What happens with the Big3 kids who have sub 3.0 GPAs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are definitely not alone! My 11th grade DC has more than one C, mostly Bs and a few As. GPA is right around a 3.0. My DC tells me many friends have similar grades. I am secretly concerned as well. I really have no idea where my DC will get into college or even where to apply. We haven’t had our meeting with the college counselor yet. Also at a Big3. I get why you might think my kid is a “duffer,” but DC actually has a really high IQ and fairly high ACT scores (34 on first try). My DC finds it almost impossible to earn an A despite a lot of effort. Maybe we did pick the wrong school, but at this point it is a little late to consider a change. Plus, DC loves the school and friends.

I agree with PP- this is exactly the portion of the class that benefits the most in life from the HS Education they received- both in terms of being prepared to do college work and discipline, publlc speaking skills, confidence and poise later in life

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my kid had mostly Cs, I would wonder if they were in the right school.

What other school should they be in. If you have a duffer, what can the school do?

I’m actual fact, the biggest valued added for private education is probably exactly this profile. The top kids can be top kids lots a places. A mediocre student will get more value and have better college placement out of a top private than public. You can still make it to a decent SLAC with a 2.8 out of GDS. Your next stop with a 2.8 out of MCPS is community college.

I wish you can prove that. But I suspect not.

A lot of things have changed with test optional, but a couple years ago you could see distinct profiles in Naviance for the low GPA/high ACT scores. It’s a lot more common than you’d think and a lot of colleges used to seem comfortable with accepting this profile of student. With test optional nowadays, who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my kid had mostly Cs, I would wonder if they were in the right school.

Good point. There are just a lot of Cs given out. I'm not sure if many kids have mostly Cs but I do know a lot of kids with one or more Cs.

One C would not result in a sub 3.0 GPA. For someone to have below a 3.0 GPA, they need to have gotten mostly Cs. That's a sign that the school is not teaching in a way that is effective for that student.

Not really. All Bs = 3.0. So, all Bs + 1 C < 3.0. You can even have a GPA < 3.0 if you have all Bs, 1 A and 2 Cs.

This is going to be my kid. Not a “big 3” or big anything, but a good independent school. He gets the occasional A, mostly Bs, and some Cs. I’ll be thrilled if he ends up with a GPA over 3. I don’t think public school would have been better for him - he probably would have done less work and learned less, and been satisfied with Bs there too. He’s just not academically motivated. So better he is pushed and challenged. Hopefully he’ll find a good fit college.

[Anonymous]

There's more to life than letter grades. My kid has learned a lot more about how to be a good student in private school than he ever did in public school. Showing up, handing in decent (not outstanding) work, and behaving himself should not earn him As but that's all it took in public school. My DS has a 3.2ish UW GPA in private school and he will be very well prepared for college wherever he goes.

[Anonymous]

It’s all good. Your kids with a 2.5 - 3 GPA will end up going to B+ colleges, study what they’re interested in, have a great time and be happy. They will then eventually start businesses that they’re passionate about and employ the 4.0 GPA kids that went to Harvard Law, hated their law firm jobs and go in-house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are definitely not alone! My 11th grade DC has more than one C, mostly Bs and a few As. GPA is right around a 3.0. My DC tells me many friends have similar grades. I am secretly concerned as well. I really have no idea where my DC will get into college or even where to apply. We haven’t had our meeting with the college counselor yet. Also at a Big3. I get why you might think my kid is a “duffer,” but DC actually has a really high IQ and fairly high ACT scores (34 on first try). My DC finds it almost impossible to earn an A despite a lot of effort. Maybe we did pick the wrong school, but at this point it is a little late to consider a change. Plus, DC loves the school and friends.

If he got a 34 and is a sub 3 student than likely smart but loves the friends a bit too much to focus on school…underachieving maybe or just distracted? Or private school he is in is failing him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's more to life than letter grades. My kid has learned a lot more about how to be a good student in private school than he ever did in public school. Showing up, handing in decent (not outstanding) work, and behaving himself should not earn him As but that's all it took in public school. My DS has a 3.2ish UW GPA in private school and he will be very well prepared for college wherever he goes.

Sounds like you are trying to justify money spent. That is not my experience in publics with my child. Going to T25 next year…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my kid had mostly Cs, I would wonder if they were in the right school.

Good point. There are just a lot of Cs given out. I'm not sure if many kids have mostly Cs but I do know a lot of kids with one or more Cs.

One C would not result in a sub 3.0 GPA. For someone to have below a 3.0 GPA, they need to have gotten mostly Cs. That's a sign that the school is not teaching in a way that is effective for that student.

