What GPA At Sidwell Necessary for T20 Colleges?

[Anonymous]

For parents of Sidwell students in recent years, what GPA did you find necessary to be competitive at T20 schools if unhooked? For reference, my kid has interest in Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For parents of Sidwell students in recent years, what GPA did you find necessary to be competitive at T20 schools if unhooked? For reference, my kid has interest in Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke.

>3.75 GPA

[Anonymous]

It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

Most of the kids are just so bleh boring. They’re very good about getting good grades and picking the right activities. Very few are impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

Most of the kids are just so bleh boring. They’re very good about getting good grades and picking the right activities. Very few are impressive.

You're correct. I worked with a private admissions consultant, and they told us to steer clear of the highly-coveted majors as a DMV applicant unless we had national-level accolades. They helped my kid build an application around the Classics, and they got into a T15 school with an underwhelming GPA (3.7) due to grade deflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

Most of the kids are just so bleh boring. They’re very good about getting good grades and picking the right activities. Very few are impressive.

You're correct. I worked with a private admissions consultant, and they told us to steer clear of the highly-coveted majors as a DMV applicant unless we had national-level accolades. They helped my kid build an application around the Classics, and they got into a T15 school with an underwhelming GPA (3.7) due to grade deflation.

That is terrible advice if a kid actually wants to study something they are now blocked from pursuing, like CS. Better to go to a lower ranked school and do what you love. Rank does not matter. Loving what you do does matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

Most of the kids are just so bleh boring. They’re very good about getting good grades and picking the right activities. Very few are impressive.

You're correct. I worked with a private admissions consultant, and they told us to steer clear of the highly-coveted majors as a DMV applicant unless we had national-level accolades. They helped my kid build an application around the Classics, and they got into a T15 school with an underwhelming GPA (3.7) due to grade deflation.

That is terrible advice if a kid actually wants to study something they are now blocked from pursuing, like CS. Better to go to a lower ranked school and do what you love. Rank does not matter. Loving what you do does matter.

Not necessarily. Most elite private colleges let you major in what you wish. Very common for kids to go in as a humanities major and switch to STEM once in school. It's a very common strategy in modern admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

Most of the kids are just so bleh boring. They’re very good about getting good grades and picking the right activities. Very few are impressive.

You're correct. I worked with a private admissions consultant, and they told us to steer clear of the highly-coveted majors as a DMV applicant unless we had national-level accolades. They helped my kid build an application around the Classics, and they got into a T15 school with an underwhelming GPA (3.7) due to grade deflation.

That is terrible advice if a kid actually wants to study something they are now blocked from pursuing, like CS. Better to go to a lower ranked school and do what you love. Rank does not matter. Loving what you do does matter.

Not necessarily. Most elite private colleges let you major in what you wish. Very common for kids to go in as a humanities major and switch to STEM once in school. It's a very common strategy in modern admissions.

You build up your foundation (STEM or humanities) from high school. Switching majors particularly switching from humanities to STEM is risky if the kid is underprepared in STEM. I wouldn't recommend that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

Most of the kids are just so bleh boring. They’re very good about getting good grades and picking the right activities. Very few are impressive.

You're correct. I worked with a private admissions consultant, and they told us to steer clear of the highly-coveted majors as a DMV applicant unless we had national-level accolades. They helped my kid build an application around the Classics, and they got into a T15 school with an underwhelming GPA (3.7) due to grade deflation.

I would never have my child build up a fake application around “Classics” just to get into a T15 school but you do you I guess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

Most of the kids are just so bleh boring. They’re very good about getting good grades and picking the right activities. Very few are impressive.

You're correct. I worked with a private admissions consultant, and they told us to steer clear of the highly-coveted majors as a DMV applicant unless we had national-level accolades. They helped my kid build an application around the Classics, and they got into a T15 school with an underwhelming GPA (3.7) due to grade deflation.

That is terrible advice if a kid actually wants to study something they are now blocked from pursuing, like CS. Better to go to a lower ranked school and do what you love. Rank does not matter. Loving what you do does matter.

Not necessarily. Most elite private colleges let you major in what you wish. Very common for kids to go in as a humanities major and switch to STEM once in school. It's a very common strategy in modern admissions.

You build up your foundation (STEM or humanities) from high school. Switching majors particularly switching from humanities to STEM is risky if the kid is underprepared in STEM. I wouldn't recommend that.

Seriously! Ever taken college calculus? It’s incomprehensible unless you have a good base in it from HS.

[Anonymous]

I think most high performing students can study both math and classics in HS. It’s an interesting elective path. It doesn’t mean students aren’t broadly prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most high performing students can study both math and classics in HS. It’s an interesting elective path. It doesn’t mean students aren’t broadly prepared.

+1. Every kid at my child’s HS has to take a year of classics and a year of AP Calc to graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is less about GPA and more about having a hook - at any top metro DC school.

Not entirely true. Hooks help, but unhooked kids can still get in through building very impressive resumes and applications. Far too many DMV overachievers are just cookie-cutter applicants, all indicating interest in the same fields of study (Finance/Econ, Pre-Law, Pre-Med, CS, etc.)

Most of the kids are just so bleh boring. They’re very good about getting good grades and picking the right activities. Very few are impressive.

You're correct. I worked with a private admissions consultant, and they told us to steer clear of the highly-coveted majors as a DMV applicant unless we had national-level accolades. They helped my kid build an application around the Classics, and they got into a T15 school with an underwhelming GPA (3.7) due to grade deflation.

That is terrible advice if a kid actually wants to study something they are now blocked from pursuing, like CS. Better to go to a lower ranked school and do what you love. Rank does not matter. Loving what you do does matter.

Maybe the kid loves classics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most high performing students can study both math and classics in HS. It’s an interesting elective path. It doesn’t mean students aren’t broadly prepared.

It's not just math. The foundation needs to be there for stem or humanities. For stem, you need math/physics/chemistry at advanced levels, optionally with biology. For humanities, similarly you have quite a few advanced courses. It's impossible to build a solid foundation in both stem and humanities.