Specific advice: High school is more than just grades, tests and getting into an Ivy. Let your child take chances exploring new interests or possibilities. Don’t be afraid that he may “mess up”. Look beyond the usual college and university suspects - you’ll be surprised.
Also, for you the parent, run the net price calculator now. That’s the one thing it’s never too early to see (the price will only go up).
@puremuddle is right. The student needs excellent grades and test scores but he will need to show much more than that. As you know there are tens of thousands of excellent applicants for these schools - the schools have their pick and often they choose kids who are self confident, self directed, thoughtful and accomplished students who don’t necessarily follow a cookbook of how to do high school. These are students who sought out things on their own, took chances (and succeeded).
Your son is still in the young side so I understand you may be more involved now in his school work and ambitions, but loosen those ties every year and let him take the lead. Point him to resources however let him choose and do the work.
I would advise not chasing grades at the expense of delving into an extra curricular that he truly enjoys and, as importantly, can excel at. I don’t think that doing a sport just to check the athelete box on an application is going to do much frankly.
In my limited sample size, the vast majority of kids I know who got admitted to Ivys or other uber selective schools all had at least one thing that differentiated them from the pack of 2300 SAT/near 4.0 students who are in NHS and a couple school clubs. I don’t think people realize how many kids with killer stats there actually are. I know one kid who got in to Northwestern off the wait list in the way I think you are pointing, rigorous practice for the SAT and ACT, clubs and activities done more as merit badges than for interest, etc. Other kids all had what one poster on these threads called an “and”, something in their application that showed they were unique, and had done something different during their high school years. Your son needs to figure out what his and is, and then pursue it. When the time comes, research the schools, and write a great essay which seeks to explain why he is a good fit for the school.
Prep for and smoke the PSAT. Achieving NMSF will give him a lot of great options just below the tier of really highly selective schools.
I am in same boat. My son really really wants to be valedictorian and go to a top 25 college. I’m sick of this obcession but I can see that academics are as much a sport for him as Soccer. He gets same rush from scoring 100 on a test as from scoring a goal. People think that we push him and that he studies all night but that’s just not true.
Does any one knows what is the average freshman GPA range for Ivy students? Mine has 4.3 but his school doesn’t allow more than one AP in 9th grade.
You do not need top scores or grades to get into Ivies. I know from personal experience.
IThinkPink, the last sentence of your first paragraph and your second paragraph contradict one another. You may be conveying attitudes to your son because you yourself are asking about GPA range for Ivies for a 9th grader.
Ivy admissions are not done that way. A person with an SAT of 2300 does not have a better chance than someone with a 2200, nor do you have to be top of the class. Admissions are holistic and “character” is highly valued. Chasing grades is the opposite of character.
High school should be for exploration, and stress should be minimized: it is really a waste of energy.
Check out “Colleges that Change Lives” or “Looking Beyond the Ivy League” by Loren Pope. The former has a website and fairs. Don’t let your kids get fixated on any specific top school.
I only want to find out top freshman GPA to save him from a rude awakening. Their school doesn’t rank or release GPA to anyone but a student and his parents so we he doesn’t know where others stand and in a big class with 1300 kids, no one knows anything until they pick valedictorians in senior year.
My understanding is that GPA gamers take way too many AP so even if he is scoring 99’s and 100’s, it may not be enough. However, I support him and feel proud of his commitment to do well in academics as much as he does in soccer and video games.
@IThinkPink you can find the 75th and 25th percentile academic stats on each school’s web site, usually under admissions. I think you can also get that info from the parchment site. I think though that it is unwise to just look at gpa/SAT ranges to try and figure out whether a particular kid has a reasonable chance of being admitted. All the average stats will tell you in my opinion, is if the student makes the first cut. Rather than being nay sayers, I think what I and others are trying to say is that there are a whole lot of applicants that make that first cut. Many more than can attend any particular school. Because the Ivys and schools like Stanford/MIT/UChicago, etc can pick and choose from a plethora of highly qualified candidates, the puzzle is to try and figure out why your 4.3/2300 most difficult curriculum available student is preferable at that school to the other several similarly credentialed students for the same admissions slot. That is where the “and” comes in.