Or that the student simply isn't trying or isn't very bright.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of smart kids have trouble keeping up with the volume of work in private school. There's none of this retake stuff like in public school. Late work equals a 0. When my kids were in public school, they could hand in any work at any time within the quarter with no penalty. Now, if it's more than one day late, it is a 0. One day late is a 50%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's more to life than letter grades. My kid has learned a lot more about how to be a good student in private school than he ever did in public school. Showing up, handing in decent (not outstanding) work, and behaving himself should not earn him As but that's all it took in public school. My DS has a 3.2ish UW GPA in private school and he will be very well prepared for college wherever he goes.

Sounds like you are trying to justify money spent. That is not my experience in publics with my child. Going to T25 next year…

It varies drastically by public. My kid also came out of public and never had to lift a finger for high As (as in 99% in most classes) in public middle school. he is working really hard at a Big3 private high school. His friends who continued on to our public for high school are doing nothing. i was talking to one today and she was laughing about how she has yet to read anything for English class (as in not a page) and yet got an A for the fall semester. This is definitely not the norm in all publics but it's very much a reality in some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's more to life than letter grades. My kid has learned a lot more about how to be a good student in private school than he ever did in public school. Showing up, handing in decent (not outstanding) work, and behaving himself should not earn him As but that's all it took in public school. My DS has a 3.2ish UW GPA in private school and he will be very well prepared for college wherever he goes.

Sounds like you are trying to justify money spent. That is not my experience in publics with my child. Going to T25 next year…

It varies drastically by public. My kid also came out of public and never had to lift a finger for high As (as in 99% in most classes) in public middle school. he is working really hard at a Big3 private high school. His friends who continued on to our public for high school are doing nothing. i was talking to one today and she was laughing about how she has yet to read anything for English class (as in not a page) and yet got an A for the fall semester. This is definitely not the norm in all publics but it's very much a reality in some.

My public child worked hard to get into T25 - both public and private kids do! You are describing a kid who won’t get into a good school, who went to public. I’m will to bet that the same percentage of public and private students get admitted to the top schools - and all are just as you described at privates. You can’t compare too private kids with average public kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's more to life than letter grades. My kid has learned a lot more about how to be a good student in private school than he ever did in public school. Showing up, handing in decent (not outstanding) work, and behaving himself should not earn him As but that's all it took in public school. My DS has a 3.2ish UW GPA in private school and he will be very well prepared for college wherever he goes.

Sounds like you are trying to justify money spent. That is not my experience in publics with my child. Going to T25 next year…

It varies drastically by public. My kid also came out of public and never had to lift a finger for high As (as in 99% in most classes) in public middle school. he is working really hard at a Big3 private high school. His friends who continued on to our public for high school are doing nothing. i was talking to one today and she was laughing about how she has yet to read anything for English class (as in not a page) and yet got an A for the fall semester. This is definitely not the norm in all publics but it's very much a reality in some.

My public child worked hard to get into T25 - both public and private kids do! You are describing a kid who won’t get into a good school, who went to public. I’m will to bet that the same percentage of public and private students get admitted to the top schools - and all are just as you described at privates. You can’t compare too private kids with average public kids

Private parents who say my child didn’t get into a good school, but are better learners are too funny…all kids from publics and privates who are smart will get into top schools. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's more to life than letter grades. My kid has learned a lot more about how to be a good student in private school than he ever did in public school. Showing up, handing in decent (not outstanding) work, and behaving himself should not earn him As but that's all it took in public school. My DS has a 3.2ish UW GPA in private school and he will be very well prepared for college wherever he goes.

Sounds like you are trying to justify money spent. That is not my experience in publics with my child. Going to T25 next year…

It varies drastically by public. My kid also came out of public and never had to lift a finger for high As (as in 99% in most classes) in public middle school. he is working really hard at a Big3 private high school. His friends who continued on to our public for high school are doing nothing. i was talking to one today and she was laughing about how she has yet to read anything for English class (as in not a page) and yet got an A for the fall semester. This is definitely not the norm in all publics but it's very much a reality in some.

My public child worked hard to get into T25 - both public and private kids do! You are describing a kid who won’t get into a good school, who went to public. I’m will to bet that the same percentage of public and private students get admitted to the top schools - and all are just as you described at privates. You can’t compare too private kids with average public kids

And the notion that top kids from publics are not prepared for college is ridiculous and unsubstantiated. But again. One must justify the value.

Private parents who say my child didn’t get into a good school, but are better learners are too funny…all kids from publics and privates who are smart will get into top schools. Period.

[Anonymous]

And the notion that top kids from publics are not prepared for college is ridiculous and unsubstantiated. But again. One must justify the value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the notion that top kids from publics are not prepared for college is ridiculous and unsubstantiated. But again. One must justify the value.

Average kids form both publics and privates will go to the same colleges…sorry to break it to you.