<p>We've been talking on other threads about college matriculation statistics from top prep schools. Many of these schools practice grade deflation, so CC posters have been speculating about its effect on college admissions for prep school students.</p>
<p>A quick search for "grade deflation" on the prep school admissions forum produces:</p>
<p>Admittedly I’m no expert, but I thought that most colleges were aware of the academic reputation and quality of education at the well-established boarding schools. I’d be surprised to learn that a college admissions committee would regard a B from Groton in the same light as a B from an average public school. Does anyone know if that’s true? I think a small day school without a national reputation would have a much more difficult time convincing colleges that they chose to fight the scourge of grade inflation.</p>
<p>And I get that it’s said tongue in cheek, but I just can’t get on board with the term “grade deflation.” ;)</p>
<p>Ugh, don’t get us BS parents started on this one again–colleges have too many applicants these days, so a 3.3–even from a top HADES school–is not as compelling as all the 4.0s out there. It’s really “old school thinking” that a B at Groton will be treated like an A from PS and “colleges will understand”. Yes, they know it is Groton, but they have more than enough qualified applications and they there are lots of different criteria they are looking for. If you send your kid to a top BS, they still have to have the stats for top colleges, or they’ll be hearing the rap from their college counselors about revising expectations and finding a school that’s a better “fit.”</p>
<p>I think erlanger may have a valid point - with too many college applicants, overwhelmed college AO’s are not going to double check if a 3.3 was from a Groton student. It is just too tempting and convenient to do a computer search, and the system most likely isn’t programmed to recognize a 3.3 from Groton, and treat it as 5.3.</p>
<p>Actually, hootoo, the AOs do notice whether a kid is at Groton or not. I was told by an AO at Stanford that for some schools they even know if you got the hard history teacher or not. And an AO from Skidmore told me that she knows all about the history class that Uppers at Andover take!</p>
<p>Agree with lemonade1. The college AOs know these schools. In fact, colleges are used to recalculating GPAs for all students. How else to reconcile thousands of different grading schemes across high schools? Some kids now report GPAs of 5 or 6 point something? Used to be that 4.0 was the best one could get.</p>
<p>At many of the the local public schools in my area, 40-50% of the students have averages of an A- or higher. That is major grade inflation and the colleges are well aware of it. These schools may see 1-3 Ivy acceptances per year out of classes as big as 200-350 students, at most. Often, the student will have some other amazing talent besides good stats as well. </p>
<p>Bottom line, however, is that getting into a top college is increasingly competitive whether you come from a public or private high school. From my observations, the kids getting accepted to Ivies are either extremely brilliant or are still bright and capable of doing the work yet have superior athletic ability or some other amazing talent - often both are true. </p>
<p>This thread started as a spinoff of the Groton thread. You can go to the Groton website and look at their college handbook and see a grade and test score distribution for last year’s class. (Actually, you can usually find this profile which is sent out to colleges for any public or private high school so feel free to check out your local options.) Frankly, barring some special talent, the average Groton student with average grades/test scores really isn’t Harvard material any longer regardless of whether or not the student went to Groton (or any other BS). The process is just too selective these days and once spots get filled with recruited athletes, development cases, etc. the true acceptance rate of Harvard is well, well below the 6% published acceptance rate. Good news is that there are plenty of wonderful colleges out there, many of which will offer an equally good if not better undergraduate experience as Harvard or other Ivies. As parents, it’s our responsibility to help our children understand the current realities of the situation.</p>
<p>From my personal experience…I disagree that going to a top boarding school puts one at a disadvantage. My son received several acceptances at top LAC’s…with a 3.25 GPA from a top bs. He also received several merit scholarships…$25k/year at the school he will attend…where it clearly states that recipients are in the top 10% of their class and the average gpa is 3.85. My son was in the top 40%. At our public high school, the valedictorian is going to the school my son is attending. The colleges most certainly understand the rigor of the program and the grade deflation.</p>
<p>This is old topic but it seems nobody can give a clear answer. If the kid dropped GPA from 4 to 3 after going to good boarding school, he will be immediately out of Ives pool while he will be considered if he stayed in public schools. In that sense, the boarding school offers disadvantages in matriculating to Ives unless you are truly exceptional. However, I do see the kid will benefit from the higher academic standards and likely perform better in colleges and future careers. For us, that is main reason that we sent our kid to a boarding school.</p>
<p>keylyme: Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Although we can all read matriculation numbers from the web, it’s such relief to hear a real-life story from parents. </p>
<p>SFBay - I do know of kids going to Ivies from BS who are not in the top 10%. Several are middle of the pack kids (or less) but they do shine in certain areas. </p>
<p>There is no formula for getting into Ivies any longer. Perfect GPAs and test scores are not enough. Plenty of those kids get turned down every year. </p>
<p>I’ve said it before on other threads but also remember that some BS students have no interest in Ivies. I know many who didn’t apply to any at all. Like keylyme’s son, many prefer the LAC route. Mine did.</p>
<p>To add on: the Ivy admits I know that were middle of the pack at BS are still bright kids and completely capable of Ivy academics. I don’t want to take anything away from these kids. It’s more to point out that the Ivies aren’t looking solely at grades/test scores. Once they know you can do the work - which they know you can if you survived Groton or SPS or Andover or insert your favorite BS here - other factors are much more important.</p>
<p>^^It was the same for my older son. Same school…acceptances included Lehigh and Villanova (not huge reaches, but solid schools)…gpa 3.1, one AP course, completely unhooked.</p>
<p>Seriously? Do you mean a “4” from 8th grade? So I will have nowhere to go but down then. I know what some of you are thinking what I am thinking - time to lower the bar by getting the lowest grades possible rest of the year. :D</p>
<p>HT, yes from 8th grade. I do not know which school you are attending. All top boarding schools take straight A students except you have sort of hooks from middle schools. If you read school profiles from these schools, there are many students who got C grades.</p>
<p>I hate talking about college matriculation! I was always under the belief system that boarding schools are an end themselves. The experience gained at one of these schools should not be diminished based off of the college to which one matriculates to. Ill be attending a boarding school next year because of the stronger academics, more opportunities in extra-curriculars, smaller class sizes, and a more welcoming and accepting environment in comparison to my local public school. Honestly, I havent given too much thought to the impact on college admissions, partly because Im not concerned about getting into an Ivy. </p>
<p>Its been said quite often that being a valedictorian at ones public school is much better than being average at a boarding school in terms of admittance into the Ivys. But if that is the only goal, then I tend to think that BS is probably a wrong choice for that family. It’s obviously possible to attend both a boarding school and an Ivy (if one so desires) but I wouldn’t be one to EXPECT that outcome. </p>
<p>Also, I dont see why everyone always predicates a schools reputation on the percentage of students matriculating to the Ivys. I believe that its rather shallow to use this metric in determining a schools value since there are so many other fantastic schools out there. I dont see the point of basing ones view of a school on such a narrow minded statistic. Its like restricting oneself to the HADES schools and ignoring other equally excellent schools. Personally, Id be the type to attend Middlebury over Harvard, Vassar over Columbia, and Davidson over Cornell but again, thats just me. </p>