<p>The GPA thing is a puzzle–weghted vs. unweighted, core courses vs. non-core courses. We had an admissions counselor at a pretty highly regarded LAC tell us that while officially they report the average unweighted GPAs of admits, because of the very wide differences in the ways high schools work, the rigor of schools, etc., there is no hard and fast rule on GPA or class rank.</p>
<p>MS: I don’t think the GPA issue is attributable to grade inflation as much as to the huge number of students taking AP and college level classes for high school credit and thus having high weighted GPAs. This HS has the highest SAT scores in the state for public schools, 4th highest overall, so the students are not slouches. They just take harder classes. It does seem weird that “average” is so high but maybe that’s to be expected when you have a lot of high achieving students. </p>
<p>I know many parents who transferred their kids to other high schools so they would be able to rise above “mid-pack.” If my s had attended the high school 5 miles away, he might have been top 10% (as long as that school offered the same level of classes) because that school serves a different population. But I don’t think he would have gotten the same education.</p>
<p>^ We have the same issue at our school. My son is at a 3.75 GPA and from what I can tell (based upon the grade distribution listed in the school profile) he’s in the 30-40% percentile of his small class (70 kids). I’ve always been told he’s one of the better students in the class but I am also puzzled about how that could only be in the high 30ish percentile. BUT it’s a highly competitive college prep school and there are a lot of good students and we have a IB program.</p>
<p>I’ve been told that the Adcoms take the rigor of the school into account. We tend to send a higher percent of kids to HYPSM than the public schools with classes of 500 plus, so I guess that’s true.</p>
<p>And even if you didn’t have an inferiority complex, you surely can get one after reading CC posts!</p>
<p>^LOL. That is sooo true. Anywhere else a 3.3 to 3.6 is considered a great GPA. Here at CC, people would have you believe that it’s only so so.</p>
<p>My son’s counselor says he will be very competitive at a lot of schools (outside of HYPSM). The truth is there are so many people competing for slots at HYPSM that even the top kids sweat getting in them. Everywhere else, a 3.6 is a competitive GPA. So as long as your kid isn’t hung up on an Ivy, they will get into a selective school.</p>
<p>Makes me wonder - if the acceptance rate at the ivies is 7-10% and lets say we add a few more selective colleges to that list to bring the count upto 10…nowadays kids apply to 8-12 colleges and most top kids with 4.0 GPA and above will apply to these (give or take a few subtitutes), which means ALL of them do get into one of those atleast!!! Simple probability rule! </p>
<p>That leaves our kids plenty of places to choose from, but it also means that there are so many cross admits at those 10 colleges, that our kids do not stand any chance! Plus the same top kids also apply to our tier as ‘safety’ thereby eating into out share again! not fair!</p>
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<p>That is what drives me crazy about Naviance! At his reach colleges, the stats are very high and I know it’s partly because these were safeties for some of our HYPSM bound students.</p>
<p><<<if the=“” acceptance=“” rate=“” at=“” ivies=“” is=“” 7-10%=“” and=“” lets=“” say=“” we=“” add=“” a=“” few=“” more=“” selective=“” colleges=“” to=“” that=“” list=“” bring=“” count=“” upto=“” 10…nowadays=“” kids=“” apply=“” 8-12=“” most=“” top=“” with=“” 4.0=“” gpa=“” above=“” will=“” these=“” (give=“” or=“” take=“” subtitutes),=“” which=“” means=“” all=“” of=“” them=“” do=“” get=“” into=“” one=“” those=“” atleast!!!=“” simple=“” probability=“” rule!=“”>>></if></p>
<p>NO NO NO NO NO.</p>
<p>This is the faulty reasoning that causes people apply to so many top schools, and ignore the need for safeties. Applying to Princeton does not increase your chance of getting into Harvard. If you have a 10% chance at each school, and apply to 10 schools, that does NOT mean that you will get probably into one of them! The odds remain 90% against you at every school! Every year there are threads from people who applied to 12 schools with below 20% accept rates, and these kids have great stats, and they didn’t get in ANYWHERE. It does happen.</p>