When you all say Ivy, do you mean those specific 8 schools or are you just using it as shorthand for excellent school? Thinking that the world rises and sets on those specific 8 schools is not an intelligent way of going about things.
Thank you everyone for great inputs. Is there anyone who can answer the question about what sort of freshman scores and GPA their ivy leaguer or valedictorian kid has? I assumed that CC would have some of those.
Ivy or Ivy equals in terms of ranking, low acceptance rate, with great faculty, intellectually stimulating peers and accomplished alumni and exclusivity.
My kid just graduated high school and is going to Princeton next year. He had a 4.0 in all honors/pre IB classes as a freshman. He finished with an IB diploma (assumedly), a weighted 4.3 something (2 B+s I think) 2300SAT/34ACT/750/720SAT2s. He built sets for the play, started a JSA chapter at his school and was a two year president, NHS, NMF, editor of the literary magazine, some stuff for yearbook, won best attorney at his state mock trial competition senior year. He was also a recruited football player, so if what you are looking for is just pure stats I am not sure how helpful his stats are as far as predicting admissions for an “unhooked” kid.
I can’t answer your question but if you go to www.collegedata.com you can search for all universities and have an amazing overview of statistics, SAT scores and GPA ranges included. Happy browsing!
Thetes no threshold, though. You seem to be looking for a magic number. I have two kids who are seniors graduating from these kinds of schools. What difference does it make if I say that they had a 3.6 or a 3,7 or a 3.8 or a 3.9? Your kid can only do what your kid can do and it is not as though if I said my kids had 3.9s that 3.9 is some kind of magic guarantee.
Shouldn’t your focus be how you can instill in your kid a love of learning and support him in being the best him he can be? That’s the objective - and then college admissions will naturally fall out.
“Ivy or Ivy equals in terms of ranking, low acceptance rate, with great faculty, intellectually stimulating peers and accomplished alumni and exclusivity.”
Great faculty, intellectually stimulating peers and accomplished alumni are great things to look for. Explicitly looking for exclusivity, ranking and low acceptance rate is about ego, though, not about the quality of education. Are you looking for quality education - which often HAPPENS to be accompanied by high ranking, low acceptance rate and exclusivity? Or are you looking for a badge for your kid to wear?
As others have said, there’s no magic “to be done” list that guarantees acceptance at a top college.
However, I would suggest seeking outside affirmation of his strengths by way of “beyond the school” recognition. So, if he enjoys playing the viola, see if he can get into the all state orchestra, if your state has one; enter some contests, if they exist, etc.
If he thinks he’s interested in business, he might get involved in organizations like DECA or FBLA. He should do this in part to figure out if he really does want to go into business. If he likes participating, it may help him later by helping him a good basis for answering the “Why Wharton?” “Whey Stern?” “Why Babson?” essay questions.
The key is to do the stuff he enjoys. He should ask himself: "If I don’t get into a top college, will I think doing this was a waste of time? " If the answer is yes, don’t do it. But if the answer is “Yes, I enjoy it for its own sake” then do it. That doesn’t mean you have to enjoy each event. For example, if your S enjoys playing the viola, he still might not enjoy entering contests. Still, that is something he might push himself to do to have a way for colleges to measure just how good he is at the viola. But he shouldn’t play the viola just to get into college.
Oh, Jesus! Not looking for any magic potion. Its just that his school doesn’t rank so he was curious and unfortunately I volunteered to find out. My mistake that I posted it here, I don’t know why people automatically assume that every parent is trying to control their children. There are competitive kids out there and just like one has to support unmotivated ones, you support motivated ones too.
To be really high ranked, your kid needs to take as many AP courses as early in HS as possible. It is better to be 2-3 years advanced in math as well and to consider taking two languages at a time in order to take two AP languages Jr. Year. I think this is what the very top ranked kids do. AP classes need to be taken before Sr. year to count toward final class ranking. Multiple compsci APs , math APs, Art History AP, Psychology AP… I think…my DS has not done this at all but this is what I have heard. Grades need to be 95 plus in every class.