Big College Admissions Year at St. Albans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is an awful GPA anywhere.[/quote

Um, no. Do you know NCS? Her DD would likely have earned a 4.5 at any of the top local public high schools. NCS does not grade infate, nor does it give A's freely.

Thank you, PP. Absolutely, the truth. NCS is extremely rigorous and given DD's schedule and ECs, we were so proud of her ability to time manage and pursue the things that truly made her happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is an awful GPA anywhere.[/quote

Um, no. Do you know NCS? Her DD would likely have earned a 4.5 at any of the top local public high schools. NCS does not grade infate, nor does it give A's freely.

LOL. Yeah, right.

[Anonymous]

Oh boy, here comes another round of why TJ is superior.

[Anonymous]

There's a lot of good information coming out in this thread (thanks, former college admissions people); let's keep it civil and constructive! I don't know about number conversions, but remember the original NCS mom posters wasn't making any inflated claims -- she said the 3.48 range GPA put her daughter in the top third of the class, if I recall correctly. It's a fair point that most public schools do weight averages and most of the local independent schools don't; and that most public schools have a big buy-in to the AP system and that really varies in independent schools, which often don't like to be tied into the AP curriculum, etc (for example, most juniors at St. Albans take the AP US History exam, but the school does not offer an honors or AP US History section). It's also true from what I've seen that St. Albans, NCS, and Sidwell in particular have been pretty resistant to grade inflation even apart from the non-weighting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD graduated from a local private school and our view was that the college counselors helped with 1)providing data on what the school's admission history was with a particular college 2) helping with the transcript/recommendation process 3) helping brainstorm essays (but no help in editing them, as we discovered at about 11:30 pm before one midnight deadline) 4) writing a good recommendation.

They were not much help in identifying schools, my DD did that on her own and the ones they suggested she hated. I don't think they did any calling/cajoling in the admissions process, although they may have met with the admissions reps when they were on campus. But those visits were early in the process and most kids had not settled on their application list at that point. It is not clear to me that they were any help in the WL process and my DD was WLed at her two top choices.

I understand at some schools the counselors strongly discourage some kids from applying to some of the top schools if they think they can't get in. Our school did not do that, although they did help to identify reach schools.

I don't think any counselors actually edit the essays (that would be a pretty crazy task, if you think of it), although at ours they read drafts and gave helpful oral feedback and did a good job of keeping kids on track so that they weren't procrastinating and writing crappy essays the night before (although a few probably did anyway). They are good about suggesting good options tied to the students' interests (engineering, or niche arts programs, etc.). They are candid about what are reach schools but kids can still apply if they really want to.

I really liked the former college admissions poster's point about needing to make sure you value the private school for the educational experience while you are there. If you think it's all about the college admissions I think people are almost bound to be disappointed, given the hyper-selectivity of many colleges these days.

[Anonymous]

3.48 is a B+ average which is great. NCS does not weight grades so the highest possible is an A with a 4.0. Students do not get added GPA boost for taking AP/honors courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3.48 is a B+ average which is great. NCS does not weight grades so the highest possible is an A with a 4.0. Students do not get added GPA boost for taking AP/honors courses.

In MoCo public the kids get a weighted and unweighted GPA. They really don't pay much attention to the weighted GPA. Selective colleges do their own weighting/unweighting so it is irrelevant in the admissions process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is an awful GPA anywhere.[/quote

Um, no. Do you know NCS? Her DD would likely have earned a 4.5 at any of the top local public high schools. NCS does not grade infate, nor does it give A's freely.

Um, no. First the basics: in public schools, weights are only given for AP courses, not for honors courses. Now the reasons you're wrong: (a) AP courses can be very, very difficult, not an "easy A" by any stretch, and (b) public schools calculate both weighted and unweighted GPAs, and nobody pays any attention to the weighted GPAs because the colleges only use the unweighted.

[Anonymous]

3.48 is not terrific, let's be honest about this. There were probably a number of kids in this NCS class who have 3.7 and 3.8, in fact I know a few. And I know public magnet kids (Not TJ!! In MoCo!!) with indisputably hard classes and UNweighted GPAs in the same 3.7-3.8 range. I'm actually a little curious about where in the top third this child was - near the bottom end, I'm guessing, although that itself is an achievement and 3.48 is not bad, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true some some NCS parents hire private college counselor to help select colleges, courses, extracurriculars, sports, volunteering, and SAT prep as early as 9th grade?

I have no idea about NCS but all parents should be working with their children and the school's college counselors to develop a plan starting the 9th grade. Waiting until junior year is WAY too late and will induce a panic attack. Start visiting colleges when you are on vacation or trips to visit relatives. Start looking at the Common Data Sets at various schools so you can see the actual statistics of admitted students. See what various colleges require in terms of SAT IIs. Learn what's changed at the College Board since you attended school - for example super scoring. Learn about the ACT. Start visiting The Choice page of the New York Times and the forums on College Confidential. Learn that many colleges accept half their first year classes during the early decision process. All of this information will help you to develop a realistic view of the credentials required to get into college these days and should also put you on the road to begin to realistically evaluate your child and his/her chances are various schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh boy, here comes another round of why TJ is superior.

Wrong. I'm the one who laughed at the 3.5, and I am NOT affiliated with TJ. NCS is a great school. My point is if the OP's daughter can only muster a 3.5, she would NOT have gotten a 4.5 in public school. Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh boy, here comes another round of why TJ is superior.

Wrong. I'm the one who laughed at the 3.5, and I am NOT affiliated with TJ. NCS is a great school. My point is if the OP's daughter can only muster a 3.5, she would NOT have gotten a 4.5 in public school. Please.

You clearly know nothing about the top private school world. NCS is ranked nationally in the top 20 of all us private schools
, and top 10 if you take out NYC privates. Your moco or fairfax county publics just can't compare. Please.

[Anonymous]

You have reading comprehension issues. As I said, NCS is a GREAT school. My point (again) is that the OP is clearly delusional about her daughter's capabilities. If she can't manage even a 3.5 at NCS, she is not going to be a 4.5 student somewhere else. Clearly she is not a great student to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh boy, here comes another round of why TJ is superior.

Wrong. I'm the one who laughed at the 3.5, and I am NOT affiliated with TJ. NCS is a great school. My point is if the OP's daughter can only muster a 3.5, she would NOT have gotten a 4.5 in public school. Please.

You clearly know nothing about the top private school world. NCS is ranked nationally in the top 20 of all us private schools
, and top 10 if you take out NYC privates. Your moco or fairfax county publics just can't compare. Please.

You clearly know nothing about the public school world -- probably because you're too snooty to bother finding out. Get your head out of your but. At the risk of being confused with that other poster - TJ and the MoCo magnets are as good or better than NCS. Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You clearly know nothing about the top private school world. NCS is ranked nationally in the top 20 of all us private schools
, and top 10 if you take out NYC privates. Your moco or fairfax county publics just can't compare. Please.

This is the kind of amazingly ignorant, self-satisfied post that makes me think all DCUMers are total a$$es and I should get a new hobby. And then I remember that this is the private school forum, and much of this ignorance and awful behavior is limited to this forum.

Carry on. Be your wonderful self, it's expected here....