Grades are the Be All and End All

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With grade inflation being as rampant as it is, if you don't have at least a 4.0 W/GPA, you're not really trying.

+1000

My DD will graduate with a 4.0 UW from her NoVA HS. She is smart, and I give her plenty of credit, but she isn't slaving away for hours on end. Maybe 1-2 hrs per day tops. Plenty of time for tv and ECs every day. She isn't alone...there are plenty of kids at her school with a similar profile. The grade inflation is real.

Agree. We are in FCPS and 4.0 unwaited. 6 AP classes so far + 5 next year (she is Junior now), plus two varsity team sports without putting much efforts. We also traveling a lot and she easily skips a week here and there and catching up without any problems.

This may be true about NoVA public schools, but it's certainly not universally true -- even in MetroDC. Big 3 privates have more stringent grading standards and colleges apparently recognize that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is insane. Bs = Putz. All As are ten a penny. You need All As just to get a look.



Disregard the Dummy State parents on here & college confidential saying Bs or the occasional C doesn't matter.

The reference to "Dummy State" make me wonder: Did you push your DC only to shoot for Ivys, or what?

It's a genuine question. I wonder what experience is behind this post. Did your child not get into the school you wanted? . Or did, with all As thanks to grade inflation since you bring that up? What's the story?

[Anonymous]

Colleges also take into account the school profile and in many instances know intimately that 6 APs at one high school is NOT equal to 6 APs at TJ, for example. Adcoms almost always say they prefer students who may have less than perfect grades but took a difficult course load versus a student with perfect grades who did not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A number of posts here seem to be based on an erroneous assumption. The fact that most kids who matriculated at particular school had stats (test scores/GPA) within a particular range, does NOT mean that most applicants to the school that had those credentials were admitted. Quite the contrary, at highly selective schools. Many, many more kids with the same stats were rejected.

Also, remember that the CDS range is 25th to 75th percentile, so falling just barely within it doesn't put a kid in range -- it puts the kid damned near the bottom quarter of the class. And being within the range on one measure but not another generally means you're not in the range period. The successful applicant will typically have both (as well as something else to recommend him/herself -- see paragraph 1).

Well put, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A number of posts here seem to be based on an erroneous assumption. The fact that most kids who matriculated at particular school had stats (test scores/GPA) within a particular range, does NOT mean that most applicants to the school that had those credentials were admitted. Quite the contrary, at highly selective schools. Many, many more kids with the same stats were rejected.

Also, remember that the CDS range is 25th to 75th percentile, so falling just barely within it doesn't put a kid in range -- it puts the kid damned near the bottom quarter of the class. And being within the range on one measure but not another generally means you're not in the range period. The successful applicant will typically have both (as well as something else to recommend him/herself -- see paragraph 1).

Well put, thanks.

Also, if you want to sleep better at night, your student should be comfortably in the top 75% of the common data set and in your schools Navience.

[Anonymous]

Everyone has all As these days. Tiger moms do not allow Bs — ever.

[Anonymous]

Early is the be all, end all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has all As these days. Tiger moms do not allow Bs — ever.

Damn straight. Anything less than an A better have a good reason behind it. Have you seen the GPAs needed to get into UVA and W&M?

Signed,

Tiger Dad.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, like kid as been dealing with chronic illness all through HS.

[Anonymous]

But that didn't seem to matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is insane. Bs = Putz. All As are ten a penny. You need All As just to get a look.



Disregard the Dummy State parents on here & college confidential saying Bs or the occasional C doesn't matter.

The reference to "Dummy State" make me wonder: Did you push your DC only to shoot for Ivys, or what?

It's a genuine question. I wonder what experience is behind this post. Did your child not get into the school you wanted? . Or did, with all As thanks to grade inflation since you bring that up? What's the story?

'Dummy State' doesn't include Berkeley or UVA. But I think something like 3/4 of colleges accept pretty much everyone with a pulse. Most colleges are drop out factory party schools.

[Anonymous]

I somewhat agree with OP. It is a numbers game with students needing both test scores and GPA. Schools post average GPAs, which students and parents seize on as the indicator of how exclusive and desireable the school is. Rigor matters, but I think mostly to the extent it can raise your weighted GPA higher in order to get the school's average up. There are examples where it is more advantageous for a student (in terms of admissions) o focus on GPA rather then taking the most challenging courses, etc.

[Anonymous]

Wrong OP -- colleges look at the whole package. Good grades from a terrible h.s. don't mean anything. SATs matter more and ECs are considered as well. Don't write about what you don't know about.

My kid went to Princeton so we went through the whole thing. She did not have the best grades in her elite private, but she had other unique stuff for her application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I somewhat agree with OP. It is a numbers game with students needing both test scores and GPA. Schools post average GPAs, which students and parents seize on as the indicator of how exclusive and desireable the school is. Rigor matters, but I think mostly to the extent it can raise your weighted GPA higher in order to get the school's average up. There are examples where it is more advantageous for a student (in terms of admissions) o focus on GPA rather then taking the most challenging courses, etc.

Absolutely agree. DS' grades are horrible after two years in high school of only honors classes. He needs to take regular classes so he'll get all As and bring his GPA up, and that's only to get into schools like Longwood and Radford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has all As these days. Tiger moms do not allow Bs — ever.

Damn straight. Anything less than an A better have a good reason behind it. Have you seen the GPAs needed to get into UVA and W&M?

Signed,

Tiger Dad.

+1,000

Signed Black panther mom. (adding this moniker to the mix because we get overlooked, plus I'm militant about the grades)