If everyone indeed has a 3.9 or better, there's a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Discuss.

DOnt worry about other kids. Worry about your own.

[Anonymous]

Why does it matter if anyone is "special"?

Can't it be OK that lots of kids can do the work at a high level? Isn't that a good thing?

[Anonymous]

I know this has been said before but those kids who have lower GPAs (and there are many) probably don't have parents who come onto this board. My kid had a 3.9X something UW GPA and was number 7 in his class of 400. So that means that there were 393 kids who had a lower GPA.

Why is this so hard for you to believe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"In mcps, each high school has a school profile that you can access and it shows weighted grade distribution among graduating seniors. Last year I checked ours (Churchill) and was shocked at how many students have over 4.5 - I want to say over 1/4 of the grade. So, most of them probably have 4.0 or close to it unweighted."

Could you please share the link to this info?

At my kids school in NOVA, my DD was 27th in her class with a 4.44. There were probably only 25 or less with a 4.5 or better, out of 400, which is 6.26% of the class.... you can't generalize all of the DC area with one school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In mcps, each high school has a school profile that you can access and it shows weighted grade distribution among graduating seniors. Last year I checked ours (Churchill) and was shocked at how many students have over 4.5 - I want to say over 1/4 of the grade. So, most of them probably have 4.0 or close to it unweighted.

Remember MCPS is basically on a 5 point scale. A 4.0 weighted is about a B average

[Anonymous]

The problem is not that all other kids with 3.9 gpa. The problem is OP’s kid.

OP, how can DCUM help your <3.9 kid? Clearly state your problem(s). Secondly, clearly state your objective - T10 schools, Ivy, T-50, state flagship, state fallbacks, etc. in order for DCUM to help you with your problems.

[Anonymous]

The top private colleges are aware and appear to adjust accordingly in admissions.

Our kid’s independent school does not inflate grades nor does it weight grades. It offers just a few AP classes and took them out of the curriculum years ago.

I think my kid is typical-high for his class: 3.75, SAT 1560 in one sitting.

Non-hooked kids with similar profiles from this school go to top 25 schools, pretty much exclusively. Kids with similar profiles AND a hook go to Yale, Harvard, Penn (legacy, development) and Columbia (URM, legacy, athletic).

The 3.5 - 3.85 UW thing is demonstrably not holding back these students, so I’ve concluded that admissions counselors are able to discern differences among grading practices at applicants’ high schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The top private colleges are aware and appear to adjust accordingly in admissions.

Our kid’s independent school does not inflate grades nor does it weight grades. It offers just a few AP classes and took them out of the curriculum years ago.

I think my kid is typical-high for his class: 3.75, SAT 1560 in one sitting.

Non-hooked kids with similar profiles from this school go to top 25 schools, pretty much exclusively. Kids with similar profiles AND a hook go to Yale, Harvard, Penn (legacy, development) and Columbia (URM, legacy, athletic).

The 3.5 - 3.85 UW thing is demonstrably not holding back these students, so I’ve concluded that admissions counselors are able to discern differences among grading practices at applicants’ high schools

I agree with this (our kids are likely at the same school, LOL)

I think what we are seeing is kids who a generation ago would be shoe-in at Ivys are now dispersing their applications, particularly ED, to a wider range of schools - so you see places like Northwestern, Emory, Pomona, Hopkins, Rice, Tufts, WashU - are now receiving many more ED/ED2 applications because the kids are just as happy with them and a little less angst. All fabulous schools and always have been, but given the proliferation of international applicants, test optional etc, it just seems to be not as worthwhile to pin "hopes" on a school with a 90+% rejection rate.

[Anonymous]

Einstein has a much lower percentage with 4.51 or higher

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/einsteinhs/albert-einstein-hs-school-profile-21-22-1.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever seen anybody post in the College and University Discussion who doesn't claim their kid has at least a 3.9? I have not.

Maybe because you don't read every post?

My DC has an unweighted 3.5.

Congrats? I guess??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it's absurd. Our DC has over 3.9 unweighted (all As except three A- (one of which was 8th grade, which apparently counts because it was geometry)...they will have over 10 APs by they time they graduate...but are *barely* in the top 15 percent for their class (large public school).

The grade inflation is real.

You need to drop that A- in 8th grade. No need to keep it on transcript.

[Anonymous]

Hard to know how to make sense of any of this.

I assume colleges can see through grade inflation and consider GPA as part of the "holistic approach" we hear a lot about. One rep a recent in-person college counseling event at our school said that every admissions office recalculates the GPA with their own measurement.

I don't believe every kid has a 4.0 either. My DD is a junior at a Big 3 private and I can confirm that the vast majority of the kids have between about at 3.0-3.6 because the school has no grade inflation. This is a school that regularly sends kids to some of the top colleges. My niece, on the other hand went to a well respected public that was known for grade inflation (she had a 4.45GPA). She's at a good but not top state flagship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it's absurd. Our DC has over 3.9 unweighted (all As except three A- (one of which was 8th grade, which apparently counts because it was geometry)...they will have over 10 APs by they time they graduate...but are *barely* in the top 15 percent for their class (large public school).

The grade inflation is real.

You need to drop that A- in 8th grade. No need to keep it on transcript.

Not the poster you're responding to but if this is DCPS, there's no choice...every math class starting at algebra I is considered a high school course and it goes on the transcript if you took them in middle school (as do some middle school language classes, if those classes are the equivalent of high school intro classes). So if your kid starts high school in Spanish 3 because they took Spanish in middle school, the 8th grade Spanish class grade will go on the transcript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who cares.

Really the only reasonable response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever seen anybody post in the College and University Discussion who doesn't claim their kid has at least a 3.9? I have not.

Maybe because you don't read every post?

My DC has an unweighted 3.5.

Mine too, weighted 4.0. Feels like he can't apply anywhere in the top 50.