You are about to apply to colleges, and really want to go to a selective school like UChicago or Columbia. Would you rather:
Apply from School A* with a 3.9 GPA and a 2200 SAT?
OR
Apply from School B** with a 2.8 GPA and a 2200 SAT?
*School A: Bad public school. Poorly ranked. 500+ kids per grade. Poor matriculation rate, poor graduation rate. Really bad reputation. Low income students. Roughly ten kids matriculate to quality institutions (Johns Hopkins, Conn Coll, Boston University, BC, Hamilton, etc.). None to ivies.
**School B: Incredibly elite boarding school. Ranked as one of the top 10 in the US by Forbes, Business Insider, etc. 100% matriculation rate, similar graduation rate. Really good reputation. VERY high income students. Roughly 70% of kids matriculate to quality institutions. 4-5 to ivies.
Why?
Don’t make two posts within 20 minutes of each other asking the EXACT same thing
@CDOESenior2k16 Can’t delete posts on CC. Had I known that, I wouldn’t have posted twice.
I’m not even sure this post makes sense- sorry, don’t mean to offend. But if you are about to apply to colleges, wouldn’t you already be applying from the school you are currently in?
It would only make sense if you were having to make a choice far in advance of the applications to colleges.
Or, if you were about to enter senior year and had to choose from which school. Did the school have to reconfigure your GPA?
In my children’s school district, there is a formula for kids who enter senior year into a less academic competitive school from a highly competitive school that equalizes the playing field (if it’s senior year when they come into the school).
IDK, OP- so many factors to consider and this strategy can appear disingenuous to admissions. But I’ve been reminded here enough times that I’m no ad counselor so what do I know?
Hi there, @goingnutsmom I posted with more explanation at this link: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1808445-help-private-vs-public-what-to-do-p1.html
However, to answer your question: I have attended both schools and have obtained a transcript that is a compilation of As from School A, and As/Bs + a C from School B. However, each school calculates the gpa differently. School A calculates total grades together, while School B calculates grades based solely upon grades what were received at THEIR school, and thus they only calculate my gpa based upon the As/Bs/C. They also weigh classes based upon subject matter (ex. math A, english A are worth more than language A, art A, etc.). Hope this makes sense–apologies for the confusion.
My question is only about admissions possibilities: is exceptional gpa at bad school better than terrible gpa at good school?
Which school are you going to graduate from and the transcript should be sent from there. At this point you are about to apply to college, you don’t have a choice anymore.
School A. Super-elite “premium” high school kids don’t get into super-selective colleges with a 2.8 unless they are seriously hooked.
But either way, you don’t get to pick and choose which transcripts to send. There are rules about this sort of thing, and trying to game the system will bite you in the rear.
@billcsho If I didn’t have a choice, I wouldn’t have made a College Confidential account to ask this question twice “within 20 minutes of each other asking the EXACT same thing” – @CDOESenior2k16
@marvin100 I am not a serious hook besides being an URM, which really doesn’t overcome the 2.8 anyways. I appreciate your input and honesty.
It does not matter how many post you made within 20 min. It just does not make sense when you state this in the beginning. When you are about to apply to college, you should be attending the senior year at one of the school already. How would you still have a choice?
@billcsho School has not yet started, I have a choice of which of the two schools to attend for my senior year.
I would go to the prep school for senior year, if you can afford it, solely because your advising for application season will be MUCH better there.
School “A”.
You are the same student regardless of which school you go to. A 2.8 will not be competitive for selective schools.
School B would have no chance.
I think that you should have gotten better advising from the get go when you transferred over from the less competitive school to the highly competitive school. For example, about potential consequences of possibly having a low GPA from there, especially if they took your previous classes from the less competitive school and reconfigured those classes into a much lower GPA. Are you on scholarship there?
You would probably have had the best chance with a high GPA and staying on as a stellar student at the less competitive school. Especially with URM status and a 2200 SAT (maybe even gotten higher with prep).
I’ve seen excellent results from our less competitive public schools with minorities who impress teachers and administrators with their leadership, class participation and solid SAT scores.
Unfortunately, now it looks like you are leaving because you could not handle the rigor. Is that the case?
Did you make a great impression on the boarding schools teachers/staff to show you put in all your effort?
Would they give you great rec’s ? Are you on an upward trend?
A lot of factors to consider OP.
Good luck. Make sure you have safeties , matches and reaches on your list .
You can get a great college experience where you land with the right attitude.
Are you National Hispanic Scholar?