What GPA Is Necessary For HYP Admission from St. Albans Unhooked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in the process of high school applications and considering STA. We don't have any Ivy legacy and our son has no hooks. However, he has aspirations of attending a top college like his cousins. I know that STA is very competitive, but what GPA makes an applicant competitive for Ivy League admissions out of STA? Does any STA parent have any experience with this and could point me in the right direction?

It would be impossible to know who is connected or hooked vs those who are not. I have seen seemingly unhooked kids get in and it turns out their was a major connection that comes out a few year later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The honest truth is that there's no cut-off that automatically secures HYP admissions coming out of any school on the planet.

We know that there are very few spots for unhooked kids at these schools, and even fewer for wealthy unhooked kids coming out of premiere private day/boarding schools, because there are many *hooked* kids coming out of those schools and HYP don't want to fill their entire class from a handful of high schools.

This is correct. Bottom line is that hooks really do matter.

[Anonymous]

Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually have one son that went to STA and another that is in his senior year at St. John's.

The STA kid worked his tail off, but was outmatched by some of his peers and ended up in the top 40% of his class. He ended up at Tulane.

My St. John's kid doesn't work as hard but has a 3.95 UW GPA with all honors/APs. Naviance says he's competitive for all the T20s out of SJC. The SJC kid is also happier and not nearly as stressed or burnt out as the STA kid.

If your goal is just college admissions, then keep in mind that class rank matters a lot if you're unhooked. Going to the school where your kid can get to the top of the class matters more than school's brand prestige.

I've had a kid at STA for 6 years now. There is a relatively small subset in every grade that are stressed and burned out. The rest of the kids are working very hard and enjoying the vibe and process at the school. Sure, it gets tough during college application/acceptance time - but that is true at every independent school.

[Anonymous]

OP, this is impossible to know for certain because so many factors play into college admissions decision and because the admissions landscape can change quite rapidly. If your son wants to go to Yale and there are two rowers and the kid of a major donor also applying there, your son's chances as an unhooked candidate are going to be slim regardless of his GPA. There's just no way to know that at this point in time. Pick the high school that seems to be the best fit, encourage him study hard and to engage in authentic activities. The rest will sort itself out.

[Anonymous]

At admissions time, STA has recently started giving parents a spreadsheet of all the previous STA applicants who applied, their GPA/SAT and results. This is not a Naviance but something STA keeps internally. And from looking at those numbers, I’d say the answer to your question is “unknowable”

There is no GPA where HYP admission is guaranteed. On the 100 scale that STA uses (95 being an A+), there are kids over 95 who are rejected from top schools, and there are kids under 90 who are admitted. Last year’s top student went to Harvard, so you have to assume somewhere in the high 90s, but the year before I think the top student went to Williams. It just depends on who is applying where and what the rest of their application looks like.

If I were to guess, you would need a 95+ to be a serious contender at all the top schools unhooked, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing.

I'd agree with other posters though--the school that fits your kid best is better than the one you 'think' might fit the admissions game in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
At admissions time, STA has recently started giving parents a spreadsheet of all the previous STA applicants who applied, their GPA/SAT and results. This is not a Naviance but something STA keeps internally. And from looking at those numbers, I’d say the answer to your question is “unknowable”

There is no GPA where HYP admission is guaranteed. On the 100 scale that STA uses (95 being an A+), there are kids over 95 who are rejected from top schools, and there are kids under 90 who are admitted. Last year’s top student went to Harvard, so you have to assume somewhere in the high 90s, but the year before I think the top student went to Williams. It just depends on who is applying where and what the rest of their application looks like.

If I were to guess, you would need a 95+ to be a serious contender at all the top schools unhooked, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing.

I'd agree with other posters though--the school that fits your kid best is better than the one you 'think' might fit the admissions game in college.

STA does not give out this spreadsheet. Why are you making things up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At admissions time, STA has recently started giving parents a spreadsheet of all the previous STA applicants who applied, their GPA/SAT and results. This is not a Naviance but something STA keeps internally. And from looking at those numbers, I’d say the answer to your question is “unknowable”

There is no GPA where HYP admission is guaranteed. On the 100 scale that STA uses (95 being an A+), there are kids over 95 who are rejected from top schools, and there are kids under 90 who are admitted. Last year’s top student went to Harvard, so you have to assume somewhere in the high 90s, but the year before I think the top student went to Williams. It just depends on who is applying where and what the rest of their application looks like.

If I were to guess, you would need a 95+ to be a serious contender at all the top schools unhooked, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing.

I'd agree with other posters though--the school that fits your kid best is better than the one you 'think' might fit the admissions game in college.

STA does not give out this spreadsheet. Why are you making things up?

DP-admissions has this information in their office. It’s absolutely available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At admissions time, STA has recently started giving parents a spreadsheet of all the previous STA applicants who applied, their GPA/SAT and results. This is not a Naviance but something STA keeps internally. And from looking at those numbers, I’d say the answer to your question is “unknowable”

There is no GPA where HYP admission is guaranteed. On the 100 scale that STA uses (95 being an A+), there are kids over 95 who are rejected from top schools, and there are kids under 90 who are admitted. Last year’s top student went to Harvard, so you have to assume somewhere in the high 90s, but the year before I think the top student went to Williams. It just depends on who is applying where and what the rest of their application looks like.

