matches, a higher set for reaches, and a lower set for safeties.

He applied to 10 schools and I think the system worked well for our case. He has heard from 8--acceptances at all 5 matches and acceptances with half to almost full tuition merit awards at the 3 safeties. We're still waiting to hear from the reaches. But he loves one of his matches and one of his safeties, so he's not stressed about the reaches. Getting one of those rolling admissions acceptances under their belts can really be a good thing.

 

[erincon23]

Sometimes I think I don't fit in here...average kids, low paying job, very few big vacations....

This made me laugh! I fit right in there with you -- when he's working DH makes decent money, but that's been a major roller coaster... vacations? what's a vacation... My DS18 had a 26 ACT and a 2.9 -- he graduated in 2010, went to college for one semester and left since he wanted to change majors. Don't worry too much! At least in Illinois, several of our state colleges are eager to have students like this. The couple of Ds on his report cards didn't deter them. The issue is to get a kid like that to understand that they've limited their options, at least to start, but that it's not insurmountable. They won't get into top flight programs, and they may not get into the program of their choice at an "average" public university, at least not without extra work. But they can do it. They just have to want to do it. My DS is now working toward getting into a very competitive musical theatre program -- requires different skills!

My DS15 is still a work in progress -- due to some medical issues and lack of hard work completing missing homework following all those absences, he had a very rough 1st semester in high school. While he's very bright, he doesn't test well, and he's convinced he's not going to college, so I don't think he's working as hard as he could. With a solid B --> some C average, I'm sure he'll get into Illinois State or Northern Illinois. If he really pushes himself, he'll do better. Your son will get it at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later!

 

[MUFFYCAT]

My older DD was definetly "average" when appling for colleges. We were just happy she was accepted to SUNY Cortland as that was her firsst choice.
(She only applied to SUNY schools)

 

[kbeverina]

I also want to add that I know scores aren't everything and they can mean more or less depending on what schools the kids are applying to. In my son's case, he wanted a larger school with larger sports programs because he wants to work in sports management. I think the larger schools tend to place more importance on scores, at least initially, because of the large numbers of applicants. One of his reaches we knew for sure is all about scores.

But it was a good place to start. And that's what a reach can be about--good enough scores and dazzling them with extracurriculars and essays and recommendations and all that.

 

[Robinrs]

I brought that up earlier as well. Evidently we are the only 2 people on The Dis who have an average kid.

On the internet EVERYONE'S child is a genius!! Just reading some of the college forums you'd think Einstein was cloned a million times over... And IF they have one average kid, the other one is a mixture of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. It's a complete reflection on themselves.

 

[cruisnfamily]

I haven't read every single post, so I might be missing something....but what about the kid who is not a 4.3 GPA student?

Where does this leave us, when trying to do the college shopping thing? I need advice from parents of average students!!!

I brought that up earlier as well. Evidently we are the only 2 people on The Dis who have an average kid.

I just agreed that there'd been a lot of info about top schools it might be good to hear about some schools for average students too.

Also, my DD18 who starts school in the fall is a very average student and if I was still looking for her I'd be sad because she couldn't get in to most of these places that have been posted. She has a 3.2 unweighted, 3.6 weighted but only a 1070 sat and a 20 ACT. No fabulous extra curriculars either, just a few clubs, volunteering, etc. The same stuff everybody else does. Where do these kids go? Mine is going to FGCU, I hope she loves it!

No there's 3 of us, see my post above as well.

(I actually have 1 of each but I want to hear about all the schools, not just the Ivies and comparable because although DS is bright, he won't be going to Harvard)

 

[Green Tea]

I have looked at brochures and visited colleges all over the county. There will be a place for all of my children; just very different types of schools for all of them. From Harvard on down to....what is the opposite of Harvard? No one has brought up those schools. The more I visit, the more I learn.

 

[Green Tea]

If anyone has names of a school like this, please share:

a very small student body, in the mountains or deserts, preferably private, outdoorsy/ecological, accepts classic underachievers. Lots of opportunities for hands on things-not strictly classroom.

 

[punkin]

If anyone has names of a school like this, please share:

a very small student body, in the mountains or deserts, preferably private, outdoorsy/ecological, accepts classic underachievers. Lots of opportunities for hands on things-not strictly classroom.

Champlain College has already been posted as I believe was Eckerd (for those who prefer sun and warmth). Both are good schools. No, they are not "great" however that's defined, but they can definitely provide a good solid undergraduate education.

 

[piglet too]

My DS is a junior with decent grades. He has an overall gpa of 3.5 which is a B+ average at his school. He also has scored well on his practice tests for the ACT, which he won't take for real until May. (I don't undersatnd quite how they get this, but they are telling him he should get at least a 31) He plans to major in Marine Biology if the school offers it.

So far we have looked at University of Rhode Island, which he loved. We will also be looking at University of Tampa and Eckerd College over spring break. Another school he is looking into is Carroll University in Wisconsin. This college has an agreement with Hawaii Pacific that he is guaranteed acceptance into their Marine Biology program after two years at Carroll.

Can anyone offer advice on how to determin if a school has a great biology program? I want him to have some schools to look at that may not offer the exact Marine Sciences degree but still get him a good foundation. He plans to go for his Masters right away and wants to eventually get his Doctorate too, so he can always go to a different school for those.

We are going to a college fair tonight, and I want to ask the reps about their biology programs as well as what actual costs end up being. What should I be asking about costs as far as aid, grants and scholarships?

