<p>My son is a sophomore and attends an elite private high school.
He scores very well on tests. A 201 on PSAT as a sophomore and an 800 on Math II SAT in fall of Sophomore year.</p>
<p>But the problem is that he gets A's in Chem, Math, and History...but B +'s in English and Spanish, and plain old B's in photo and music</p>
<p>So his sophomore GPA is around 3.8, or so...next year he gets to add AP's so the GPA should go up a little.</p>
<p>But with a GPA of only 3.8 or 3.9 is he saying farewell to good colleges?</p>
<p>Would we be better off to pull him from the elite private and put him in the local public where he could probably get a 4.2 or better?</p>
<p>Is that 3.8 or 3.9 weighted? I’m assuming yes because 3 As and 4 B+s/Bs doesn’t calculate to a 3.8. More like a 3.5 or 3.6.</p>
<p>Anyway, I wouldn’t move him out of private school. Private schools aren’t guaranteed to be harder. Also, it’s odd that half the classes he isn’t getting As in are music and photo. Those shouldn’t be particularly difficult classes. If he got As in those two classes, the B+s wouldn’t really be a big deal. Just make sure he tries in non-academic classes.</p>
<p>Well…precisely…A in honors calculus, A in honors chem, A in history, B+ in English, B+ in Spanish IV, and B in photo…
Next year he gets to add four AP classes. So that should help his GPA. Thanks for asking.</p>
<p>Don’t worry as much about weighted GPA as unweighted GPA. Most top colleges consider unweighted GPA and rank because schools weight GPA differently. They will, though, consider his strength of schedule. So, as I said, make sure that he does try in those non-academic courses, as the will affect his GPA, but colleges will see that he is getting mostly As in those difficult academic classes.</p>
<p>Don’t assume the “elite private” is not a cake walk for grades. My kids went to the public in Orange county, ca. and their friends went up the street to the private.When the dust settles, the public h.s. kids had a much tougher time academically then the private. The proof is in the act/sat scores. Privates can play games with test scores. When the student gets out of the bubble and faces harden, tuff kids at a top uni. the rubber has to meet the road. Public h.s. are ranked academically in Cal. privates are not. I know of a few private h.s. kids with “4.0” that finally got a 25 act after 4 tries, lol. Even if they go to a jesuit uni. they will see real competition and the bubble is off, game on.</p>
<p>No doubt, some privates are easier than publics.
An some students do well regardless of the school.
But I gather from the data of the results on my son’s PLAN test that my son’s school is at least somewhat on the higher end of academics. He scored a 98% nationally on one of the categories on the PLAN which correlated to 48% for his school grade. This was a frightening statistic.
It seems very biased for me to say, but I am somewhat suspect that the teachers may favor students of bigger dollar donors. I don’t have too much of a problem with this in that I know how the world turns. So the question comes down to this, given my son is currently in the 3.8 range, can he make up for it by doing very well on the PSAT next yer, SAT or ACT? The GC thinks he has a good shot at National Merit…or do I lower his expectations of getting into a UC?</p>
<p>I would encourage you very strongly to schedule more time with the college counselor at your S’s school. Also talk to your S’s academic adviser. And for good measure, talk to fellow parents of recent graduates from the school. Avoid conspiracy theories. Check out the record of college acceptances of last year’s seniors from your S’s school. I expect that you’ve done all of this, and you don’t believe the answers you’ve gotten.</p>
<p>Comparing "GPA"s from your S’s school and a local public high school is a mostly meaningless exercise. Drawing conclusions about the “ease” or “difficulty” of courses based on GPA comparisons or anecdotes is not constructive.</p>
<p>Sounds to me like your kid is well-lopsided, with real skills talents in more sci/math and some verbal/arts weaknesses. That’s not a problem public school would fix.</p>
<p>The people responsible for college placement at your son’s “elite private high school” are the ones who can give you the most accurate evaluation of his chances of admission at various colleges and universities. They know exactly where each of their students have been admitted.</p>
<p>Now if your question really is, “Why am I paying this outrageous tuition at this fancy high school when my kid surely would be doing just as well (if not better) at the truly fine public school in town?” then you may want to pay a visit to that public school and talk with them about your child’s academic profile and their experience with students who transfer in from private schools like the one he is currently attending.</p>