2026 Success Stories with B-average?

[Anonymous]

If the gpa is 3.5 or less, just join the College Advice for Awesomely Average Kids FB page. You’ll see lots of options if you just search for your kid’s gpa & scroll to results posts.

[Anonymous]

Op. I've heard a lot of kids with near 4.0 say "Why did I work so hard?"; they also ended up at the same schools mentioned above.

Only .3% of college students attend IVY; likely your top HS kid didn't get in.
Only 3% of college students attend Top 30; maybe a handful of your HS kids got in.

97% of college kids attend schools where a "B-averge" could get you in. The top schools are closer to a lottery once you get past the academic requirements anyways. And within these 97% your choice of the perfect school is huge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid has a B-range average, I would love to hear where they have gotten in this year and what merit, if any. Also test optional or no?

If it's an unweighted B+ (3.6 or just under an A-) and is at a private school that doesn't have people have unweighted averages above 3.9, the student (coupled with strong scores/ECs/recs and strong rigor) could get into BU, NYU, WashU and UChicago at our private.

Hard to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:B as in 3.0 or weighted B as in 3.7-3.9? Independent school or public? What kind of test scores (to help gauge if they should report them or not)? What are the target range of schools to get a sense?

Realistically, you’re looking at either lesser known SLACs or less competitive flagships, but that are absolutely still great schools (think Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Mississippi, Missouri, maybe UMass, maybe Vermont, Miami Ohio, Ohio University, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon).

You cam barely get into UMass in state these days with a 4.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. I've heard a lot of kids with near 4.0 say "Why did I work so hard?"; they also ended up at the same schools mentioned above.

Only .3% of college students attend IVY; likely your top HS kid didn't get in.
Only 3% of college students attend Top 30; maybe a handful of your HS kids got in.

97% of college kids attend schools where a "B-averge" could get you in. The top schools are closer to a lottery once you get past the academic requirements anyways. And within these 97% your choice of the perfect school is huge.

Yup, the top student at out school last year ED'd at an Ivy and did not get in. He is at a top OOS public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. I've heard a lot of kids with near 4.0 say "Why did I work so hard?"; they also ended up at the same schools mentioned above.

Only .3% of college students attend IVY; likely your top HS kid didn't get in.
Only 3% of college students attend Top 30; maybe a handful of your HS kids got in.

97% of college kids attend schools where a "B-averge" could get you in. The top schools are closer to a lottery once you get past the academic requirements anyways. And within these 97% your choice of the perfect school is huge.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid has a B-range average, I would love to hear where they have gotten in this year and what merit, if any. Also test optional or no?

If it's an unweighted B+ (3.6 or just under an A-) and is at a private school that doesn't have people have unweighted averages above 3.9, the student (coupled with strong scores/ECs/recs and strong rigor) could get into BU, NYU, WashU and UChicago at our private.

B+ is not B- and I find Wash U and Uchicago unlikely for both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.7W, 1380 SAT from FCPS. Got into Tech, Penn State, UConn, Rutgers, Delaware, Pitt, and many others.

Presumably someone with a 3.0 is asking about a kid with a 3.0.

Your experience has no place in this discussion. Sheesh

It was like a 3.2 UW. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

B- or B? A more precise actual GPA would help. There are colleges for just about every student. The FB group mentioned above for “awesomely average” is a great resource and offers a wealth of knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op. I've heard a lot of kids with near 4.0 say "Why did I work so hard?"; they also ended up at the same schools mentioned above.

Only .3% of college students attend IVY; likely your top HS kid didn't get in.
Only 3% of college students attend Top 30; maybe a handful of your HS kids got in.

97% of college kids attend schools where a "B-averge" could get you in. The top schools are closer to a lottery once you get past the academic requirements anyways. And within these 97% your choice of the perfect school is huge.

What parents and kids don't realize is that there are two groups of "smart" kids. There is a big difference between the two. The kids at our public really need an UW 3.95 to see the results that they want. These kids are usually the top 5-10% of the class. Kids with an UW 3.8 think they are smart, and they are smart, just not smart like the top kids. The latter group has no problem getting into the flagships that aren't Michigan or Virginia. And that is usually where they end up.

Parents focus on the Weighted GPA because over a 4.0 sounds good. But what really matters is the UW GPA because all of the top kids have a GPA well over a 4.0.

[Anonymous]

What about ranking? A 3.6 at a school where no one gets above 3.9 is very different from a 3.6 at a school where 20% are straight A students.

[Anonymous]

OP - we can't advise without meaningful data. What is the GPA on a 4.0 scale? Is that weighted or not? SAT score? Otherwise: garbage in = garbage out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid has a B-range average, I would love to hear where they have gotten in this year and what merit, if any. Also test optional or no?

If it's an unweighted B+ (3.6 or just under an A-) and is at a private school that doesn't have people have unweighted averages above 3.9, the student (coupled with strong scores/ECs/recs and strong rigor) could get into BU, NYU, WashU and UChicago at our private.

B+ is not B- and I find Wash U and Uchicago unlikely for both.

PP here, my apologies, I read this thread as B+ (not B-) and commented accordingly. I need new reading glasses, sigh!