Q:  My son's high school college counselor was very negative about his chances of acceptance into college. He is a junior, and has an average in the low to mid 80's. He doesn't test well so his SATs aren't that strong either, but he is a good writer and very articulate. The counselor told him to apply to CUNY community colleges and then to transfer to a 4-year college. That was it.  I would like him to go away to college to get the full campus experience, but this counselor was very discouraging. 

A:  While you feel disappointed that your son's counselor seemed to crush his expectations, there's another way to look at the situation.  Perhaps the counselor was trying to suggest cost-efficient alternatives to high-priced private colleges?  Nationwide, more and more students are looking to community colleges for beginning their college education.  In New York City, CUNY provides superb value for your education dollar, and each year thousands of its community college graduates transfer successfully to CUNY, SUNY, and many other state and private 4-year colleges and universities. (In fact, this year, CUNY schools are so popular that they are no longer accepting freshman applications for next fall!)

But I certainly understand your point about wanting your son to have the complete college experience, and that includes being in a new environment and living in a dorm.  Are there colleges that will look seriously at a student with a GPA in the B to B+ range with SATs that are not the strongest?  Yes -- and that is why so many schools require not just an essay, but information about school and community activities, and recommendations.  They are interested in the whole picture.  No college makes its total decision based upon SATs alone! <!--more-->

A growing number of  colleges are "test optional" -- they do not require SATs or ACTs, but give students the choice of submitting other information instead.  You can find a list of these schools at fairtest.org. The downside is that many of them tend to be expensive.  The only other colleges that do not require standardized test scores are community colleges.

You and your son have to be realistic.  Colleges will ask themselves two questions while they read an application: 1) can this student handle our academic program successfully? and 2) what will this student contribute to our campus community?

What are your son's strengths?  What are the qualities he will share with his campus community?  What special skills or demonstrated interests does he have?  Those will be important facts to consider as he selects colleges that might be a good fit. And he should definitely play up these attributes in  his college essays and applications.