Do colleges take private school curriculum into consideration with grades?

[Anonymous]

bit of a contrarian response here - my two DCs are at what people on DCUM consider a top university and a top LAC. Both went to the same public, which would be considered middle of the road on DCUM. Both went TO. Both econ majors and both just under 4.0. They say they were better prepared for college since they weren’t coddled like their private/prep school friends, and public teacher quality/ curriculum was excellent, with a huge caveat - for the AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yes, colleges know but the kids getting into top colleges from NCS, Sidwell, etc are getting close to perfect grades despite going to NCS and Sidwell. There are a dozen or so who get very, very high grades each year and these are the kids going on to top colleges, unhooked.

If you're not getting straight As or very close to it you're out of running for the Ivy league or similar. I think most parents don't realize this until it's too late. There is a this layer of kids at these top privates who DO manage to grind out top grades in top rigor classes. They work like maniacs but they do it.

Very true. An average/ a little above average student at a top private is not getting in to t10/ivy unless hooked. For landing a T30 though, an above average kid could easily get in, depending on high school and as long as they took most rigorous.
OP your kid will be compared to their HS and yes the top schools , private and public, will be aware of the high school curriculum and will easily be able to compare transcripts and gpa even if there is no official rank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:bit of a contrarian response here - my two DCs are at what people on DCUM consider a top university and a top LAC. Both went to the same public, which would be considered middle of the road on DCUM. Both went TO. Both econ majors and both just under 4.0. They say they were better prepared for college since they weren’t coddled like their private/prep school friends, and public teacher quality/ curriculum was excellent, with a huge caveat - for the AP classes.

If it isnt a top 10 or at least 15 and it isnt WASP LAC then it isn't top. And if they had to go TO they are not top either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at top private school. She is an average student and works hard. Her grades (and those of many of her friends) are lower than their public school counterparts. I hear anecdotes from parents at our public school talk about how kids have no homework now and they don't even have to turn in assignments in a timely manner. These kids are getting straight As. Will college admissions people recognize this?

Average students at the 3 privates in our area of DMV

-Virginia Tech
-Tulane
-Boston University
-RPI
-UGA

None of the average ones get in to WM, UVA, BC, Wake...these all require top third or so, or a big hook.

Look at your school's Scoir data .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, colleges know but the kids getting into top colleges from NCS, Sidwell, etc are getting close to perfect grades despite going to NCS and Sidwell. There are a dozen or so who get very, very high grades each year and these are the kids going on to top colleges, unhooked.

If you're not getting straight As or very close to it you're out of running for the Ivy league or similar. I think most parents don't realize this until it's too late. There is a this layer of kids at these top privates who DO manage to grind out top grades in top rigor classes. They work like maniacs but they do it.

Very true. An average/ a little above average student at a top private is not getting in to t10/ivy unless hooked. For landing a T30 though, an above average kid could easily get in, depending on high school and as long as they took most rigorous.
OP your kid will be compared to their HS and yes the top schools , private and public, will be aware of the high school curriculum and will easily be able to compare transcripts and gpa even if there is no official rank.

agree. aim for rice, washu, emory, georgetown or CMU

[Anonymous]

one of my kids had an unweighted 3.3 GPA and got into William and Mary, Colby, Tulane, and another top 12 SLAC. Ended up at the other top SLAC.

Lot of respect to elite privates and the rigor coupled with full pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, colleges know but the kids getting into top colleges from NCS, Sidwell, etc are getting close to perfect grades despite going to NCS and Sidwell. There are a dozen or so who get very, very high grades each year and these are the kids going on to top colleges, unhooked.

If you're not getting straight As or very close to it you're out of running for the Ivy league or similar. I think most parents don't realize this until it's too late. There is a this layer of kids at these top privates who DO manage to grind out top grades in top rigor classes. They work like maniacs but they do it.

Very true. An average/ a little above average student at a top private is not getting in to t10/ivy unless hooked. For landing a T30 though, an above average kid could easily get in, depending on high school and as long as they took most rigorous.
OP your kid will be compared to their HS and yes the top schools , private and public, will be aware of the high school curriculum and will easily be able to compare transcripts and gpa even if there is no official rank.

agree. aim for rice, washu, emory, georgetown or CMU

Average students are not getting into Rice or Carnegie Mellon. And if they are, they are going to flunk out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, colleges know but the kids getting into top colleges from NCS, Sidwell, etc are getting close to perfect grades despite going to NCS and Sidwell. There are a dozen or so who get very, very high grades each year and these are the kids going on to top colleges, unhooked.

If you're not getting straight As or very close to it you're out of running for the Ivy league or similar. I think most parents don't realize this until it's too late. There is a this layer of kids at these top privates who DO manage to grind out top grades in top rigor classes. They work like maniacs but they do it.

