How Hard Is It To Get Straight A's At Gonzaga?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is going to Gonzaga next year, and I want to know where to put my expectations. He's a straight-A student in middle school and is a very hard worker. Is it common for smart kids to get all-A's at Gonzaga? I know that it's near-impossible at schools like Sidwell/STA.

Don’t be absurd if your kid does not get straight A’s there forget about college.

That is not an academic school.

take it from me, a GP alum

You are embarrassing your school. AMDG

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is going to Gonzaga next year, and I want to know where to put my expectations. He's a straight-A student in middle school and is a very hard worker. Is it common for smart kids to get all-A's at Gonzaga? I know that it's near-impossible at schools like Sidwell/STA.

How do you know? Admissions decisions have not yet been released for next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is going to Gonzaga next year, and I want to know where to put my expectations. He's a straight-A student in middle school and is a very hard worker. Is it common for smart kids to get all-A's at Gonzaga? I know that it's near-impossible at schools like Sidwell/STA.

How do you know? Admissions decisions have not yet been released for next year?

Original post was started almost a year ago. Acceptances this year will be announced on 2/28.

[Anonymous]

Gonzaga has a wide range of students…from our old school, I was disappointed how many C+ and b- students they accepted…due to priests’ recommendations…it’s not so hard academically…Prep is more academic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gonzaga has a wide range of students…from our old school, I was disappointed how many C+ and b- students they accepted…due to priests’ recommendations…it’s not so hard academically…Prep is more academic

This has been mentioned a few times, how big of a difference does a priest recommendation make? Are we talking a parish priest? Jesuit? Family friend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gonzaga has a wide range of students…from our old school, I was disappointed how many C+ and b- students they accepted…due to priests’ recommendations…it’s not so hard academically…Prep is more academic

I don’t know why you’d be disappointed. Gonzaga serves many types. And a priest could only speak about a family he knows, meaning the family is active. Which would the type of family Gonzaga would want.

[Anonymous]

I just had this discussion with my Gonzaga senior. He’s taken 13 APs, heavy science & math, 4 yrs of spanish (honors / AP), took calc BC Junior yr and now taking linear algebra / multivariate calc, AP physics, AP stat and AP Econ - hates english so only took honors. Varsity athlete and tutors Spanish / math for NHS. Anyway, he never cracks the books. He & and math friends will FaceTime study but other than that limited effort, he has a lot of free time. Great GPA, 33 ACT and I often wonder how much money we would be saving next yr if he had just studied, even a little. His explanation is he’s well rounded.

Having said all that, Gonzaga is challenging. I don’t know of many high schools offering linear algebra / multivariate calc. And the social justice class with Ms. Murphy was life changing for him; he has found a new passion helping the homeless. His backpack contains, in addition to his books, essentials for the homeless.

If I compare our local public high school to Gonzaga, it’s night and day - I know of many students who left high school with a 4.6 GPA but couldn’t break a 1250 SAT and this is after taking it multiple times. My son has a 4.25 GPA with intense rigor and took the ACT once with a 33. I think the 4.6 GPA is referred to grade inflation, which doesn’t happen at Gonzaga.

(I’m typing on my phone so no negative comments pls)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just had this discussion with my Gonzaga senior. He’s taken 13 APs, heavy science & math, 4 yrs of spanish (honors / AP), took calc BC Junior yr and now taking linear algebra / multivariate calc, AP physics, AP stat and AP Econ - hates english so only took honors. Varsity athlete and tutors Spanish / math for NHS. Anyway, he never cracks the books. He & and math friends will FaceTime study but other than that limited effort, he has a lot of free time. Great GPA, 33 ACT and I often wonder how much money we would be saving next yr if he had just studied, even a little. His explanation is he’s well rounded.

Having said all that, Gonzaga is challenging. I don’t know of many high schools offering linear algebra / multivariate calc. And the social justice class with Ms. Murphy was life changing for him; he has found a new passion helping the homeless. His backpack contains, in addition to his books, essentials for the homeless.

If I compare our local public high school to Gonzaga, it’s night and day - I know of many students who left high school with a 4.6 GPA but couldn’t break a 1250 SAT and this is after taking it multiple times. My son has a 4.25 GPA with intense rigor and took the ACT once with a 33. I think the 4.6 GPA is referred to grade inflation, which doesn’t happen at Gonzaga.

(I’m typing on my phone so no negative comments pls)

Is this the regular social justice or the apply-in social justice in action?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just had this discussion with my Gonzaga senior. He’s taken 13 APs, heavy science & math, 4 yrs of spanish (honors / AP), took calc BC Junior yr and now taking linear algebra / multivariate calc, AP physics, AP stat and AP Econ - hates english so only took honors. Varsity athlete and tutors Spanish / math for NHS. Anyway, he never cracks the books. He & and math friends will FaceTime study but other than that limited effort, he has a lot of free time. Great GPA, 33 ACT and I often wonder how much money we would be saving next yr if he had just studied, even a little. His explanation is he’s well rounded.

Having said all that, Gonzaga is challenging. I don’t know of many high schools offering linear algebra / multivariate calc. And the social justice class with Ms. Murphy was life changing for him; he has found a new passion helping the homeless. His backpack contains, in addition to his books, essentials for the homeless.

If I compare our local public high school to Gonzaga, it’s night and day - I know of many students who left high school with a 4.6 GPA but couldn’t break a 1250 SAT and this is after taking it multiple times. My son has a 4.25 GPA with intense rigor and took the ACT once with a 33. I think the 4.6 GPA is referred to grade inflation, which doesn’t happen at Gonzaga.

(I’m typing on my phone so no negative comments pls)

Is this the regular social justice or the apply-in social justice in action?

