<p>My school is extremely rigorous and one of the top private schools in the state. However, my school is very stingy with its grades and only few people get 4.3/4.3 GPA. Our test scores are higher than the average (our average ACT is 31 and half of our class gets 4/5 on all of the AP's that we take). Would colleges take into account that our GPA's are so low compared to those of other schools?</p>
<p>The short, quick answer: Yes!</p>
<p>Every high school sends colleges their “high school profile” along with transcripts and Secondary School Reports that explain in general terms your high school’s grading policy. Even if your high school doesn’t rank, they will usually have some sort of chart that visually describes the number of students who receive A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s etc, as well as the range SAT/ACT scores, the number of AP classes taught, and the range of AP test grades. Ask your guidance counselor to see your high school profile. Here are examples from other schools:
<a href=“http://www.bls.org/ourpages/auto/2013/5/24/55204166/2013-14%20BLS%20Profile.pdf[/url]”>http://www.bls.org/ourpages/auto/2013/5/24/55204166/2013-14%20BLS%20Profile.pdf</a>
<a href=“http://stuy.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2013/3/7/37096823/Stuyvesant%20College%20Profile%202012-13.pdf[/url]”>http://stuy.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2013/3/7/37096823/Stuyvesant%20College%20Profile%202012-13.pdf</a></p>
<p>In general, I agree with gibby. However, the long, drawn-out answer is that it depends on which colleges to which you refer.</p>
<p>Large, public universities, especially less selective ones, have such a large volume of applications that they tend to look at the GPA as a number with little context. If their published criteria for Honors College admission is 3.8, they will generally auto-reject a transcript of 3.79 regardless of any “deflation” at the high school.</p>
<p>Highly selective universities on the other hand, have considerable data on high schools across the country. They assign an officer to each state and this person is responsible for knowing grading policies for high schools in the assigned territory. If your school is truly “one of the top private schools in the state” then adcoms will be familiar with not just your grading policies, but even with individual teachers and the material covered in advanced classes.</p>
<p>^^ From my experience, large public universities rely more on a student’s SAT/ACT score and draw a line-in-the-sand with a minimum test score needed for admissions (rather than a student’s high school GPA). I do agree about Honors colleges within a large public university having a line-in-the-sand with respect to GPA.</p>
<p>Another suggestion - change your screen name. It might be a wonderfully clever and innocent inside joke among you and your friends, but it can easily be offensive.</p>
<p>I help with alumni admissions at a selective college and am occasionally appalled at some of the email addresses that applicants submit for their official contact (drunkallweekend@<em>.com; hotandsexxxy@</em>.com; etc.). These immediately create negative first impressions that are difficult to ignore.</p>
<p>Your CC screen name is obviously anonymous and not part of any official application, but I still wanted to offer a word of caution to the wise.</p>
<p>Trust me, every top school in the country knows JBS. You have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>My daughter goes to a very selective, very large test-in high school in NYC (although not as selective as Stuyvesant, whose profile is linked above). The admissions officer that covers NYC at the most selective unit of the State U. of NY told me that they are very much aware of the rigor at my kid’s high school. Now, NY doesn’t have a gigantic flagship like some states do, But the admissions officers at various state u. units do seem to know their high schools within the state, and all of these schools have 6,000-15,000 undergraduates.</p>
<p>@rmldad</p>
<p>I think you’re overreacting. Let him have what ever screen-name he wants. If you are offended by someone’s screen name, you’re too sensitive. You’re right about the email address, but someone’s account name on college confidential has no effect on anything. I don’t see how changing his screen name will change anything.</p>
<p>I think @rmldad’s comments were meant as a reminder that during the college applications process student’s need to know that what they post on facebook, twitter and the like, is searchable through google, bing etc. With competition at selective colleges being so intense, the last thing you want is for an Admissions Officer or an Alumni Interviewer to question your maturity or your character by “reading into” your screen name, email address, photos or posts. </p>
