Lower GPA for similar college admissions having graduated from competitive private?
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Anonymous
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We are starting to look at colleges for DS. He goes to an elite private school in the DC area. While his grades are not that great (3.0 GPA), he has strong extracurriculars and work experience. His school was very challenging and there was a heavy workload. I am assuming that having gone to a strong private school can help with college admissions. What GPA range should we look at for schools? Is there kind of a GPA 'bump' for admissions if you went to a well regarded private school?
This was true when I was in school. Got into the Ivy league with a 3.7 GPA. My school was very challenging and grades were not that inflated. Is this still true? |
Anonymous
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An elite private should have counselors that can give you a much better realistic suggestion than this board.
Once would think he gets judged also within the context of his peers and the rigor offered by his private. |
Anonymous
For SLACs, definitely. Not so much for the large universities, whose admissions folks either have never heard of the Big 3 or don't care, or even hold it against the applicant. |
Anonymous
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A 3.0 is a problem, even for an “elite” school in the DMV. No way he’s gets into a top 50 school.
You wasted your money. |
Anonymous
| My 3.0 got into T28!!! |
Anonymous
NP. But with curve grading, someone's got to have a low GPA. What happens to them? |
Anonymous
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This has got to be a troll post or the OP has paid zero attention to the topic of college admissions.
If you are real, ask your counselors at your expensive private school. |
Anonymous
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You are going to have to ask your college admissions office. The average GPA at your kid's school (even an elite DC private) is probably about a 3.5 so your kid is definitely in the bottom half of the grade. Even at these difficult school there are kids getting all As or close to it. Look at the school's college admissions Instagram account from the past year and see where some of the kids went who appear to be in the lower half.
Places like Ivies and other top 30 schools are out. Other top 50 schools are likely out unless your kid gets some sort of super lucky break. The good news is that there are tons of good school above 50. Liberal arts colleges are a great idea as they have the time to read applications and they recognize that a 3.0 from a super elite high school may be worth taking. |
Anonymous
Look at the Sidwell 2023 or GDS 2023 or NCS 2023 Instagram sites and identify some of the lower ranked schools. Some of these kids may be going to these places because of aid, strong programs in an area of interest, family history, or other reasons but it's a good starting point to identify schools where kids in the lower 50% may attend. |
Anonymous
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Some of the less competitive schools that Big3 kids matriculated to this year: (probably a good bet for the lower 50% of the class).
Penn State Temple Denison Santa Clara Drexel Vermont Reed GW Syracuse Pittsburgh Arizona Fordham Colorado Oberlin LSU Tennessee JMU Smith |
Anonymous
OP here. thanks for this helpful list! I am not a troll....but it would be fair to say that I have not paid much attention yet to the topic of college admissions. It seems like everyone in this area is obsessed with it, and I get it that college is important. But not to spend every waking minute learning about it from day one.....and my Ivy experience was meh. So, getting into a top ranked college wasn't what we were thinking about when we enrolled our kid in private school. |
Anonymous
| My big3 3.0 kid is going to a top 40 school next year. No hooks. |
Anonymous
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OP, I recommend you ignore the folks (so present on DCUM!) who imply that the only purpose of high school is to get into college and the only colleges worth attending are T20s. The world is much more complex and interesting than that, and life is long. I assume your son had a meaningful high school experience, and that he learned some things about the world and about himself. Are a tiny handful of doors likely closed? Sure, but many, many doors are still open. It sounds like the closed doors don't represent what's most important to your family anyway.
I second what people are saying about listening to your son's college counselor. The counselors at these schools tend to be smart, deeply knowledgeable, and able to give a good, realistic range of which schools are likely/targets/appropriate reaches. They've had hundreds of kids with similar stats, and they also have real relationships with AOs at different institutions (and yes, most AOs know about the rigor at different schools). Every school his counselor recommends will have terrific opportunities, great professors, and smart/fun peers. It's true LACs have a shortage of male applicants, so if your son is open to an LAC, slightly more doors might be open to him. If you don't need financial aid, his chances will be even better. No matter what, I hope you all enjoy the process. Best of luck to your son, and to you. |
Anonymous
+1. Admissions counselors also now are a few years out from post-covid admissions so there is more data to work with. You want to make sure your kid is well-packaged and uses their ED wisely (if getting into a T50 is important). Keep an attitude of helping your kid find the right fit vs. the highest ranking. Don't encourage them to fall in love with any schools and don't disparage their "likely/safety" options. They may end up there! |
Anonymous
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People on this board want their kids in a "top college" because they want networking, connections and recruiting doors to be open for their kid.
It sounds like you already have networking and connections present from his HS experience at a top private. If anything, private HS is a more close knit community than private college to tap into. So you need the logo on the college diploma less than many on this board. And fwiw, many people who graduate from top private HS do put their HS or K-8 private school logos on their linkedin! So you've already got a leg up. Finally, you have the right attitude by realizing getting into selective college does not equal happiness. |