<p>Go ahead and apply to a reach, or a super-reach, or a bunch of super-reaches. You never know, and stranger things have happened. They can’t admit you if you don’t apply, and the worst they can do is say no. BUT DO NOT BANK ON APPLYING TO A LOT OF SUPER-REACHES TO GET YOU INTO ANY ONE OF THEM. HAVE MATCHES AND SAFETIES. </p>
<p>The # 1 rule of CC: LOVE THY SAFETY.</p>
<p>There have been numerous arguments about this, delving into statistics ad nauseum, but the bottom line is that Lafalum84 is right: The vast majority of people who are not good enough to get into one Ivy are not good enough to get into any of them, so hedge your bets.</p>
<p>quote:</p>
<p>Makes me wonder - if the acceptance rate at the ivies is 7-10% and lets say we add a few more selective colleges to that list to bring the count upto 10…nowadays kids apply to 8-12 colleges and most top kids with 4.0 GPA and above will apply to these (give or take a few subtitutes), which means ALL of them do get into one of those atleast!!! Simple probability rule! </p>
<p>That leaves our kids plenty of places to choose from, but it also means that there are so many cross admits at those 10 colleges, that our kids do not stand any chance! Plus the same top kids also apply to our tier as ‘safety’ thereby eating into out share again! not fair!</p>
<p>unquote:</p>
<hr>
<p>As another poster pointed out earlier, this is a faulty reasoning. Ahem… as someone who minored in Statistics in a graduate school, I must point out that the above logic only holds some water IF, and only IF, the admission chance into any one of these schools was completely independent of each other, meaning, these are random events. </p>
<p>Well, the reality is ANYTHING BUT. They are highly correlated. For instance, if the reason for rejection from one top school is a low GPA, and the rest of the schools also take GPA seriously, then the reason for rejection from one college is highly correlated with the reasons for potential rejections from all such schools. As such, a student rejected by one school runs the risk of being rejected by all schools of similar caliber and selectivity.</p>
<p>That said, there are always exceptions: we hear of stories of a kid accepted by Harvard but rejected by Cornell, etc. However, just like you wouldn’t build your retirement plan on your “winning” chance with a lottery, you shouldn’t bank on these exceptional stories and run the risk of not getting into any college come April.</p>
<p>
Thats a LOL!!!
My ds#2 had an unweighted GPA of around 3.55 or so, maybe 3.6 at most (weighted 3.88). NMF, strong SATs and SAT IIs, strong committment to community service (won awards). Admitted to Tulane (Lots of $$$$- full tuition plus NMS) and Emory (some merit $$$ but not as much). WL at Vandy and UNC-CH Hill. Didnt stay on the WL. Took the $$ and ran at Tulane. Happy as can be there.</p>
<p>^^ Was wondering whether to put Tulane on sons radar.</p>
<p>Definitely put Tulane on the Radar!! They are very generous with $$ and tlee you pretty quickly if you are admitted. DS knew in October! Made life very comfortable to know he wouldnt be living in the basement! It did mean he decided not to finish one last application (Claremont-McKenna), though they emailed him frequently asking if hed finish his application. Dont know if he would have been admitted. He’s perfectly happy at Tulane and our wallet is too.</p>
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<h1>2 rule of CC: Love the kid on the couch.</h1>
<p>It’s a technicality, but let’s switch #1 and #2, shall we? :)</p>
<p>I agree with the above post. Also lets not forget the 3.5GPA is still an excellent GPA. </p>
<p>jym626, has your DS selected his major?</p>
<p>pixeljig-</p>
<p>He has always planned (and is still pursuing) a chemistry major (is premed/prepharm). He was going to possibly double major in history, but changed his mind and is minoring in psychology (with interest in psychopharmacology).</p>
<p>I stand corrected.</p>
<h1>1 Rule of CC: Love the kid on the couch, not the kid you wish you had (thank you, Blossom!)</h1>
<h1>2 Rule of CC: Love thy safety.</h1>
<p>for TOP colleges need to be top 5-10 percent of class too. Also for Georgetown SFS is like getting into ivey</p>
<p>Not so sure about that one either, downtoearth.
My daughter was in top 30%.
accepted everywhere…list is above.
Frankly I was surprised,as I figured that as a general rule of thumb (top 10% or forget it)but lots of other things come into play…personality, leadership skills, etcetc.</p>