<p>Is it true that going to a really low-ranked high school can be a sort of 'hook'?</p>
<p>My school (based on our state's standardized testing in the 10th grade) is ranked 135/179 in the state.</p>
<p>It’s not a hook, but it does mean you’ll have less competition from your classmates for top schools. Nonetheless, you’re expected to rise above your circumstances–that means top scores, a 4.0 (preferrably val/sal), and teachers who are incredibly impressed with you.</p>
<p>I know it seems like it would be the opposite, but I think that it’s sometimes just as hard/harder than it is at a good school to get straight A’s. Correlating with my school’s terrible test scores, the majority of my teachers are equally as terrible. Guidance counselors are of little - no help and I’m surrounded by kids who don’t want to learn and don’t to care about school or their future.</p>
<p>^
Welcome to CC. Let this be your home for the next few years and you’ll do fine. You’ll find all the information and motivation you need. Trust me. :)</p>
<p>Haha, great. Thanks!</p>
<p>I just wanted to know if colleges will actually look down upon me for not having perfect grades at a bad school.</p>
<p>You can simply make up for it with brilliant SAT/ACT Scores. Then it won’t seem bad. But if your test scores match your school scores, then colleges will look down on that.</p>
<p>Colleges will be less forgiving if you get a lower average at a bad school.</p>
<p>I’d say a 3.8-3.9 UW is probably a good GPA at a bad school.</p>
<p>I’m sorry… I don’t understand why colleges are less forgiving of lower averages at bad schools. I feel like you have so many more opportunities, guidance, help etc at good schools.</p>
<p>So, would a 3.7 UW, 4.7 W at a bad school be considered good?</p>
<p>This:
</p>
<p>not this:
</p>
<p>Honestly, a bad school you’ll be expected to be at the very top of your class. Often, in public schools with rampant grade inflation, this means a 4.0 unweighted.</p>
<p>How in the world are there only 179 high schools in your entire state?</p>
<p>Can you please explain grade inflation to me? I’m not completely clear on what it is.</p>
<p>& Why do people think that it’s easy to excel at a bad school & hard at a good one?</p>
<p>It depends what exactly is “bad” about the bad school.
Usually on this forum, a “bad” school is one that is not academically challenging and seldom if ever sends its graduates to top colleges. In other words “bad” == “easy.”</p>
<p>Therefore, the expectation from a top college would be that A’s in a “bad” school just might have been B’s in a “good” school, particularly if your SATs don’t stack up. In fact, this sort of variance between schools is exactly why standardized admissions tests were created in the first place.</p>
<p>I mean my school does send maybe 15 out of 530 students to top schools every year, but we’re so low-ranked. My school is academically-challenging, yet I don’t think that I’m getting a great education, and definitely not enough support/guidance.</p>
<p>Quote: ^
Welcome to CC. Let this be your home for the next few years and you’ll do fine. You’ll find all the information and motivation you need. Trust me.</p>
<p>Wow… That expresses my feelings exactly. Just wow.</p>
<p>Grade inflation is when a school gives all of its students high grades in order for their students to look very good for college admissions.</p>
<p>We’ve all had the easy teacher who gives 100’s to everyone, that’s basically what grade inflation is.</p>
<p>NYTimes had an excellent article about it last year. It was pure grade inflation in action as you could see the comparison between 7 valedictorians.</p>
<p>Basic Summary of the Valedictorians, I live in NYC so I’m basing school difficulty on common opinion.</p>
<p>Top Tier:
- Stuyvesan - SAT 2400 - Intel Finalist - Harvard - School Ranks Amongst top HS in Nation (21st)
- Townsend Harris - 2250 - Yale - Science Olympiad - Questbridge - 33rd</p>
<p>2nd Tier:
- Midwood High School - 2070 - Editor of School Literary Magazine - Harvard
- Spence School - 2160 - UPenn </p>
<p>Below all that is unranked.
- Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music - 1700 - Southeastern University, Lakeland, Fla.
- High School of Telecommunications Arts and Technology - 1850 - Fordham
- Regis High School - 2030 - Fordham</p>
<p>Just by looking at their SAT scores, you can already see the difference in quality. </p>
<p>I mean to take nothing away from these fine validictorians, but it’s that much harder when you go to a lower known school.</p>
<p>Source:
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/nyregion/28valedictorians.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/nyregion/28valedictorians.html</a></p>
<p>Sorry - what’s much harder when you go to a lesser-known school?</p>
<p>Oh and I’ve never seen grade inflation practiced at my school.</p>
<p>Everyone school at the school gets a halo effect.</p>
<p>When your school has Intel Semi/Finals, USABO, USAMO, USAPhO, etc Finalists, it makes the average student look much better.</p>
<p>The average student looks better at a selective school than an average student at a regular high school even if they both have the same exact grades.</p>
<p>A 3.6 GPA at Thomas Jefferson would look better than a 3.7 at most other high schools.</p>
<p>It’s like when your picking colleges, the more Nobel winners and Scholars it has, the better it looks.</p>
<p>Oh okay, got it. Thanks. </p>
<p>Is a 3.7 really that average, when taking all Honors/AP’s and spending lots of time on a few focused EC’s? I mean, a 3.7 is only .005 away from an A.</p>
<p>Not unless you managed to get 93.4% in every single class you’ve taken it isn’t…</p>
<p>Not sure what you’re getting at. I’m just making the point that a 3.7 is a 92.5%. At my school, a 93% is considered an A. Therefore, a 3.7 is extremely close to a solid A.</p>