<p>[80%</a> Of College Admissions Officers Use Facebook To Check Out Students](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>80% Of College Admissions Officers Use Facebook To Recruit Students | HuffPost College)
</p>
<p>[What</a> College Admission Officers Don’t Like Seeing On Facebook: Vulgarity, Drinking Photos & ‘Illegal Activities’ - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/10/12/what-college-admission-officers-dont-like-seeing-on-facebook-profiles-vulgarity-drinking-photos-and-illegal-activities/]What”>What College Admission Officers Don't Like Seeing On Facebook: Vulgarity, Drinking Photos & 'Illegal Activities')
</p>
<p>[Facebook</a> can hurt college application chances](<a href=“http://www.metrokids.com/MetroKids/March-2010/Facebook-Can-Affect-College-Admissions/]Facebook”>http://www.metrokids.com/MetroKids/March-2010/Facebook-Can-Affect-College-Admissions/)
</p>
<p>rmldad is right about the screen name. The adults who are reviewing a file are looking for students who can peacefully co-exist in a classroom and dorm without negatively impacting another student’s experience. I know it’s supposed to be funny, but it is not funny in this context. Why would a student let something they can easily control be the reason they are rejected?</p>
<p>In my experience, they don’t. I’ve had some close associations at a couple of elite educational institution: They worried about stats and metrics that might affect their USNews ranking.</p>
<p>^^ And what is your experience? I ask because you have 1 post to your name. Are you in college? Are you applying to college? Are you a parent with a student in college? My experience: I have two kids in college (Harvard and Yale) and have helped numerous other students navigate the applications process – and from my experience – a student’s screen name, email address etc. matters.</p>
<p>In another post, the OP said he is Asian. Maybe his name here is a pun on a very common Chinese name, Wu. I would hope he wouldn’t use anything like that for email or Facebook or other social media. And I hope he now realizes how offensive his name appears to be.</p>
<p>“Trust me, every top school in the country knows JBS.” </p>
<p>Not JBS – OP said Catholic school in another thread.</p>
<p>lol you’re right oldmom4896.<br>
I didn’t expect all these issues to come up with my screen name. I’m terribly sorry for all this screen name issue, and I just thought it was a funny screen name, instead of a vulgar one. I also use my real name on Facebook and other social media.</p>
<p>Btw, I’m not looking at public schools. I am looking at private schools like Vanderbilt, Case Western, Northwestern, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>@MrMom62- I have many friends from JBS, but unfortunately I’m not attending JBS.</p>
<p>lol, thanks for the welcome @gibby. I didn’t intend to step on any toes here, which is why I qualified my statement with “in my experience.” I have some acquaintances who work in some admissions offices, that’s all. Hardly qualifies me as an expert, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>Then again, if I were an expert, I probably wouldn’t be posting on an anonymous internet message board.</p>
<p>While the selective schools may be familiar with the truly high performance high schools, my experience with my son (who attended The International Academy in Bloomfield Hills, MI, a USNWR highly rated high school) is that while they may make a mental note of it, they are not giving much formal weight to it versus other far less rigorous high performing high schools in the area.</p>
<p>In retrospect, and in talking to some of the selective college admissions officers who turned him down, he would have been much better off with a 4.0 and 10 APs like his brother from his local high school (which is WAY down the USNWR top high schools list) than a 3.7 with an IB Diploma from The International Academy. The admissions acceptances and rejections they each received from the highly selective colleges they both applied to proved this out.</p>
<p>For candidates from top private schools what counts most is class rank. What count second is course rigor. And third? Probably school reputation. The notion of deflated GPA doesn’t arise.</p>
<p>@Gibby</p>
<ol>
<li>Student’s email does matter</li>
<li>Student’s facebook does matter</li>
<li>CC screen name does not matter</li>
<li>I can guarantee that 80% of college admissions officers do not check each applicant’s facebook, especially when they recieve >10000 applications/year</li>
</ol>