GPAs - still confused

[Anonymous]

What do the colleges look at? And how do they weigh raw GPA vs. weighted for admissions?

I've asked a million times, including at the school and i get a "it depends." I get that but what am I supp'd to do with that information? For ex., I'm looking at the College Confidential, Niche, UNNWR, etc. that lists the stats for incoming classes. And lots of them, even ones I would not have thought, are 3.8-4.0. Fine. But is this weighted? Unweighted?

Take a kid who had all A's in HN level classes. Now is in al APs/DE and is getting some B's. Do colleges want to see the increased "rigor" (which is what we were told) and some Bs or all A's in Honors classes? This is not for ivy level schools but good schools of the variety Lehigh, Colgate, etc. Weighted GPA looks great but unweight is likely to go down some at the semester (like, 3.7'ish . .. . don't really know b/c the teachers don't like to enter grades to I'm going on the work I've seen and few grades entered). Kid is also an athlete and lots of ECs.

And before you say it, we have LOTS of safeties on the list.

[Anonymous]

No. One. Knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do the colleges look at? And how do they weigh raw GPA vs. weighted for admissions?

I've asked a million times, including at the school and i get a "it depends." I get that but what am I supp'd to do with that information? For ex., I'm looking at the College Confidential, Niche, UNNWR, etc. that lists the stats for incoming classes. And lots of them, even ones I would not have thought, are 3.8-4.0. Fine. But is this weighted? Unweighted?

Take a kid who had all A's in HN level classes. Now is in al APs/DE and is getting some B's. Do colleges want to see the increased "rigor" (which is what we were told) and some Bs or all A's in Honors classes? This is not for ivy level schools but good schools of the variety Lehigh, Colgate, etc. Weighted GPA looks great but unweight is likely to go down some at the semester (like, 3.7'ish . .. . don't really know b/c the teachers don't like to enter grades to I'm going on the work I've seen and few grades entered). Kid is also an athlete and lots of ECs.

And before you say it, we have LOTS of safeties on the list.

The simple (unhelpful) answer anyone can give you is that kids taking the most rigorous courses and getting all As will do the best. After that, it is in the lord's hands.

[Anonymous]

Every college does it differently, so there is really no reason to fret about it.

Your kid should take the classes in high school that they want to take and do as well in them as they can.

There is no single answer or formula.

[Anonymous]

3.7ish will not do. 3.85ish is more like it. 3.9ish allows you a confident application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every college does it differently, so there is really no reason to fret about it.

Your kid should take the classes in high school that they want to take and do as well in them as they can.

There is no single answer or formula.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3.7ish will not do. 3.85ish is more like it. 3.9ish allows you a confident application.

Depending on school 3.8 could work at some places…

[Anonymous]

Rigor is good when you have all As or nearly all As. If not, rigor is bad.

[Anonymous]

I have always assumed a B in an AP class is fine for schools outside the top 20. Is this incorrect? How do normal smart kids (not geniuses) get all As in multiple APs, do varsity sports, volunteer, etc. ? Do they even have time for going out with friends, dating, watching TV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have always assumed a B in an AP class is fine for schools outside the top 20. Is this incorrect? How do normal smart kids (not geniuses) get all As in multiple APs, do varsity sports, volunteer, etc. ? Do they even have time for going out with friends, dating, watching TV?

Depends on when you’re aiming for. OOS public’s you don’t need a ton of ECs. It’s a GPA game.

Also don’t do a ton of sports. There’s no real value. 1 sport is plenty for admissions as a non-recruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rigor is good when you have all As or nearly all As. If not, rigor is bad.

I don't see how this can possible be right for anything out of a top 10 or so. That's crazy.

[Anonymous]

So you're telling me that EVERY incoming freshman for some of these (non-ivy) schools has a 3.9 unweighted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every college does it differently, so there is really no reason to fret about it.

Your kid should take the classes in high school that they want to take and do as well in them as they can.

There is no single answer or formula.

Ok, but a B or B+ in a stem AP class . . . it seems like the prevailing view is that any top school is off the table. Kid is told to "challenge yourself" and is doing just that. But that seems to not matter if anything less than an A in those classes will automatically disqualify them from good colleges. So maybe it's better they stay in honors and get As?

And then what if there is no honors? So for precalc and calc, there is no "honors" at our school. It's AP or "gened."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you're telling me that EVERY incoming freshman for some of these (non-ivy) schools has a 3.9 unweighted?

Depends on if t25? Some will be lower but not much?

Just make a list of schools and then ask specific questions.

The best thing to do is compare yourself to other kids from your school that have applied. Use your schools data service (naviance) for that. Way more helpful/relevant than all of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have always assumed a B in an AP class is fine for schools outside the top 20. Is this incorrect? How do normal smart kids (not geniuses) get all As in multiple APs, do varsity sports, volunteer, etc. ? Do they even have time for going out with friends, dating, watching TV?

Some districts basically don't give grades less than Bs, even in AP courses. DCPS is one--kids will get at least a B for effort. Public school is not all equal.