Straight As versus almost straight As

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How could almost straight As look better than straight As? Given the same rigor, straight As always looks better. But no school requires straight As, kids get into every school with less than perfect grades.

I don’t think this matters at my kid’s school. An A- in our most rigorous classes is a huge achievement. Kid who are able to pull it off do well in college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How could almost straight As look better than straight As? Given the same rigor, straight As always looks better. But no school requires straight As, kids get into every school with less than perfect grades.

Grades that are too perfect feel somehow off to me (like cheating is involved or something) but I think that is because literally not one person in my graduating class (small private) had straight As. Having seen my son get through two years with straight As, I can see how it is possible. But calc is definitely challenging him.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen on the DCUM college forum, and that's saying a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It matters for the most selective schools. Other schools, not as much. Really depends on what colleges you’re looking at.

His top choices are the big, popular state flagships - UVA, Chapel Hill, UCLA, Cal, Mich, Wisc.

Should get into all these with a B.

Pp here. Or at least the B won’t hinder his chances at these schools. Really depends on the rest of the app.

B will hurt a lot at UNC OOS or Cal. Probably not fatal at the rest.

Depends on the high school. Kids going to top colleges from our high school often have a B or two.

[Anonymous]

A few more A minuses will really decrease the overall GPA and therefore the acceptances (from a top private--I don't know the public world).

My child had about half A minuses, half As and an overall GPA of 3.84. He did significantly worse in admissions than kids who had fewer A minuses and an overall 3.94.
My kid: into places like Michigan, UCLA, Emory, WashU. Denied at lower ivies, etc.
3.94 kids: HYP and other top 15s.

I'm not going to share specific extracurriculars but my kid's were really good. Applied as a humanities major, had a narrative, testing was over the threshold (35), etc. The GPA (more A minuses) was really a huge differentiator.

[Anonymous]

A less than perfect grade is only is a problem at reach or super reach schools.

Your goal should not be to train your kid into doing everything possible to avoid a single B. Your goal should be to help your kid see the value in finding a long list of schools to potentially fall in love with outside the reach or super reach schools. Then he doesn't have to walk on eggshells terrified over very normal occurrences like getting 1 or 2 Bs. Getting less than perfect grades is normal and healthy during high school. Focusing outside the most popular 30 colleges that allow flaws is liberating.

If they worked hard, celebrate the B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few more A minuses will really decrease the overall GPA and therefore the acceptances (from a top private--I don't know the public world).

My child had about half A minuses, half As and an overall GPA of 3.84. He did significantly worse in admissions than kids who had fewer A minuses and an overall 3.94.
My kid: into places like Michigan, UCLA, Emory, WashU. Denied at lower ivies, etc.
3.94 kids: HYP and other top 15s.

I'm not going to share specific extracurriculars but my kid's were really good. Applied as a humanities major, had a narrative, testing was over the threshold (35), etc. The GPA (more A minuses) was really a huge differentiator.

Also, I can share that observed this in other kids too (good friends of my child) and it wasn't unique to mine. Those who were in the high 3.8 range due to more A minuses did significantly worse in admissions than the mid 3.9 kids, regardless of extracurricular, etc.

[Anonymous]

At my kids' top private, a couple of A- will not boot anyone out of the lottery for the top 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A less than perfect grade is only is a problem at reach or super reach schools.

Your goal should not be to train your kid into doing everything possible to avoid a single B. Your goal should be to help your kid see the value in finding a long list of schools to potentially fall in love with outside the reach or super reach schools. Then he doesn't have to walk on eggshells terrified over very normal occurrences like getting 1 or 2 Bs. Getting less than perfect grades is normal and healthy during high school. Focusing outside the most popular 30 colleges that allow flaws is liberating.

If they worked hard, celebrate the B.

Perfectly said!

[Anonymous]

Calculus is also a struggle right now for my straight-A kid. Brand new teacher who has never taught AP Calc before (she is 23 years old). So I get it- it's frustrating! I'd recommend getting a tutor for your kid, if he's able to pull his grade up by the end of the semester, that will make him (and you) feel a lot better. But kids do get into competitive colleges with a B+ all the time, don't worry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How could almost straight As look better than straight As? Given the same rigor, straight As always looks better. But no school requires straight As, kids get into every school with less than perfect grades.

Grades that are too perfect feel somehow off to me (like cheating is involved or something) but I think that is because literally not one person in my graduating class (small private) had straight As. Having seen my son get through two years with straight As, I can see how it is possible. But calc is definitely challenging him.