Very true. An average/ a little above average student at a top private is not getting in to t10/ivy unless hooked. For landing a T30 though, an above average kid could easily get in, depending on high school and as long as they took most rigorous.
OP your kid will be compared to their HS and yes the top schools , private and public, will be aware of the high school curriculum and will easily be able to compare transcripts and gpa even if there is no official rank.

agree. aim for rice, washu, emory, georgetown or CMU

You can’t get into any of those schools without top grades. Not sure what you are smoking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at top private school. She is an average student and works hard. Her grades (and those of many of her friends) are lower than their public school counterparts. I hear anecdotes from parents at our public school talk about how kids have no homework now and they don't even have to turn in assignments in a timely manner. These kids are getting straight As. Will college admissions people recognize this?

Your child will be reviewed in the context of their school. In other words- admissions counselors know the schools and rigor and that some schools are more demanding etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:bit of a contrarian response here - my two DCs are at what people on DCUM consider a top university and a top LAC. Both went to the same public, which would be considered middle of the road on DCUM. Both went TO. Both econ majors and both just under 4.0. They say they were better prepared for college since they weren’t coddled like their private/prep school friends, and public teacher quality/ curriculum was excellent, with a huge caveat - for the AP classes.

Coddled academically or some other way? Coddled how?

[Anonymous]

Find out which colleges know the rigor of your private HS. For the others, they submit a high school profile that shares data on the strength of the school's curriculum and their students.

Some private HS only admit B+ students and above so it will be very hard to be even in the top half of a sea of A students.

[Anonymous]

don't worry they'll know if the college admissions dept is knowledgeable about your kid's school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at top private school. She is an average student and works hard. Her grades (and those of many of her friends) are lower than their public school counterparts. I hear anecdotes from parents at our public school talk about how kids have no homework now and they don't even have to turn in assignments in a timely manner. These kids are getting straight As. Will college admissions people recognize this?

Please disclose the names of schools you’ve heard this about.

PS- private school parents frequently believe this is true about public school kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, colleges know but the kids getting into top colleges from NCS, Sidwell, etc are getting close to perfect grades despite going to NCS and Sidwell. There are a dozen or so who get very, very high grades each year and these are the kids going on to top colleges, unhooked.

If you're not getting straight As or very close to it you're out of running for the Ivy league or similar. I think most parents don't realize this until it's too late. There is a this layer of kids at these top privates who DO manage to grind out top grades in top rigor classes. They work like maniacs but they do it.

Very true. An average/ a little above average student at a top private is not getting in to t10/ivy unless hooked. For landing a T30 though, an above average kid could easily get in, depending on high school and as long as they took most rigorous.
OP your kid will be compared to their HS and yes the top schools , private and public, will be aware of the high school curriculum and will easily be able to compare transcripts and gpa even if there is no official rank.

agree. aim for rice, washu, emory, georgetown or CMU

Average students are not getting into Rice or Carnegie Mellon. And if they are, they are going to flunk out.

You aren't getting into rice or washu or Emory from NCS or similar unless you're top 20% in the class, probably more like top 10% (ie you need a 3.9)
Georgetown is a little different because they're local and tend to take kids with lower GPAs from local privates.

Basically if you want a top25 school from a DMV private (even the Big3) you have to get close to straight As. There are plenty of kids who do. If you get Bs, your options will be limited to liberal arts colleges ranked under top10, universities ranked 30+.

Many, many kids parents realize this too late. DCUM says "oh a 3.5 is fine from sidwell!" no, not in 2025. Look at the data from college counseling. The kids getting into top 20 schools are grinding out As--despite attending sidwell, ncs, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, colleges know but the kids getting into top colleges from NCS, Sidwell, etc are getting close to perfect grades despite going to NCS and Sidwell. There are a dozen or so who get very, very high grades each year and these are the kids going on to top colleges, unhooked.

If you're not getting straight As or very close to it you're out of running for the Ivy league or similar. I think most parents don't realize this until it's too late. There is a this layer of kids at these top privates who DO manage to grind out top grades in top rigor classes. They work like maniacs but they do it.

Very true. An average/ a little above average student at a top private is not getting in to t10/ivy unless hooked. For landing a T30 though, an above average kid could easily get in, depending on high school and as long as they took most rigorous.
OP your kid will be compared to their HS and yes the top schools , private and public, will be aware of the high school curriculum and will easily be able to compare transcripts and gpa even if there is no official rank.

agree. aim for rice, washu, emory, georgetown or CMU

Average students are not getting into Rice or Carnegie Mellon. And if they are, they are going to flunk out.

You aren't getting into rice or washu or Emory from NCS or similar unless you're top 20% in the class, probably more like top 10% (ie you need a 3.9)
Georgetown is a little different because they're local and tend to take kids with lower GPAs from local privates.

Basically if you want a top25 school from a DMV private (even the Big3) you have to get close to straight As. There are plenty of kids who do. If you get Bs, your options will be limited to liberal arts colleges ranked under top10, universities ranked 30+.

Many, many kids parents realize this too late. DCUM says "oh a 3.5 is fine from sidwell!" no, not in 2025. Look at the data from college counseling. The kids getting into top 20 schools are grinding out As--despite attending sidwell, ncs, etc.

If you get Bs, your options will be limited to liberal arts colleges ranked OVER top10, universities ranked 30+.

Oops-wrote this incorrectly. meant to say OVER top10, not under. (I.e those ranked 11+)