<p>My son attends The International Academy in suburban Detroit, which is a top ranked public school. It is an IB school, with all students required to apply for the DP and take a full IB DP class load. He is presently getting a 3.65 unweighted average.</p>
<p>Compared to my older son who attended a very well respected high school and graduated with an unweighted GPA of 3.9 carrying all AP classes (2 as a sophomore, 5 as a junior and 6 as a senior) His AP work load was no where near the work that my IB son is receiving.</p>
<p>Therein lies the dilemma. For an "admitted" letter from JHU (everything else being equal), is my 11th grade son better off sticking with the IB and obtain his diploma and a 3.65 unweighted GPA or would he be better off transferring back to his home school, taking 6 AP classes and ending up with a 4.0?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your guidance.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for the admissions office, but I know that admissions at Hopkins is a holistic process. The admissions officers are pretty knowledgeable about schools in their region and probably are aware of the relative level of difficulty. Moreover, evidence that a student has challenged himself fully is more important than the higher GPA. If it were my kid, I’d keep him where he is.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, bonanza. I will pass it on to my son. Ultimately, it is his decision.</p>
<p>Well, just to put it in perspective for you - a friend of mine in the IB Diploma Program was rejected with a 3.7 UW GPA, over a 2300 on her SATs, and tons of meaningful extra-curriculars, applying ED. Another classmate applied ED as well, with a 3.9 UW GPA, over a 2300 on the SATs but slightly lower than the girl, and many meaningful extra-currics, and got in. </p>
<p>I would personally recommend dropping out, but again its up to your son. My two classmates and I are also in an extremely rigorous IB Diploma program and have twice the workload of most other schools. In the end though, a 3.65 UW in the IB Program isn’t too bad and is enough to land him in a good college, be it JHU or some other one. Good luck with everything :).</p>
<p>I used to go to Troy High School, so I’m well aware of the prestige and difficulty of the IB program at the International Academy. I think that the admissions office recognizes this, as I know many students at IA who have lower GPAs but still end up at top tier colleges. Out of curiosity, where does your older son go?</p>
<p>My older son attends Grinnell College in Iowa.</p>