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<p>Agreed, but nearly all are included in the average GPA. You can’t have “many solid-B students” and keep 3.9 incoming class average unless everybody else has straight-A’s.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the solid-B kid from your typical competitive well-to-do private school has much chance of getting into MIT, with or without class rankings. Maybe they spout this “solid-B” line to cast a broad net looking for diversity candidates with potential. If so, that’s great. Maybe I’m wrong on my stats, but I don’t think it is ethical for MIT to encourage applications from HS kids who have zero chance.</p>