Which student does better in admissions?

[Anonymous]

At elite private high schools, does a strong student with 3.95+ unweighted GPA cum laude top of the class with some extracurricular school impact or a student with 3.8 with deep experience in a subject and has impact both inside and outside of school (awards) do better in college admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At elite private high schools, does a strong student with 3.95+ unweighted GPA cum laude top of the class with some extracurricular school impact or a student with 3.8 with deep experience in a subject and has impact both inside and outside of school (awards) do better in college admissions?

Depends on which schools you are talking about?

From our non-DMV private HS, student 1 is a STEM kid and might do well at Michigan or UVA or even Cornell.
But not as well as student 2 at Yale, Brown and Northwestern.

[Anonymous]

Impossible to answer because there are so many definitions of “does better.”

[Anonymous]

SAT matters. But the private school kid, assuming they can spin their essays.

[Anonymous]

They both do well. What's "better" is subjective to the kid.

[Anonymous]

The data I’ve seen show that GPA matters a lot - more than I would have thought. So A in your scenario.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SAT matters. But the private school kid, assuming they can spin their essays.

They're both private school kids.

[Anonymous]

six of one . . .

[Anonymous]

Depends on your strategy. Where your DC ED. I have seen both rejected from highly selective schools. Also seen both accepted by schools that are the best fit. Talk to your counselor, they will figure out a lane for your DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The data I’ve seen show that GPA matters a lot - more than I would have thought. So A in your scenario.

Is that for HYPSM?

[Anonymous]

Is second kid in top 20 percent of class with high SATs? If not, no way they are getting a top tier Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At elite private high schools, does a strong student with 3.95+ unweighted GPA cum laude top of the class with some extracurricular school impact or a student with 3.8 with deep experience in a subject and has impact both inside and outside of school (awards) do better in college admissions?

It doesn't matter. I mean it's not meaningful to make this kind of comparison. Focus on what you can do to make a good application, consult with your school counselor. They will properly steer the kids to excellent colleges for both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is second kid in top 20 percent of class with high SATs? If not, no way they are getting a top tier Ivy.

Both kids scoring 1550 to 1600 on SAT's.

[Anonymous]

I think A will do better. At least they would at our school. B would need to have a National level talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think A will do better. At least they would at our school. B would need to have a National level talent.

Assuming equal rigor, both in top 10-20%, and equal test scores for a T15 or top SLAC probably the second kid but hard to tell. Both are in a tough bracket. High academics with typical ECs are pretty common so nothing stands out. 3.8 might be a bit low assuming typical grading but somewhat offset by ECs. Both of these profiles could have good success or no success which is why people get frustrated.