It seems you’re sending me two thoughts. Yes, it takes all A grades to get a 4.0. (With some variance for, eg, a numerical grading system. Whatever.) I don’t question it the way other CC-ers do. For a college that’s looking at a whole package, it’s not just grades (no matter how imprtant grades are.) For whatever reason/from whatever cause, it says this kid is at a higher level than peers who don’t get A grades. And, an A- is fine. Even the little drop from a perfect 4.0 gpa.
Do I think school districts that pass out A’s like cookies should make it tougher to get a true A? Sure. But it’s a dictrict or state issue, not mine. (And it can have a strange effect on kids gunning for that one extra point or otherwise pressured.) Even if we found a hs that gives every single kid A grades (there are some legit alternative schools that do something like this,) it’s possible for anyone looking at the transcript to weigh the A differently in their own minds. Btw, of course, it’s a longstanding point that Harvard grades too easily.
And then, yes, the tendency on CC to assume many are elite material, when they don’t have the “full package.” And yup, “you can tell by their writing (and thinking), are not going to top colleges.” Likely not, but there are always flukes. But a lot of what a kid says, how he structures his app, what he (over) values, tells a lot about his thinking skills and willingness to look further. Or not. Lol. Yes, it shows up also in the Chance Me threads.
But I nag about “digging deeper” into the target colleges because it’s possible. And worth the effort. Of all the things a kid/family can’t control for, this is one they can try.
The number of kids who need “help” or guidance is large. Goes without saying, if they’re on CC, posing a question. But valid, honest feedback is not random, not about anecdotes or guesses. Nor about making a kid feel better if it misleads. Well-intentioned is not enough when it misinforms.
It helps if responders would use IMO or IME or words to that effect. Not declare, And not assess another’s thoughts at some arbitrary percent you came up with.
At least in CA, there are no plus or minuses counted as part of the HS GPA. An A- is 4, a B+ is 3. Certainly there are very few students who only have As and A+s and never got an A-. But there are many more who have a 4.0 UW.
Thanks for clarifying. The point is that a 4.0 shows dominance. That is different from a 3.98 or whatever. It is like an 800,800. It says something about a person.
I don’t believe anyone here is advocating for people to ignore students who need help. That would defeat the purpose of the website and our reason for being here.
It isn’t adding complexity for posters to critically analyze what they’re reading. The student applying for a competitive major or admission to elite schools who posts test scores a couple of hundred points higher than what they actually have isn’t going to get a useful list of target schools. Students who claim money isn’t an issue when careful reading of previous threads shows the family can contribute $0 isn’t going to get any useful feedback either. That doesn’t mean we don’t offer a response. But students should take them for what they are – opinions from generally well meaning strangers on the internet.
Some posts are cl;early spurious, but most aren’t. We aren’t supposed to be detectives, are we? Even AOs probably give applicants the benefit of doubt unless they can be cerain of the inauthenticity.
I agree checking the OP’s previous posts can be helpful.
I think many posters (parents or students) are honest, but sometimes not so forthcoming with information, or the relevant information, so it makes responding a game of 20 questions, e.g., What is your unweighted GPA? Rigor? How many core courses? What is your budget? Can your family afford their EFC? Are there circumstances such as divorce, business or income property/farm ownership? Etc.
IMO, OPs that fully engage do generally derive good benefit from the many helpful CC posters.
Not all high schools do +/-. so at one school a student can get a 90 average in a class, and it counts as a 4.0, in the HS down the road, that 90 gets an A- or a 3.7. We just have to trust colleges re-weight everyone equally. Same goes for colleges, which complicates things when GPAs are required to maintain merit awards, a 3.5 is much harder to maintain in a college on a +/- system then it is on a 10 point system. I am on my 3rd child and college admission process. I have come to learn most everyone inflates, reword stuff to sound better than it actually is… reality, don’t we all do that on our resumes for work. Don’t read into stats too much… in the end most colleges are looking at more than stats, and it is not always the number of volunteer hours you have had. We don’t even track that at my house, that is ridiculous. My kids volunteer because they want to… not to add notches to their wall. I really think some college can see that! Remember, in sites like this, we do not see actual applications for a realistic point of view, but rather an opinion.
