do you think GPA is a "threshold" thing like test scores?

[Anonymous]

I've heard here and in podcasts with AOs themselves, that they treat test scores as a threshold ie, they glance at it, it raises no alarm bells, they move on.

Do you think GPA is treated similarly? A kid in top 1% and top 5% at our school is often about if the lower ranked kid took an extra unweighted class like music theory so I find GPA as dicey as test scores, if not more so.

[Anonymous]

Most good colleges claim to look at rigor and course selection.

[Anonymous]

Most colleges consider grades and rigor of transcript more heavily than test scores. It is this that will determine the passing of a threshold, if they think of it that way.

GPA, as a number, is likely more a factor in the yield algorithms used by the admissions office, which would have many variables. Keep in mind that some top colleges will recalculate the GPA in their own way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard here and in podcasts with AOs themselves, that they treat test scores as a threshold ie, they glance at it, it raises no alarm bells, they move on.

Do you think GPA is treated similarly? A kid in top 1% and top 5% at our school is often about if the lower ranked kid took an extra unweighted class like music theory so I find GPA as dicey as test scores, if not more so.

AOs read a transcript the same way you’d read a resume: they’re hunting for evidence of ambition and follow-through, not just a big number at the bottom.

A lot of colleges are more focused on how much students challenged themselves with the courseload rather than GPA itself. Did they take the highest rigor the school offered? How many? Are they continue to challenge themselves in the senior year?

Of course you still want a high GPA in the highest rigor courseload, but merely having a 4.0 by itself doesn't really tell the AOs much.

[Anonymous]

I get the issue with taking an unweighted class, and AOs can see that too.

They can't see that there may be two Calc BC sections in a large rigorous HS and one teacher grades completely differently than the other - nor will it show up on a grade distribution chart.

GPA is an issue, but I dont think AOs have cracked it. They do lean into that and rankings more than they should IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard here and in podcasts with AOs themselves, that they treat test scores as a threshold ie, they glance at it, it raises no alarm bells, they move on.

Do you think GPA is treated similarly? A kid in top 1% and top 5% at our school is often about if the lower ranked kid took an extra unweighted class like music theory so I find GPA as dicey as test scores, if not more so.

AOs read a transcript the same way you’d read a resume: they’re hunting for evidence of ambition and follow-through, not just a big number at the bottom.

A lot of colleges are more focused on how much students challenged themselves with the courseload rather than GPA itself. Did they take the highest rigor the school offered? How many? Are they continue to challenge themselves in the senior year?

Of course you still want a high GPA in the highest rigor courseload, but merely having a 4.0 by itself doesn't really tell the AOs much.

This is highly dependent on the school you are applying to and your background. Latino FGLI top 20% GPA, a few honors or maybe an easy AP gets in everywhere in UC except UCLA , top 1% max AP honors for hardest courses plus extras in DE during summers white or Asian male gets in nowhere but Riverside or Merced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard here and in podcasts with AOs themselves, that they treat test scores as a threshold ie, they glance at it, it raises no alarm bells, they move on.

Do you think GPA is treated similarly? A kid in top 1% and top 5% at our school is often about if the lower ranked kid took an extra unweighted class like music theory so I find GPA as dicey as test scores, if not more so.

It depends on the HS, and what else is in the application.
From a non-rigorous public, a 3.8uw might = a disgard.
From a feeder private, a 3.8uw might mean a closer read.

Your HS matters MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the issue with taking an unweighted class, and AOs can see that too.

They can't see that there may be two Calc BC sections in a large rigorous HS and one teacher grades completely differently than the other - nor will it show up on a grade distribution chart.

GPA is an issue, but I dont think AOs have cracked it. They do lean into that and rankings more than they should IMO.

+1

They say they consider context of the high school. I have multiple kids who attended two different high schools. AOs don't really know everything, and the above is just one example, different teachers grading differently within the same high school, let alone having different expectations in different high schools.

[Anonymous]

Well, heavily test scores. They have just told you that. For those who don't claim to be TO. Then next glance at the Senior Schedule and glance at the overall GPA just to make sure the GPA isn't shockingly low. Then, the finer details.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. Better to be good at 2 things than a little better at 1 thing.

[Anonymous]

UVA regularly states that they are looking for the highest possible level in all core subjects including foreign language. So yes I think they care for more than just the literal number.

[Anonymous]

Neither GPA nor test scores is a threshold. Most schools will give you a score for both, and the higher cumulative scores kids haven the more likely the admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've heard here and in podcasts with AOs themselves, that they treat test scores as a threshold ie, they glance at it, it raises no alarm bells, they move on.

Do you think GPA is treated similarly? A kid in top 1% and top 5% at our school is often about if the lower ranked kid took an extra unweighted class like music theory so I find GPA as dicey as test scores, if not more so.

It depends on the HS, and what else is in the application.
From a non-rigorous public, a 3.8uw might = a disgard.
From a feeder private, a 3.8uw might mean a closer read.

Your HS matters MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

Can we sticky this somewhere please, to get the tiger moms off the internet?

[Anonymous]

At our private school, it appears rigor is not as important as the number. 3.8 no matter what rigor has a chance at various T20s. Below 3.8, the chance drops a lot even if you've taken the most rigorous.

SAT is a threshold, once you are over 1500, no one is questioning your academics.

So at this specific school, both test score and GPA serve as thresholds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our private school, it appears rigor is not as important as the number. 3.8 no matter what rigor has a chance at various T20s. Below 3.8, the chance drops a lot even if you've taken the most rigorous.

SAT is a threshold, once you are over 1500, no one is questioning your academics.

So at this specific school, both test score and GPA serve as thresholds.

Very similar at ours.