<p>I attend Choate Rosemary Hall and am a third year junior. At home, I would have attended a pretty decent, however, somewhat average/mediocre school, but I'm sure would have been among the top students as well as athletes. I am the Varsity soccer captain now, but in terms of academics, my GPA has been around the 2.7 - 3.0 range since last sophomore winter. I'm very confused and wondering whether staying at home would have been better; for colleges to see me high in the class rank, captain of soccer there as well, and doing clubs (ex: band/music, which i cant really do here b/c of time pressures). anyone with similar experiences or just any advice, please post. thank you.</p>
<p>You really can't do anything about it now, so don't stress yourself out with "what ifs."</p>
<p>Is there something you can do this semester to improve your performance? I think you should start with reviewing your progress in this year's classes with your teachers, get more academic support if you need it, or personal support if that's where the issues are. You should talk to your college counselor at Choate about your options, too...they are there to help you.</p>
<p>It's my opinion as a boarding school product, you are getting a better education at Choate but hurting your college admissions options. It's a lot easier to blow the top off of a public school and stick out, while it looks like you may be left behind at choate simply in the middle of the pack. Nowadays all of the top schools are trying to distance themselves from the old boy attitudes, and unless you are top of your class/ getting recruited for soccer you may have a difficult time in the college process ahead, not to mention next year being possibly harder than this year which is absurd.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any interesting thoughts on this?</p>
<p>If you are going to a school that doesn't rank, I would say private is the way to go. However, if the school does rank, public has your best shot for admissions.</p>
<p>Basically, if a private school uses rank, it usually means it ends up hurting more students than it helps. However, public schools using rank help their students more than hurting them.</p>
<p>I went to Andover and Loomis, and I think Choate falls somewhere in between. At Andover, the grading scale definitely works to your advantage, as does the school's reputation, and I have no doubt that kids get into better schools from there than if they had gone to public school. At Loomis....eh, not so much, there are definitely kids who would have been better served college admissions-wise going to a public school and getting a 3.5-4.0.</p>
<p>If you want to go to a DIII school like Bates, Hamilton, etc. then you could talk to the soccer coaches and get athletic support. If you want to go to a bigger, DI school, you might not be recruited (I don't know how good you are obviously, you might for all I know), and you definitely should try to pull up the GPA a little. Senior fall is one of the most important terms, and junior spring is too. Get those grades higher and higher, colleges love the upward trend.</p>
<p>i think generally speaking i find an educational system of public schools only more ethical than a system including private schools b/c basically private schools promote classism--rich ppl can choose to send their kids there, but poorer ppl have no choice. i say instead of private schools, the rich parents should send their kids public & donate resources to the public ones so they can be just as good</p>
<p>Colleges know that Choate is one of the most challenging schools in the world, so I don't think your GPA could hurt you.</p>
<p>Take heart. I do think most colleges, especially small LACs know the difference between a 2.7 at Choate and a 2.7 at John Doe Public High School.
Your recommendations will be important and if your sport is a hook, then coach support will help. You should aim to do well on the SAT or ACT</p>
<p>Case in point, DS, graduated from top prep with about a 2.8-2.9--his school does not rank or report GPA. The top GPA at his school is about a 3.4, so in fact a 2.8 is not too shabby. His SATs were > 90th centile. He was a recruited athlete and now is at a top 20 LAC and getting good grades---he feels college is much easier than HS</p>
<p>Good luck,you will be fine</p>
<p>it will decrease your GPA but increase your ACT if you attend a top-notch bs</p>