In action! The class was life changing for my son. He spends time volunteering at the McKenna Center and the class spent time on the streets of DC. One of the best classes at Gonzaga for a young person getting ready for the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just had this discussion with my Gonzaga senior. He’s taken 13 APs, heavy science & math, 4 yrs of spanish (honors / AP), took calc BC Junior yr and now taking linear algebra / multivariate calc, AP physics, AP stat and AP Econ - hates english so only took honors. Varsity athlete and tutors Spanish / math for NHS. Anyway, he never cracks the books. He & and math friends will FaceTime study but other than that limited effort, he has a lot of free time. Great GPA, 33 ACT and I often wonder how much money we would be saving next yr if he had just studied, even a little. His explanation is he’s well rounded.

Having said all that, Gonzaga is challenging. I don’t know of many high schools offering linear algebra / multivariate calc. And the social justice class with Ms. Murphy was life changing for him; he has found a new passion helping the homeless. His backpack contains, in addition to his books, essentials for the homeless.

If I compare our local public high school to Gonzaga, it’s night and day - I know of many students who left high school with a 4.6 GPA but couldn’t break a 1250 SAT and this is after taking it multiple times. My son has a 4.25 GPA with intense rigor and took the ACT once with a 33. I think the 4.6 GPA is referred to grade inflation, which doesn’t happen at Gonzaga.

(I’m typing on my phone so no negative comments pls)

So I have a graduate and a current student there. AP/honors kids. 98HSPT. They both have gotten 5s on every.single AP exam. 35 and 36 ACTs, respectively. The one at an Ivy is often the highest grade in each course there. Glowing comments on written papers.

MY take: instruction is top-notch. If you have a kid that pays attention in class and actively participates--that's where they are learning. Mine lean more towards humanities and JR and SR year there is a lot of writing. A lot of time studying. But, they also get a lot done at school during study period.

My kids are incredibly well-prepared for college in an environment that teaches community service, men for others, etc. From SCOIR- it certainly doesn't look like everyone is getting all As. And nobody is getting w4.6-4.8, etc. They want the kids to know the material well. There are prerequisites for the APs. It is not a school where you will get an A in the class and then get a 3 or lower on the AP exam and you are required to take the AP exam or you fail the course. GZ does extremely well with AP exams--most scoring 5s and 4s. Colleges know this. It speaks to rigor and preparedness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just had this discussion with my Gonzaga senior. He’s taken 13 APs, heavy science & math, 4 yrs of spanish (honors / AP), took calc BC Junior yr and now taking linear algebra / multivariate calc, AP physics, AP stat and AP Econ - hates english so only took honors. Varsity athlete and tutors Spanish / math for NHS. Anyway, he never cracks the books. He & and math friends will FaceTime study but other than that limited effort, he has a lot of free time. Great GPA, 33 ACT and I often wonder how much money we would be saving next yr if he had just studied, even a little. His explanation is he’s well rounded.

Having said all that, Gonzaga is challenging. I don’t know of many high schools offering linear algebra / multivariate calc. And the social justice class with Ms. Murphy was life changing for him; he has found a new passion helping the homeless. His backpack contains, in addition to his books, essentials for the homeless.

If I compare our local public high school to Gonzaga, it’s night and day - I know of many students who left high school with a 4.6 GPA but couldn’t break a 1250 SAT and this is after taking it multiple times. My son has a 4.25 GPA with intense rigor and took the ACT once with a 33. I think the 4.6 GPA is referred to grade inflation, which doesn’t happen at Gonzaga.

(I’m typing on my phone so no negative comments pls)

My kids loved the Ethics and Social Justice courses.

[Anonymous]

Adding to the chorus but DS's jr & sr year "religion" classes, actually Ethics (Mr. Hartnett), Social Justice and I can't remember the other semester but taught by Dr Rosetto (?) were outstanding.

[Anonymous]

check out Gonzaga high pass rates for all of their AP's. It's a published statistic somewhere but for example AP Lit has 96% 4s and 5s - and every AP teacher said over 92% of their students score 4's and 5's. This is much more impressive to me than GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:check out Gonzaga high pass rates for all of their AP's. It's a published statistic somewhere but for example AP Lit has 96% 4s and 5s - and every AP teacher said over 92% of their students score 4's and 5's. This is much more impressive to me than GPA.

100% My oldest had 5s on every AP exam and I didn't even see him study for any of them. I remember the night before two last year when he was watching TV with us--I asked 'shouldn't you be studying for your AP exams?". He said, nah- he's ready. His teachers prepared him well. But, it is NOT a 'teach to the test' type of school. They question, they delve into topics beyond AP stuff.

Younger one, so far, is doing the same.

With a kid at a T10--GZ more than prepared him for the rigor. He said this when I asked which school was harder:

With Gonzaga I had 6 hours of classes a day and studied for 2 hours.
In college, I have 2 hours of classes a day and 6-8 hours of outside work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:check out Gonzaga high pass rates for all of their AP's. It's a published statistic somewhere but for example AP Lit has 96% 4s and 5s - and every AP teacher said over 92% of their students score 4's and 5's. This is much more impressive to me than GPA.

100% My oldest had 5s on every AP exam and I didn't even see him study for any of them. I remember the night before two last year when he was watching TV with us--I asked 'shouldn't you be studying for your AP exams?". He said, nah- he's ready. His teachers prepared him well. But, it is NOT a 'teach to the test' type of school. They question, they delve into topics beyond AP stuff.

Younger one, so far, is doing the same.

With a kid at a T10--GZ more than prepared him for the rigor. He said this when I asked which school was harder:

With Gonzaga I had 6 hours of classes a day and studied for 2 hours.
In college, I have 2 hours of classes a day and 6-8 hours of outside work.

^ meant to say, he concluded: similar but different.