<p>I go to a school where in a given class, maybe one or two students will get an A, some A-, many B pluses and some B's. Meanwhile, our student body has an average SAT score of ~2000 without being hard to get into. In my biochem class, I was the only student who wasn't a national merit scholar. My personal SAT score is 1440/2130 (M-710 CR-730 W-690), which I think is pretty good. My GPA is 3.55 UW. My school only has "advanced classes" for math and science, and all the other classes are "regular" because our teachers believe our classes are much more intensive and comprehensive than AP classes(or don't fit the cirriculum, a la my Pathology and Orgo classes) So because of this, there is not much weight added to my regular GPA (which is pretty damn good for school, especially taking the hardest classes possible) Our college counselors say that they call every school that we apply to, explain how our grade distribution is a lot different than other schools, and vouch for us. But do schools, especially big schools care about this? Will my SAT make up for it? Will schools see my B in Biochem and think I did average, and ignore the fact that we investigated Polymerase Chain Reaction, Genetic Transformation of E Coli and that a B is much harder to get an A than at the public school my best friend goes to? I'm kind of flustered. </p>
<p>Colleges will look at your grades and your course rigor in context of your HS from its profile. If your school is very advanced and has many people going to select schools that will be considered. Don’t worry about it. Just do the best you can so you can find the schools that are right for you.</p>
<p>In depends on the college. Many colleges that take a holistic approach do consider your GPA in reference to how difficult it is to get A’s in your HS. However, if you are thinking about SHYPM-type schools, they are often looking for students who would get excellent grades in classes with other talented and hard working students.</p>
<p>I agree with the above. My kids’s school had a similar grading situation and it didn’t negatively affect entrance into selective colleges. </p>
<p>If you’re going to a private school, you should have access to Naviance. This will show you how students from your school fared at various colleges by GPA and SAT over the past 3 years. While it doesn’t take into account other factors, it should give you a ballpark idea of where you stand (and should support what your college counselors are saying).</p>
<p>thanks for the responses so far! hoping for more good ones</p>
<ul>
<li>My college list consists of UMD (hopefully one of their honors programs), UNC and UVA (both OOS) and maybe William and Mary, but UMD Honors and UNC are my top two choices. I’m worried that some kid with a 4.0 from an “easier” school will get preference, even though I’m doing more advanced and putting in harder work. How will these state schools feel?</li>
</ul>
<p>p.s not sure how much this matters, but one of my rec’s is from my pathology teacher whos a PHD in biochemistry, and another is from one of the top section chiefs of the NIH.</p>
<p>There’s this magical thing that helps make it evident there’s difficult grading… It’s called class rank.</p>
<p>If your school does class rank, you should be fine. Or not. Depends how well you’ve done in comparison to your classmates… But fine or not, it will be fair. </p>
<p>If your school doesn’t do class rank, you’re just SOL.</p>
<p>No, actually you wouldn’t be SOL. Information about distribution of grades in your class will be part of your school’s profile. Every secondary school sends a school profile along with your transcript and secondary school report. (See Erin’s Dad’s post, #2 above.)</p>
<p>If you go to a grade-deflating school, colleges and universities will know it.</p>
<p>Not that you asked, seekere, but be careful about those letters of recommendation. There’s a reason why colleges ask for recommendations from people who have taught you, and not from “the most impressive person you know.” If you think about it, you’re really applying to colleges and universities for a position as a student. So logically, they want to hear from people who can discuss how you’ve performed in similar roles in the past. They want to hear from people who can talk about your intelligence, your perseverance, the flexibility of your thinking, your ability to collaborate. Can this section chief at NIH really do that better than your high-school history teacher can? Remember, with these letters of recommendation, what they say matters tremendously, while who writes them is of little importance.</p>