<p>Use the grades as a measure of how well your child is doing compared to how well s/he could do within the system's parameters- a B means much more could have been learned or done... Grades also show how much a student is willing to work within the system- a needed skill in succeeding in college (eg not doing the work, in a timely fashion yields lower grades despite having the knowledge...).</p>
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<p>Not so in a class (school) where few A's are given, a B is considered a good grade, and a C is not unusual. My d's freshman/sophomore gc told her that few students make it through the four years without a C in some subject - C on a bell curve is not below average. To assume that "a B means much more could have been learned or done" is a fallacy when looking at the grades for some schools. All A's - even in the case of excellent students - are rare, at least for those with a rigorous course load.</p>
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a B is considered a good grade, and a C is not unusual.
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This can be true at colleges as well. College honors at Chicago is awarded for a 3.25 GPA, whereas a 3.3 is a B+. Many of the colleges know the grading policies of certain high schools and take that into account.</p>
<p>Actually the fact that an A might not be the norm in college has been a bonus in attending a hs that gives A's sparingly on the honor track. Oldest d (college senior) said roommates who had never had a grade below A in hs had an awakening when it came to the college's grading system. Smart kids who assumed that an A was the norm - at least for them from past experience - found themselves working hard and harder to get a B. It added another layer to the adjustment to college that hadn't occurred to them. (And in a couple of cases made parents question whether or not the student was doing the required work rather than partying.)</p>
<p>I brought this up re: common data sets and schools' gpa reports, but didn't see an answer: we don't know if schools add back in choir/gym/orchestra (that one still burns me)/etc. when they report the common data set.</p>
<p>It would be in a school's interest to do that, since that probably results in a smarter-sounding freshman class (accepting that the non-core courses are usually graded easier).</p>
<p>Anybody know for certain what the practice is?</p>
<p>It would be important in finding out what constitutes a match.</p>
<p>I honestly think every college does what it wants to. I assume a worst case scenario - that the GPA is core-Academic unweighted - when looking at a selective school. As for the state flagships, I don't know - you'd have to call admissions and ask.</p>
<p>D went on a campus tour Monday to an OOS school that was a match (according to their website) regarding test scores. Either at the admissions meeting or during the campus tour (I wasn't there) the guide or officer said that if you don't have at least a "insert high composite score" on your ACT, don't bother applying. My daughter's friend started crying and called her mom, who called the admissions office, who said that her daughter's test scores were on target for this school.</p>
<p>It's heartbreaking to see these kids receive conflicting stories either from admissions people directly, tour guides, college websites, College Board, etc.</p>