I would like to get some opinions. My 2017 son is a very good player with a 3.5 GPA in non-honors classes (for now!) He has serious interest and offers from the following schools. Syracuse(#2 lax, #62 rank).4 of tuition, and Georgetown (not lax ranked,#20 rank) .4 tuition, Maryland (#10 lax, #62 rank), .33 Tuition, UNC (#5 lax rank, #30 rank) .25 of total cost, and Penn State (#11 lax , 37 rank) .5 of total. It is such a big decision, and we are leaning to one, but would like to know if anyone has any words of wisdom in making this choice. Thanks!
Reality check time - with a 3.5 GPA in non-honors classes, you can most certainly rule out Georgetown, UNC, and likely Penn State as an out-of-state individual.
Boston College (#31) has published some great statistics that you might want to consider : 85% of their enrolled freshman class comes from the Top 10% of their High School classes. 96% of their enrolled freshman class comes from the Top 25% of their High School classes.
These metrics are common across all of the Top 30 schools and often paint the realistic academic picture for parents. Further, when one considers that admission couselors at top institutions are looking for the most aggressive curriculums in your student's transcript (meaning AP/IB courses), maintaining a B+/A- in non-honors classes will not cut it.
From this listing, we would estimate that your only realistic choices would be Syracuse and Maryland - however, we would strongly urge you to find some softer options in order to create a better match situation.