If I were to guess, you would need a 95+ to be a serious contender at all the top schools unhooked, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing.

I'd agree with other posters though--the school that fits your kid best is better than the one you 'think' might fit the admissions game in college.

STA does not give out this spreadsheet. Why are you making things up?

DP-admissions has this information in their office. It’s absolutely available.

Correction-college office, not admissions

[Anonymous]

College admissions is a crapshoot.

How about instead of putting pressure on your kid to get a 4.0 so they have an inkling of a chance of getting into an Ivy, you focus on things that matter more like their overall well being, their emotional intelligence and how they treat others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At admissions time, STA has recently started giving parents a spreadsheet of all the previous STA applicants who applied, their GPA/SAT and results. This is not a Naviance but something STA keeps internally. And from looking at those numbers, I’d say the answer to your question is “unknowable”

There is no GPA where HYP admission is guaranteed. On the 100 scale that STA uses (95 being an A+), there are kids over 95 who are rejected from top schools, and there are kids under 90 who are admitted. Last year’s top student went to Harvard, so you have to assume somewhere in the high 90s, but the year before I think the top student went to Williams. It just depends on who is applying where and what the rest of their application looks like.

If I were to guess, you would need a 95+ to be a serious contender at all the top schools unhooked, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing.

I'd agree with other posters though--the school that fits your kid best is better than the one you 'think' might fit the admissions game in college.

STA does not give out this spreadsheet. Why are you making things up?

DP-admissions has this information in their office. It’s absolutely available.

Probably meant to remain internally and not to be posted publicly I presume? Some things are okay to be kept in the community for just those in the community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The honest truth is that there's no cut-off that automatically secures HYP admissions coming out of any school on the planet.

We know that there are very few spots for unhooked kids at these schools, and even fewer for wealthy unhooked kids coming out of premiere private day/boarding schools, because there are many *hooked* kids coming out of those schools and HYP don't want to fill their entire class from a handful of high schools.

This is correct. An unhooked kid getting in would need near perfect everything and be an every 3-5 years thing. There are just too many hooked kids, feeder school kids, deserving URM candidates and recruited athletes. That pretty much fills a class. But I’m a cynical mom of a senior who’s in the weeds right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At admissions time, STA has recently started giving parents a spreadsheet of all the previous STA applicants who applied, their GPA/SAT and results. This is not a Naviance but something STA keeps internally. And from looking at those numbers, I’d say the answer to your question is “unknowable”

There is no GPA where HYP admission is guaranteed. On the 100 scale that STA uses (95 being an A+), there are kids over 95 who are rejected from top schools, and there are kids under 90 who are admitted. Last year’s top student went to Harvard, so you have to assume somewhere in the high 90s, but the year before I think the top student went to Williams. It just depends on who is applying where and what the rest of their application looks like.

If I were to guess, you would need a 95+ to be a serious contender at all the top schools unhooked, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing.

I'd agree with other posters though--the school that fits your kid best is better than the one you 'think' might fit the admissions game in college.

STA does not give out this spreadsheet. Why are you making things up?

DP-admissions has this information in their office. It’s absolutely available.

Probably meant to remain internally and not to be posted publicly I presume? Some things are okay to be kept in the community for just those in the community.

Correct

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At admissions time, STA has recently started giving parents a spreadsheet of all the previous STA applicants who applied, their GPA/SAT and results. This is not a Naviance but something STA keeps internally. And from looking at those numbers, I’d say the answer to your question is “unknowable”

There is no GPA where HYP admission is guaranteed. On the 100 scale that STA uses (95 being an A+), there are kids over 95 who are rejected from top schools, and there are kids under 90 who are admitted. Last year’s top student went to Harvard, so you have to assume somewhere in the high 90s, but the year before I think the top student went to Williams. It just depends on who is applying where and what the rest of their application looks like.

If I were to guess, you would need a 95+ to be a serious contender at all the top schools unhooked, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing.

I'd agree with other posters though--the school that fits your kid best is better than the one you 'think' might fit the admissions game in college.

STA does not give out this spreadsheet. Why are you making things up?

DP-admissions has this information in their office. It’s absolutely available.

Probably meant to remain internally and not to be posted publicly I presume? Some things are okay to be kept in the community for just those in the community.

Secretive STA! 🤫

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At admissions time, STA has recently started giving parents a spreadsheet of all the previous STA applicants who applied, their GPA/SAT and results. This is not a Naviance but something STA keeps internally. And from looking at those numbers, I’d say the answer to your question is “unknowable”

There is no GPA where HYP admission is guaranteed. On the 100 scale that STA uses (95 being an A+), there are kids over 95 who are rejected from top schools, and there are kids under 90 who are admitted. Last year’s top student went to Harvard, so you have to assume somewhere in the high 90s, but the year before I think the top student went to Williams. It just depends on who is applying where and what the rest of their application looks like.

If I were to guess, you would need a 95+ to be a serious contender at all the top schools unhooked, but even that wouldn’t be a sure thing.

I'd agree with other posters though--the school that fits your kid best is better than the one you 'think' might fit the admissions game in college.

STA does not give out this spreadsheet. Why are you making things up?

DP-admissions has this information in their office. It’s absolutely available.

It's available in their "book" but it's not given by the year or as any sort of spreadsheet. That's such a weird thing to make up.