All good points. Do you agree a student who really has a 4.0 and really is applying to top schools would have a general knowledge of what is being sent to the college and has the ability to present that information to us in the most accurate way possible. I say yes, and since many do not do that - there is exaggeration IMO.
You don’t know the capabilities of some high school students. Your statement is basically like saying that because you don’t know any basketball players as talented as Steph Curry, there cannot be any player as talented as Steph Curry.
One of my son’s classmates at Harvard, a freshman, was taking a physics class where the professor presented his new research. The student found an error in the research and notified the professor, who issued a correction the next day. Yes, students like that exist.
I honestly don’t know if this is common because I live on the East Coast but I commonly see kids graduating with over a 4.0 GPA unweighted. I have been to 2 high schools and both (in different states) have broken GPA down like this:
Is this common? I see so many colleges asking for your GPA on a 4.0 scale and it makes me pretty confused. I agree that many people are not honest on CC about their stats and EC’s but perhaps this may explain why many of the GPA’s seem so high? I have a 4.15 unweighted right now.
There is always exaggeration, there is exaggeration in everyday conversation, why would it stop when bragging about stats to a community board of strangers. There is no one to call you out. What I have found coming here, elite schools are a lot more open when admitting a variety of students (I am sure some lie about that too), I see students with various stats getting in, not always the 1550 SAT, 800 SAT2, 5.6 weighted, etc… I have found that super refreshing, but I am also a little angry… society has taught us, unless you have those top stats, don’t bother applying. That is not true!
Our HS uses +/-, but a A+ is still a 4.0. It is not weighted any higher. When converting to a 4.0 scale, I took the +/- out and ran the straight calculation. It seems to uphold based on the scholarships, my DD has received.
I don’t think anyone here is trying to make the argument that those students don’t exist, it’s just that it seems an absurd number of students or parents of a students on CC seems to think that either themselves or their child is the next Albert Einstein or Leonardo da Vinci
This is so true. And it was me a few months ago! After a bunch of going back and forth on my first couple posts because I was not providing enough information or the right information, I decided I should lurk and learn for a bit before posting again. When you are new to this game, you just don’t know what you don’t know.
Add to that conflicting information/opinions… “how to convert GPA to a 4.0 scale”, for example. As many are commenting, there is no standard so the range of GPAs we see on CC should be taken somewhat with a grain of salt. I don’t believe MOST posters are exaggerating. And if someone does, it is to his/her disservice since the advice given will be based on bad information. Junk in junk out.
I totally agree that some research error can be found by superior students. However, without super-expensive equipment, modifying DNA/RNA for a high school student is possible? By the way, my Master degree thesis was about early cancer detection by examining mutant DNA, and I know how much acknowledge needs to be put together to make such research.
The vast majority of major science prize winners do research under the direction of a university professor. I don’t know anything about modifying DNA/RNA, but that could be where they get access to that expensive equipment. Their mentor has to write a recommendation letter specifying the entire scope of the project and the part that the student contributed to and how much of it was individual vs group work.
I also know that there is significant further vetting at the national science prize level for one prize I know well. For this prize, the student’s understanding of their research topic is vetted for over an hour by three scientists who specialize in that particular field, plus a few more hours by over a dozen other scientists to gauge the student’s understanding of various science topics unrelated to the student’s research topic. Nobody is faking it at the top levels.
So can I read this info as "only smart/rich students with GREAT family/social network can have such luxury to access expensive equipment and to be trained by mentors? "
One of my D’s classmates paid a local newspaper to decorate him as “a future young leader of the community”, and we are glad to hear that Yale AO was not deceived by the appearance and rejected him. His single visiting-uncle trip to India was described as a glorious medical trip to help poor Indian people over there, supported by a selfie with local kids. So back to this exaggerate topic, yes, exaggeration happens a lot simply because it is not easy to verify even his/her classmates know the truth.