<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I'm wondering how my 3.0 unweighted GPA from a Prep School will stand up vs. a student coming out a public school with a 3.0 unweighted GPA. Does the Prep School background increase my chances at being admitted? will college admissions officers review my app differently?</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>Why would you assume that your prep school is <em>better</em> than a public? Adcoms for your area will know how to judge your GPA and school rigor. Paying for a private school doesn’t mean a better quality education. You can put a tiara on a pig, and it’s still a pig.</p>
<p>does a 3.6 from a prep school and 770 on the SAT math 2 warrant thinking of applying to the top 20 engineering programs?</p>
<p>I’m not trying to insinuate that because I attend a private school will set me off any better then a student graduating from a public school. However Prep school students tend to be much more competitive and the schools average course is much more rigorous then the average public school course. On top of that there are many other advantages for going to a prep school. You are put into a surrounding that thrives from excellence and kids push each other socially, in sports, and academically. You are also in school with other students that want to be there to learn. In a public school most of the kids could careless about there grades.</p>
<p>Prep school doesn’t “effect” your chances; it affects them.</p>
<p>OP, I’m not going to start an argument about private vs. public, but kids are not at private schools because they care more about their education. They are there because their parents put them there, albeit for many different reasons. My point was just because your HS is “private” doesn’t necessarily mean it is automatically better than your local public and you will get some kind of bonus points. It may if it’s reputation to the adcoms is known, but it may not. There are literally dozens of private schools in my area, but I can count on one hand the private schools that the adcoms would give admission bonus points for.</p>
<p>I think it really boils down to the reputation of your school and your class rank, as that will show how your 3.0 stacks up against others at your school. However, I have to agree that even as a prep school, there are many, many, MANY extremely competitive public schools, many of which are very likely much more competitive than your public school. This is important because you’ll be going up against all of these students that come from the top public schools in the nation.</p>
<p>Is your school a feeder for ivies?</p>
<p>@GA2012MOM there are some kids here that are here because of their parents. However a majority of the students are at private schools because they want to be there. They want to challenge themselves and the private school gives them the resources and the mentors to do so. I was just simply curious if a college admission staff were to have two identical apps in front of them, one from a public school the other from a private school, if the one from the private school would hold any advantages.</p>
<p>@kiddo64
Its not Exeter or Andover but were competitive with Westminister, Deerfield, and Kingswood Oxford.</p>
<p>A 3.0 at a private prep and a 3.0 at a public are the same…a 3.0!</p>
<p>(I have asked numerous admissions counselors at colleges…at least the ones I’ve asked say it makes absolutely no difference) and I personally believe that to be true based on my personal experience having children in private prep, parochial, and public and have moved on to and through college.</p>
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<p>OP, ALL kids at private prep schools are there because of their parents, either footing the tuition bill or seeking out the scholarship money. I don’t know of any 6th graders saying “mom, dad, can I please go to prep school so I don’t have to go to public school with the slackers.”</p>
<p>Basically, a B student is a B student. Top colleges are looking for top students, and even though you go to a fancy school, I’m guessing that a 3.0 doesn’t exactly put you at the top of your class.</p>
<p>@GA2012MOM There are many kids in 8th grade that want to leave their public school and go on to a more challenging but rewarding school. I understand that most people view going to a private school as a waste, and that you’ll receive a equal education at a public school. However, You get so much out of the private school system. Your teachers are well educated, the classrooms/labs are advanced, the connections you create with your roommates, and since your not sleeping at home with mommy and daddy everyday you learn to become more independent. There are a good amount of kids who have extremely wealthy parents that have been sending their kids to boarding schools their entire life. But there are also many students at private schools trying to better themselves.</p>