Umm...I graduated HS with all A's (no A- even), went onto a T10, double majored in engineering and music and graduated in 5 years (with 6+ years of coursework) with a 3.9gpa in College, and multiple internships as well. HS was not that difficult to do well in, college took a bit more work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It matters for the most selective schools. Other schools, not as much. Really depends on what colleges you’re looking at.

His top choices are the big, popular state flagships - UVA, Chapel Hill, UCLA, Cal, Mich, Wisc.

It'll be fine since the rest of the transcript is outstanding. And if he does well on APs and the math portion of the SAT/ACT, it will negate the B. Every college understands there's always that one teacher in high school that didn't get the memo about grade inflation and continues to grade old school.

However... highly selective private universities tend to be pretty familiar with how private schools and competitive public schools grade in the DC area. They know a 3.8 at NCS is very different than a 3.8 at Jackson Reed. And they adjust accordingly. The massive public schools like UCLA and Michigan aren't likely to be as discerning - because they get 100,000 plus applications and don't have the time or resources to do a deep dive dive into every app. So I'd throw some private school apps into the mix, since they are more likely to be familiar with your school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few more A minuses will really decrease the overall GPA and therefore the acceptances (from a top private--I don't know the public world).

My child had about half A minuses, half As and an overall GPA of 3.84. He did significantly worse in admissions than kids who had fewer A minuses and an overall 3.94.
My kid: into places like Michigan, UCLA, Emory, WashU. Denied at lower ivies, etc.
3.94 kids: HYP and other top 15s.

I'm not going to share specific extracurriculars but my kid's were really good. Applied as a humanities major, had a narrative, testing was over the threshold (35), etc. The GPA (more A minuses) was really a huge differentiator.

Michigan recalculates +/- to the flat letter grade. B+s hurt, A- does not.

Cornell cares a lot about unexplained Cs. We were told that at an admissions presentation. Sounded fairly disqualifying barring a major life event.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few more A minuses will really decrease the overall GPA and therefore the acceptances (from a top private--I don't know the public world).

My child had about half A minuses, half As and an overall GPA of 3.84. He did significantly worse in admissions than kids who had fewer A minuses and an overall 3.94.
My kid: into places like Michigan, UCLA, Emory, WashU. Denied at lower ivies, etc.
3.94 kids: HYP and other top 15s.

I'm not going to share specific extracurriculars but my kid's were really good. Applied as a humanities major, had a narrative, testing was over the threshold (35), etc. The GPA (more A minuses) was really a huge differentiator.

Also, I can share that observed this in other kids too (good friends of my child) and it wasn't unique to mine. Those who were in the high 3.8 range due to more A minuses did significantly worse in admissions than the mid 3.9 kids, regardless of extracurricular, etc.

DP - how about if the A- and B+ were all in 9th grade and the report card trends up with all As in 10th and 11th? A kid like this may still have a 3.88 GPA/under 3.9 but may actually be doing better than the 3.92 kids if those kids got straight As in 9th but mostly A- by junior year

[Anonymous]

Can't answer this unless OP tells us
- Are straight As rare at this high school?
- Are the almost straight As in the most rigorous courses?

If this is in a grade-inflation school where half the class get straight As, then either way it doesn't matter. In fact, getting straight As is unheard of at some high schools, which often are the kind T10s like to accept from the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few more A minuses will really decrease the overall GPA and therefore the acceptances (from a top private--I don't know the public world).

My child had about half A minuses, half As and an overall GPA of 3.84. He did significantly worse in admissions than kids who had fewer A minuses and an overall 3.94.
My kid: into places like Michigan, UCLA, Emory, WashU. Denied at lower ivies, etc.
3.94 kids: HYP and other top 15s.

I'm not going to share specific extracurriculars but my kid's were really good. Applied as a humanities major, had a narrative, testing was over the threshold (35), etc. The GPA (more A minuses) was really a huge differentiator.

Michigan recalculates +/- to the flat letter grade. B+s hurt, A- does not.

Cornell cares a lot about unexplained Cs. We were told that at an admissions presentation. Sounded fairly disqualifying barring a major life event.

In the UC system, A- is recalculated to be the same as an A, and a B+ or B- is recalculated to the same as a B. In other words, A- does no harm, B+ pulls down the GPA. Also they only look at 10th and 11th grade to calculate the UC GPA, and there is capped weighting for honors (you can’t weight more than 8 semesters with an extra +1 for honors or AP). Bizarrely, doing more than 8 honors weighted semesters will actually pull DOWN the UC GPA because any extras are averaged in as a 4. Combine that with UC Test blind policy, and over reliance on foreign grad students to
actually teach the courses
and you get much much overrated undeserved
reputation.