No hooks: what is the lowest GPA to get into an Ivy in the past 5 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it would be tough from a public school because with rampant grade inflation the top GPAs are way above 4.

The best private schools (NCS, Holton, Landon, STA) don't have grade inflation so a GPA less than 4 might still be impressive. I know unhooked grads of each of those schools that were admitted to HYP with less than 4.0

No, public school kids have to have 3.8-4.0 unweighted GPAs as well. You are confused about several things:
1. Even alleged "rampant grade inflation" won't take a kid above 4.0. The only way to get over 4.0 is with APs.
2. Colleges only look at unweighted GPAs (which are on a scale of 1.0-4.0). Colleges do not care about weighted GPAs. In fact, many colleges have their own, proprietary weighting systems that they run kids' transcripts through.
3. Why do you think the good publics have "rampant grade inflation"? Prove this.

Signed, mom of an unhooked public school kid who got into an Ivy with an unweighted GPA of 3.9 (which is useless for answering OP's question, but seems like it might be helpful to you)

At Churchill 42% of the school has an unweighted GPA between 3.5 and 4.0. Sounds like grade inflation to me.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/churchillhs/counseling/15_profile%20final%20copy%20rev%20%20sunshine.pdf

A 3.5 is something like a B+ average.

Why don't you share the average GPAs for NCS, Holton, GDS and Sidwell. Since you're a private school parent talking about these schools, presumably you have access to GPA data for at least one of them, right? You wouldn't just make this stuff up, right? Thanks!

Anyway, if there is grade inflation at any area public or private school, you can rest assured that the colleges' regional reps know all about it. Second, this is why kids send in their AP test scores of 5--to prove they did well on a national test.

So I don't know exactly why you're worrying your pretty little head about hypothetical grade inflation at some public school your kid doesn't even attend. How many schools did you have to look up before you got to Churchill, anyway?

I'm a Churchill parent actually and I'm not happy with the grade inflation. I don't know how it compares and I'm not the person you replied to originally.

[Anonymous]

Why have the public and private school forums invaded here? These fights are par for the course for those forums. Please take it back over there.

[Anonymous]

I saw a 3.0 on Naviance for Harvard but the young man had trained on his own to become an EMT and served as a volunteer fireman. Very impressive.

[Anonymous]

GPA is only one piece of the puzzle. SAT/ACT tests scores are the great equalizer. Even the "hooked" athletes have a minimum standard GPA and SAT requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why have the public and private school forums invaded here? These fights are par for the course for those forums. Please take it back over there.

Ask the ahole at 6:28 why he felt it was necessary to take a swipe a public schools in the guise of answering OP's question.

[Anonymous]

True Story - An acquaintance had a trust fund and did not see a need to apply to college when she was in high school. Her plan was to hang out with friends and chill after graduation (late 2000s). At the end of August, she decides her plan has a major hole because her friends are all leaving for school, So she now wants to go to college, and specifically, she wants to go to Penn (despite her 2.2 GPA). Calls are made, and a price for admission is discussed. The initial request from Penn is $20 million, and after some negotiations, the family made a $12.5 million donation. The girl does not show up in any stats because she never applied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why have the public and private school forums invaded here? These fights are par for the course for those forums. Please take it back over there.

Ask the ahole at 6:28 why he felt it was necessary to take a swipe a public schools in the guise of answering OP's question.

Not 6:28 but this forum is not for bashing particular private schools which has become a fine tuned art on the private school forum. Those fights do not belong here. You want to bash Sidwell, Holton, GDS, etc, etc? Then it needs to go to the private school forum where it has been perfected.

This forum is for College Discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True Story - An acquaintance had a trust fund and did not see a need to apply to college when she was in high school. Her plan was to hang out with friends and chill after graduation (late 2000s). At the end of August, she decides her plan has a major hole because her friends are all leaving for school, So she now wants to go to college, and specifically, she wants to go to Penn (despite her 2.2 GPA). Calls are made, and a price for admission is discussed. The initial request from Penn is $20 million, and after some negotiations, the family made a $12.5 million donation. The girl does not show up in any stats because she never applied.

Pretty sound business decision by Penn. $12.5 million will fund 6 or 7 full scholarship students in perpetuity at their endowment draw rate. Good trade, one rich lunkhead for 7 deserving but poorer students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why have the public and private school forums invaded here? These fights are par for the course for those forums. Please take it back over there.

Ask the ahole at 6:28 why he felt it was necessary to take a swipe a public schools in the guise of answering OP's question.

Not 6:28 but this forum is not for bashing particular private schools which has become a fine tuned art on the private school forum. Those fights do not belong here. You want to bash Sidwell, Holton, GDS, etc, etc? Then it needs to go to the private school forum where it has been perfected.

This forum is for College Discussion.

Who's bashing Sidwell, Holton or GDS here? Seriously, I'm trying to understand. 6:28 brought these private schools into the conversation in the context of bashing *public* schools.

Ridiculous. No schools should be bashed. But bashing public schools and then pretending private schools are the victims here is beyond the pale...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why have the public and private school forums invaded here? These fights are par for the course for those forums. Please take it back over there.

Ask the ahole at 6:28 why he felt it was necessary to take a swipe a public schools in the guise of answering OP's question.

Not 6:28 but this forum is not for bashing particular private schools which has become a fine tuned art on the private school forum. Those fights do not belong here. You want to bash Sidwell, Holton, GDS, etc, etc? Then it needs to go to the private school forum where it has been perfected.

This forum is for College Discussion.

Who's bashing Sidwell, Holton or GDS here? Seriously, I'm trying to understand. 6:28 brought these private schools into the conversation in the context of bashing *public* schools.

Ridiculous. No schools should be bashed. But bashing public schools and then pretending private schools are the victims here is beyond the pale...

Public school or private school discussion belong in their respective forums. Enough said. Move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why have the public and private school forums invaded here? These fights are par for the course for those forums. Please take it back over there.

Ask the ahole at 6:28 why he felt it was necessary to take a swipe a public schools in the guise of answering OP's question.

Not 6:28 but this forum is not for bashing particular private schools which has become a fine tuned art on the private school forum. Those fights do not belong here. You want to bash Sidwell, Holton, GDS, etc, etc? Then it needs to go to the private school forum where it has been perfected.

This forum is for College Discussion.

Who's bashing Sidwell, Holton or GDS here? Seriously, I'm trying to understand. 6:28 brought these private schools into the conversation in the context of bashing *public* schools.

Ridiculous. No schools should be bashed. But bashing public schools and then pretending private schools are the victims here is beyond the pale...

Public school or private school discussion belong in their respective forums. Enough said. Move on.

Conceptually you are right, but I am afraid that you can't answer the original question without normalizing GPAs. This requires discussion of grading policy differences between schools, which may be differ by type of school among other things. What you really want is for posters to curb their editorializing - good luck. But to suggest that commentary about degree of difficulty in achieving a certain GSP is irrelevant is to miss one of the fundamental challenges of an Ivy League admissions officer.

Separate point, this whole discussion is useless as it is unsupported by facts.