Choate grades from the start. And it can be a rough adjustment. That said, not all colleges consider first year of HS grades in their GPA calculations. And Choate only uses 11th grade GPA in the report it sends to colleges.
L’ville used to not grade first semester. Not sure if that’s still the case.
George had grades every term but your transcript only had a grade for the year. Many teachers were very upfront that a strong upward trend could heavily impact that year end grade and to "think of the interim grades as what your grade would be if the class ended at this point, which it doesn’t. " It made a good case for continued effort!
I would say that if your kid isn’t someone who can take that adjustment, a top BS is not for them. Yes there are counselors at BS but I really think this particular issue is something that kids either can or cannot handle.
We know kids withdrawn from BS because their parents decided they would not get into their college choice with the grades they were able to get at BS. TBH, it really freaked out my son when it happened because it made him question the whole system.
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Yes! And if your child finds his/her identity from his intelligence - like where they are the ones everyone asks when they have a question, used to knowing everything, being the smartest, etc. - it can really do a number on them if they are not prepared. If there are in an elite boarding school many will have been in the top 10 percent of their class. Now 90 percent of them will not be.
That is not unique at BS. Many kids in top private day schools have the same issue. Would their college application be stronger from public school (either because grading is less strict so grades are higher, they have more accelerated classes which are weighted heavily by colleges, they are not required to take AP tests, or even if they are at the very top because they are val or sal of an enormous class vs a smaller one). Perhaps. Preparation for college (not only academic but in time management) is what many of us decide is worth it.
The same thing happens at top universities. The freshman class at MIT and similar universities all were very close to being the top student in their high school. They are not all going to be at the top of the class at MIT and classes get a lot tougher.
This might be easier to deal with as an 18 year old university freshman than it would be as a 14 year old high school freshman. Even as a 18 year old it can be tough.
I personally believe that many exceptionally strong students would be better off at a more normal high school and perhaps a “top 50” rather than “top 10” university for their bachelors. Suburban US high schools are already quite competitive.
It is going to depend upon the personality of the individual student. Some students (I was a perfect example) are not okay with this at one age, and absolutely thrive in a competitive school at a different (usually older) age.
I think that this is a very good thing to discuss with the student before deciding to attend a highly competitive private high school.
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Totally 
agree with this. I differ with you only in that I think the earlier a kid realizes they will not always be the smartest is the room, the better. But that isn’t a good reason on its own for a kid to go to boarding school.
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To me, that’s easy to tell. If a kid is too laid-back without fully realizing her/his potential and does better when challenged, then s/he needs to go to a more challenging environment. On the other hand, if the kid is already stretched, a more challenging environment won’t help. It’s never fun to be in the bottom 25% of any class.
And for those who attend less competitive colleges, it can happen at grad school.
I was the wrong major undergrad at a large competitive university. Everything was on a curve, and I was used to not beating it.
My American classmates in grad school were mostly from (small) midwestern LACs. Some of them were shocked to be getting crushed on exams for the first time - and frankly, when you write “8 is a well known prime”, you deserve to be crushed.
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