I’m not sure that there are many 4.0s means they’re necessarily lying, but it could mean that schools have different scales for what equals a 4.0. At our kids’ school a 90+ is an A. One of our kids has a 4.0. But, if the school used a 94+ as an A/4.0, like they do in college and some high schools, he wouldn’t have a 4.0 as he’s had a few 93s and 92s. I guess I don’t see the point of people lying about stats when people come to these boards for advice.
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Same. Our HS 90 or above is an A. Mine would have no doubt had a few A-’
s
I think the exaggeration comes more in the EC’s. There is also the usual, “I expect an SAT score of 1500+ or ACT of 34+.” Some of the EC stuff is truly delusional. They don’t understand the relative importance of EC’s vs base academics (e.g. believing some EC(s) will trump a sub 3.5UW gpa for T20’s) and what the AO’s actually care about in EC’s (dedication, leadership and attributable results). This unfortunately leads to overshooting along with misapplication of time and effort on too many apps where the probability is near 0 and subsequent disappointment.
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The same reason I lower my weight by 5 lbs when the doctor asks me.
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Honestly, I don’t think that many are lying. Seems like on CC, that it is very common for anything above an 89.5 to be considered an A, which is considered a 4.0. And some kids have something close to a 5.0 (which I do not understand at all).
I’m personally glad our markings are tough. I don’t want my kids going to college and getting low grades because they don’t know what is involved. When I went to college ( an Ivy league), I had written a total of one research paper. So, it was a tough Freshman year. Pay now or pay later.
This is a different spin, but…
I’ve found that because these forums are overflowing with high achievers it can exaggerate what a competitive applicant looks like for a particular school.
I’m not talking about the selective schools. I’m talking about good schools for average students. When you look at the stats for the accepted students who post here, you might think it’s near impossible for your kid to get in. In actuality, it’s only a representation of the most highly engaged parents and students.
Sorry to go off track a bit.
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Think how silly that sounds. Say it out loud 3x fast.
Thankfully, most colleges publish their accepted students academic statistics such as GPA, Test Scores, National Merit, Honor society and also varsity letter winners/captains. Our son’s HS reviews these stats for its seniors so they know going in whether they have a shot at a particular college. I would advise applicants (and parents) to look at the stats for the colleges they are interested in to see where they may fall instead of getting freaked out over an anonymous posting on CC which may or may not be embellished.
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Why does your doctor ask you? should they measure on spot in clinic? I mean pre covid visit, not teldoc 
@Happytimes2001
I like your line “Pay now or pay later” better than the lame No pain no gain
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It’s far more useful to know the acceptance rate for students with those stats or with other characteristics than the stats ranges themselves. For example, prior to COVID, Princeton’s website used to report a 25/75 ACT range of 32-35. This doesn’t mean a kid with a 32-35 ACT has a good shot at Princeton. Far more useful, Princeton’s website reported that applicants within the referenced 32+ ACT range had a 7% acceptance rate. This tells an applicant that a 32+ ACT or other stat combination isn’t anything approaching enough for admission, and instead admission to Princeton seems to be heavily influenced by non-stat criteria. However, at other not as selective colleges, it’s common to see the majority of applicants within a particular stat range be admitted or the majority of overall applicants admitted across all stats. This gives a very different message and can have implications on things like helping decide which college might be a good “safety”,
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Probably something like this grid for medical school admission by college GPA and MCAT score would be helpful to applicants to colleges (using HS GPA and SAT/ACT score instead):
https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2020-10/2020_FACTS_Table_A-23.pdf
For the most selective colleges, it would not be surprising if the upper right corner cell still had a low admission rate (indicating that high stats are not sufficient for admission), but cells away from the upper right corner had zero or infinitesmal admission rates (indicating that high stats are necessary for admission beyond what are probably small numbers of the most important recruited athlete or development admits).
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Some students write that they have patents?
If you qualify with them 3/5 change story to patent pending and 2/5 ignore the question all together.
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I’m with @lisabees. I think this is a self selecting group of parents and students on here. Those who are extremely interested in the college process and have been doing things with an eye towards it for years. Personally I question the humble brags because they sound insincere.
I believe the gpas and SAT/ACT scores. The ECs and especially the strength of the so called great essays are more subjective but I don’t think they are intentional falsehoods.
When I started here last year, I didn’t think my child was going to get into any decent schools because her stats are lower than many posters. Happy to say she did. Not T20 but somewhere she is proud to say she attends.
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"They don’t understand the relative importance of EC’s vs base academics (e.g. believing some EC(s) will trump a sub 3.5UW gpa for T20’s) and what the AO’s actually care about in EC’s (dedication, leadership and attributable results). "
Who do you mean by they? If the h/s has naviance, which not all do, nobody with a 3.5 applies unless they have a hook (urm, first-gen, athlete etc.).
It’s been my experience that it’s far more common among CC posters to believe that stats trump all, and non-stat factors only have a minor influence, than to believe that good ECs trump a 3.5 UW GPA at a highly selective college.
I expect that GC counseling has a notable impact on whether a kid who is obviously not academically qualified applies. Several highly selective colleges give information about the portion of applicants with a lower GPA, and it usually is a significant portion of applicants. However, they do not break this down by hooked vs unhooked (aside from Harvard lawsuit). For example, UCLA indicates that 27% of domestic applicants had a UW GPA below 3.5 in 2019. This <3.5 UW applicant group only had a 1% admit rate. You can also look up similar types of stats for particular HSs in CA.
I am 110% sure that stats are never exaggerated on CC.
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Schools use different formulas to calculate even unweighted GPAs. My kid’s school district attaches a much lower score on a 4.0 scale for a grade on the report card given on a 100 point scale than seems even close to reasonable. This is why colleges often recalculate all GPAs on their own scale. When posting on this board I only posted my son’s weighted GPA because the unweighted would not have been helpful. And, if you look where he applied and where he got in, it is clear that the schools he was admitted to calculated his GPA at a higher number than our school district. Naviance and weighted GPA were better indicators of his chances than unweighted GPA.
All this talk about the 4.0’s has gotten me thinking.
If a student posts a 4.0, and really has a 4.0, because the school is on some weird system - and not because he/she has all A’s - that is a form of exaggeration IMO. I am reasonably certain the parents and students know they are painting a more positive case than they should be.
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Students should at least indicate the maximum GPA at their schools (e.g. in a format like 4.0/4.3). Besides, most top colleges look at grades in individual courses beyond GPA. That’s another reason I think school profiles are only of limited help since they don’t tell AOs about distributions of grades in the core classes.