 

[golfgal]

If anyone has names of a school like this, please share:

a very small student body, in the mountains or deserts, preferably private, outdoorsy/ecological, accepts classic underachievers. Lots of opportunities for hands on things-not strictly classroom.

Look to schools in more rural areas. My son's school has a lot of outdoor programs, even a game cleaning room for kids that hunt and fish (my son does not). It's not in the mountains or desert though.

Possibly some schools in Western South Dakota might be of interest (I just don't know what schools they are specifically out there other then the School of Mines but that is mostly and engineering/geology school with pretty high entrance requirements).

Ok, I looked some up:

http://www.bhsu.edu/Admissions/Apply/Freshman/tabid/772/Default.aspx

This is a link to their admission requirements-pretty easy to get into

 

[golfgal]

My DS is a junior with decent grades. He has an overall gpa of 3.5 which is a B+ average at his school. He also has scored well on his practice tests for the ACT, which he won't take for real until May. (I don't undersatnd quite how they get this, but they are telling him he should get at least a 31) He plans to major in Marine Biology if the school offers it.

So far we have looked at University of Rhode Island, which he loved. We will also be looking at University of Tampa and Eckerd College over spring break. Another school he is looking into is Carroll University in Wisconsin. This college has an agreement with Hawaii Pacific that he is guaranteed acceptance into their Marine Biology program after two years at Carroll.

Can anyone offer advice on how to determin if a school has a great biology program? I want him to have some schools to look at that may not offer the exact Marine Sciences degree but still get him a good foundation. He plans to go for his Masters right away and wants to eventually get his Doctorate too, so he can always go to a different school for those.

We are going to a college fair tonight, and I want to ask the reps about their biology programs as well as what actual costs end up being. What should I be asking about costs as far as aid, grants and scholarships?

Most schools have this in their literature or on their websites but you can ask about the % of kids that receive school grants/aid/scholarships outside of federal and state assistance (which is income based only so that will vary year to year for every school). What the application process is for school scholarships, etc. and when are the DEADLINES. That is a big one because often they are in Nov/Dec.

 

[Robinrs]

Sometimes I think I don't fit in here...average kids, low paying job, very few big vacations....

LOL, I'm the biggest MISfit here and ya know what, I don't mind. I've never been cookie cutter and never will be!

I'm a single parent of a GREAT kid, a great kid who repeated kindergarten because I was ill and he took care of me every night and can't pass math to save his ever loving life. He gets A's in ALL of his other classes but math pulls his average down every year.

I recently took on the care of my elderly uncle after my aunt died so money is a BIG issue for me. My son is a perfect candidate for college, but the math is and continues to be his albatross.

It was MINE, also, hence the major in English and Theatre! He is also a broadcast minded person, so the math is never going to be an asset to his future, but it's a problem NOW.

Since I am a single parent (a wart on the butt of society I call myself ) I know we will receive some sort of financial aid. His Dad is completely OUT of the picture (he's mentally challenged and on disability) so I don't expect help from his side of the family at all. Several of the public colleges in the state would be completely FREE after the Hope and other financial aid, but he wants to go to a private college so I'm praying something will work out.

This thread has given me hope that it is possible he can go for the same price of a public. My plan is to go to each of them and do the comparison. He's a junior so I have a little time, and I plan to use it WELL.

 

[tar heel]

If anyone has names of a school like this, please share:

a very small student body, in the mountains or deserts, preferably private, outdoorsy/ecological, accepts classic underachievers. Lots of opportunities for hands on things-not strictly classroom.

Look at Brevard College and Warren Wilson College in the North Carolina mountains. I know less about Brevard but WWC is a really interesting and different school -- not sure about the underachivers for it but I know some who've gone to Brevard.

 

[golfgal]

Green Tea--another school-not in the mountains or desert though--to look into would be Cornell in Iowa. It is a different class set up where the students only take one (maybe 2) classes at a time-longer class periods for a block of time.

 

[Robinrs]

We are going to a college fair tonight, and I want to ask the reps about their biology programs as well as what actual costs end up being. What should I be asking about costs as far as aid, grants and scholarships?

Most schools have this in their literature or on their websites but you can ask about the % of kids that receive school grants/aid/scholarships outside of federal and state assistance (which is income based only so that will vary year to year for every school). What the application process is for school scholarships, etc. and when are the DEADLINES. That is a big one because often they are in Nov/Dec.

I agree that most of the info is on their website, also on collegeconfidential.com and collegeboard.com. I found that the people at the tables at the most recent college fair I went to were total salesmen and basically told me what they THOUGHT I wanted to hear. Some were trained to ASSUME and we all know what that word means...

 

[golfgal]

I agree that most of the info is on their website, also on collegeconfidential.com and collegeboard.com. I found that the people at the tables at the most recent college fair I went to were total salesmen and basically told me what they THOUGHT I wanted to hear. Some were trained to ASSUME and we all know what that word means...

We didn't spend a lot of time talking to the reps themselves at the college fair--first, it was crowded-second, I didn't really want a sales talk. I wanted to see pictures of the campus, see what their general admission requirements were, etc. It was mainly to see a name on a booth and see some pictures of campuses to start narrowing things down for DS.

 

[piglet too]

Oh, I agree that the reps at college fairs are mostly sales people. I was just looking for a way to ask the question so my son hears it. For some reason, hearing it from someone else will sink in more over my telling him or showing him on the school website.


So how do I know if a school truly has a good biology program? Will I find that on collegeboard? I know not all programs are equal and he wants the best he can get. He has been told by a zookeeper where he volunteers that he should look for a good biology program first and not worry so much about the marine sciences part.