<p>Doogie, it's actually fairly easy for most people to learn how adcoms view their GPA in the context of their school. Simply look at the college book or talk to the counselors about what it has taken recent past stuidents at the particular school to get into a specific college. </p>
<p>I would also have to seriously disagree that college admissions do not revolve around GPAs and SATs. Those things form the foundation at the vast majority of schools for the vast majority of applicants. Unless you have acceptable minimums, nothing short of a world class EC will help.</p>
<p>"the best public high schools have averages around the mid-1300s. (for those who claim their public high school has higher, show me proof)."</p>
<p>Mid-1300's would be for magnet schools. For normal public schools, anything over 1200 is awesome. Our SAT average from the past 5 years is somwhere around 1240 (WWHS, the best HS in MD).</p>
<p>Doogie, how do you think colleges come up with roughly the same average scores every year? Sure there are some exceptions, but they are just that, exceptions to the rule.</p>
<p>Non hooked candidates (URMs, legacies, the rich and famous, faculty kids, athletes) have above the schools average SATs and GPAs in the VAST majority of cases.</p>
<p>columbiamom2,
Colleges have various ways of dealing with the myriads of grading scales. One method is to multiple the cumulative average time four to get the GPA. Another is to recalculate the GPA based on 4.0 for each 'A', 3.0 for each 'B', etc. To see what will actually be sent to colleges, though, have your son request a copy of his transcript - and the hs profile. This will also let you know his current class rank - a much more important number than the GPA.</p>
<p>With regard to the calculation of GPAs, I guess my school is just weird. Teachers get to choose what grading scale to use, and most say that 94-100 percent is an A (with 94 and 95 percent as A-) Therefore, my 95 percent may have been the same average as someone elses 90 percent. My school is pretty easy, though.</p>
<p>P.S. My semi-crappy rural public school has a median and mean score of 2110 this year. (Of course, I'm the only one who took the SAT at my school.) LOL ACTs, however, are another story.</p>
<p>Thanks, ohio_mom. I am literally the only one in my school who has ever even heard of SAT II's. (I will be taking them in October) Even my "counselor" (the lady who arranges our schedules and compiles lists of who gets scholarships) said "I don't really know anything about those" when I asked her about taking SAT II's. (This was before I found CC; now I don't even bother asking her my questions anymore.)
PS I really hope SAT scores can make up for GPA. Then I just need to go about getting better scores instead of lamenting my doom.</p>
<p>lol same here!! i was the ONLY sophomore to take the SATIIs. (i got a LOT OF CRAP from the juniors and seniors i saw there). i don't think 90% of the people in my class know what SATIIs are. i guess i'm special data, too</p>
<p>In the one case I'm most intimately familiar with, someone with over 1500 SAT I's (over 2300 the new way), every AP imaginable,but with B+ to A- grades from a selective private school did not get into the very most selective colleges they applied to. Who really knows why, but their adviser said it was mostly because of grades. Kids from the same school with lower SATs but higher grades got in.</p>
<p>""the best public high schools have averages around the mid-1300s. (for those who claim their public high school has higher, show me proof)."</p>
<p>Mid-1300's would be for magnet schools. For normal public schools, anything over 1200 is awesome. Our SAT average from the past 5 years is somwhere around 1240 (WWHS, the best HS in MD)."</p>
<p>Oh, good point. I actually had Whitney High School in mind when I posted that. They are a public school but require they an exam to get in, so perhaps they don't count as a "normal" public school (though they aren't magnet persay since most of the students come from its own district). But anyway, Whitney annually has averages of mid-1300's, scores that rival many top prep/private schools.</p>
<p>A 3.7 would rank you well within the top 5% of my class, where as the school 10 miles over graduated 30% of their class with 4.0s. But kids at our school have better SATs and better track records getting into top colleges. I really don't think GPA matters as much as rank.</p>
<p>I agree-I think it's the overall combination of Courses taken+GPA+class rank+SAT scores. My S has a 94.68 weighted average, and his rank is 6/158, SAT I (0ld): 1450. He took all the AP courses offered, plus physics which along with AP Calc is the hardest Course at this school. The val did not take physics, or AP Calc or AP English, plus this is an "arts" school where the arts courses (2 per term) are weighted more, and the teachers in her studio grade much higher than in his-esp. freshman year when he had a crazy drama teacher (actually an English teacher who had never taught drama and is no longer teaching) who gave him straight 85s-the highest grade she ever gave to a male student and the lowest grade he has ever received-both terms of that year. The val, however, had an SAT score of 1180 and is going to a very obscure state college. My S has the highest SAT score of the school (next highest-1240), and was the only National Merit Commended Student-also the only student so far to get into an Ivy League college-several others with high grades and thus high rank applied and were rejected due to low SAT scores and lackluster essays........</p>
<p>The avg. GPA is seemingly low to you because GPA is different depending on what school you're at. At elite prep schools, a 3.5 is outstanding and worthy of acceptance to an Ivy league school. Also, legacies, athletic recruits, and other acceptances along those lines can bring down the school's avg. GPA.</p>
<p>columbiamom2- I am in New York as well, and as of now I have about the same weighted GPA as your son (though, it will probably reach 96/97 come junior year). How is this type of New York weighting viewed by admission officers, if you know? It certainly doesn't seem so impressive, considering people on this board have weighted GPAs of 102+. BTW, what was your son's UNweighted GPA? </p>
<p>To answer the original poster's question: No. What is the SAT - a 3 hr. exam. What is your GPA? - four years cumulation of work. Obviously, the latter is a much better reflection of your strengths as a student.</p>
<p>
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My public high school has around a 1400 SAT average. What proof do you need? The only thing I can think of is Wikipedia and that isn't reliable enough.
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<p>Just as an FYI (basically, I'm not really concerned about it). There is a free "School Report" generator at <a href="http://www.homefair.com">www.homefair.com</a> that will provide basic information like average SAT scores, number of NMF, percent going on to college/workforce/military, etc. Pretty basic, but I've used it several times in the past for family moves just to get a starting idea about local schools and school districts.</p>