How many Bs are too many?
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Anonymous
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My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.
Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class. |
Anonymous
Doubt this. Quite average for an Ivy admit. And Early? Don't believe it. |
Anonymous
Thanks for sharing. That's a great example. Good luck to your kid. There is so much more that matters beyond GPA and it's nice to hear a few Bs doesn't necessarily preclude a deeper look. |
Anonymous
But how do you do this? It’s too hard to compare GPAs when they are all weighted differently. And my kids school is too small to glean much from naviance. |
Anonymous
No, it absolutely happened. NYC private. I'm probably doxxing my kid because there are only a few where from which this would happen. I wanted to post because I think it's interesting to see that colleges do really read in the context of the high school and courses taken. We have younger kids as well. |
Anonymous
| This really depends on your school. Mine are at a very competitive public magnet without much grade inflation. Bs are common. But there are still a few kids with all As. You can get by with a B or two in very hard classes and still have a shot at top tier schools with no other hooks. But if everyone has all As or almost everyone does, then Bs are tough. |
Anonymous
+1,000. It all depends on the school because the AO is evaluating the kids who have applied from the same school at the same time. Does your kid have top rigor classes and do their grades still put them in or towards the top 10 or 20% of their class? That matters more rather than the actual number of Bs. I have a niece who had all A's, but in less rigorous classes and got shut out of T25. |
Anonymous
are you sure? absolutely think my kid thinks like this. not sure it's good, but it's true |
Anonymous
| My dd got into a top slac with no hooks and two Bs in AP classes (her hs doesn’t do plus or minus grades). She had highest rigor, high test scores, lots of leadership etc etc |
Anonymous
Considering the amount of 3.7-3.8s getting in ED on Reddit, someone has to be getting Bs somewhere. Congrats to your kid!!! |
Anonymous
Yes, school context is important. Private schools tend to see more grad inflation so make sense that the experience in this forum vary. https://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/the-college-board-2017/when-grades-dont-show-the-whole-picture/1479/ From the article: "A deeper look at where grade inflation rates have increased the most—and for which students—showed sharp differences across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups: High schools with the largest increases in high school GPA over time also had the lowest percentage of students who were Black or Hispanic and students who were eligible for free or reduced price lunch. Students whose parents had the lowest levels of education experienced the least grade inflation. Students in private high schools (both independent and religiously-affiliated) were three times more likely to experience grade inflation than students in public or charter schools." |
Anonymous
+1 just had this conversation with my kid about what math class she should take. She was stressed she needed top classes across the board (which would a huge commitment for her for math because it doesn’t come easy). I countered with ‘take the next level down and get an A. You don’t want to be an engineer. You’ll do fine in life because your peers look up to you regardless of your math class,). |
Anonymous
If you are going to disclose this much then at least give all of the facts because you failed to mentioned the most important-ROTC is a hook. IYKYK |
Anonymous
Nailed it. The biggest lie fed to high school nerd-wads and geeds in college is, "You'll rule the world in 10 years while the jocks and frat bros clean your windshield." Sure, some nerds hit their stride and crush it, but they’re usually the chill, likable ones. And some jocks and frat bros peak early, but those are the obnoxious brutes who don’t represent the majority. The archetype built for success is the popular, charismatic, resourceful, and kind of disruptive kid who’s smart but applies his brains to scheming rather than academics: think Ferris Bueller, Zack Morris, or the Fresh Prince. These are the B/C students mentioned by the PP who’ll be signing your nerd’s paycheck. |
Anonymous
LOL!!! I was just thinking the same thing about this post! Agreed, IYKYK |