GDS Grades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband had a 3.98 at GDS and went to Harvard. No, I'm not lying. He's still very proud of his GPA.

Super weird post.

Just trying to provide some perspective about what a high GPA at GDS looks like. Sorry if your kid isn't close. I'm sure that they'll get in somewhere great for college

That’s sorta sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all. Our DC just finished 9th at GDS, which was DC’s first year at GDS, and we’re trying to get a sense of how DC is doing based on a full year of grades. Does GDS tend to deflate or inflate grades? The Sidwell thread suggests that Sidwell tends to deflate, and I don’t know if that’s common among its peer schools. Any sense of what the low/median/high ranges are for grades/GPA for GDS? We don’t know a lot of people at the school so don’t have much info. Thanks.

Perspective. Privates do not deflate. Publics inflate.

If you are coming in from a public school, it may seem that privates schools deflate. From the perspective of those who have been at private school for many years, public schools inflate.

Yes, the grading is more rigorous at the top private schools.

An B+/A- GPA will probably be about the top 1/3 of the class.

So much generalized info here. Depends greatly on the schools in question, the teachers, the level of courses, etc

[Anonymous]

Dusting this off, mid-term grades came this week and for many 9th graders it was the first time receiving letter grades. Am hearing lots of stories of Bs and Cs popping up in at least a class or two. This seems a stark contrast to the bevy of As that people report receiving in public school.

I know GDS doesn't track GPAs, but does anyone have a sense of what the median is? Also, is it sort of standard that the first mid-term grades are typically on the low side and that kids rebound?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hm, if GDS doesn’t require AP exams, doesn’t give info to the college admissions staff on GPA ranking, and now universities like University of California system do not allow ACT/SAT to be submitted as part of the application…I have no idea how a college admissions department would determine academically qualified GDS students.

They seem to do just fine with college admissions.

That's because they're rich kids with a lot of legacy preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dusting this off, mid-term grades came this week and for many 9th graders it was the first time receiving letter grades. Am hearing lots of stories of Bs and Cs popping up in at least a class or two. This seems a stark contrast to the bevy of As that people report receiving in public school.

I know GDS doesn't track GPAs, but does anyone have a sense of what the median is? Also, is it sort of standard that the first mid-term grades are typically on the low side and that kids rebound?

You may think public school students get "a bevy of As" but public school students take AP exams with independently evaluated exam grades so a college can see for itself whether the kid truly earned their A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all. Our DC just finished 9th at GDS, which was DC’s first year at GDS, and we’re trying to get a sense of how DC is doing based on a full year of grades. Does GDS tend to deflate or inflate grades? The Sidwell thread suggests that Sidwell tends to deflate, and I don’t know if that’s common among its peer schools. Any sense of what the low/median/high ranges are for grades/GPA for GDS? We don’t know a lot of people at the school so don’t have much info. Thanks.

Perspective. Privates do not deflate. Publics inflate.

If you are coming in from a public school, it may seem that privates schools deflate. From the perspective of those who have been at private school for many years, public schools inflate.

Yes, the grading is more rigorous at the top private schools.

An B+/A- GPA will probably be about the top 1/3 of the class.

So much generalized info here. Depends greatly on the schools in question, the teachers, the level of courses, etc

+1 What's your evidence that the grading is "more rigorous" at top private schools? Particularly if the school doesn't even release its distribution of grades/GPAs.

[Anonymous]

Going back to grades, can current or past families advise on what the median range might be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going back to grades, can current or past families advise on what the median range might be?

No idea. My kid who got straight As last year as a 9th grader got several Bs this reporting period. I think he (and your kid) has plenty of time to bring them up, especially if they talk to their teachers about what they could do differently.

[Anonymous]

Yes, agree there is time to bring them up. But definitely a lot lower than anticipated (mostly Bs), As mainly in soft classes.

[Anonymous]

DD attended a Big-3 and is now in college. It's very hard to generalize because teachers grade very differently. Also, parents and students lie about grades. Some inflate their grades, while others have kids whose lowest grade is an A- and complain about how "hard" a class is for their kid. My advice, make sure your kid does all the work on time, participates, and communicates with the teachers (on their own, no parent meddling).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD attended a Big-3 and is now in college. It's very hard to generalize because teachers grade very differently. Also, parents and students lie about grades. Some inflate their grades, while others have kids whose lowest grade is an A- and complain about how "hard" a class is for their kid. My advice, make sure your kid does all the work on time, participates, and communicates with the teachers (on their own, no parent meddling).

I know Sidwell, the Cathedral Schools and perhaps now GDS are more parsimonious with As. It seems that colleges are aware of this. Is it possible to be unhooked and get into a T20 school with a 3.5 gpa and strong test scores from one of these schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband had a 3.98 at GDS and went to Harvard. No, I'm not lying. He's still very proud of his GPA.

Weird flex. Kind of pathetic of him to still be thinking of his hs GPA. Most people look forward not backwards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD attended a Big-3 and is now in college. It's very hard to generalize because teachers grade very differently. Also, parents and students lie about grades. Some inflate their grades, while others have kids whose lowest grade is an A- and complain about how "hard" a class is for their kid. My advice, make sure your kid does all the work on time, participates, and communicates with the teachers (on their own, no parent meddling).

I know Sidwell, the Cathedral Schools and perhaps now GDS are more parsimonious with As. It seems that colleges are aware of this. Is it possible to be unhooked and get into a T20 school with a 3.5 gpa and strong test scores from one of these schools?

How are colleges aware of this alleged “parsimony” in high grades awarded if the Op who has a kid enrolled at GDS can’t even get these data? Do the GDS college counselors whisper the share of kids with a 3.8+ in the ear of each elite university admissions officer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD attended a Big-3 and is now in college. It's very hard to generalize because teachers grade very differently. Also, parents and students lie about grades. Some inflate their grades, while others have kids whose lowest grade is an A- and complain about how "hard" a class is for their kid. My advice, make sure your kid does all the work on time, participates, and communicates with the teachers (on their own, no parent meddling).

I know Sidwell, the Cathedral Schools and perhaps now GDS are more parsimonious with As. It seems that colleges are aware of this. Is it possible to be unhooked and get into a T20 school with a 3.5 gpa and strong test scores from one of these schools?

How are colleges aware of this alleged “parsimony” in high grades awarded if the Op who has a kid enrolled at GDS can’t even get these data? Do the GDS college counselors whisper the share of kids with a 3.8+ in the ear of each elite university admissions officer?

Good question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are concerned because done colleges have gpa cut off numbers. If, according to your point, public schools inflate grades, the result will be the same: our kids will be disadvantaged. The disappointing college outcomes by many this year underscore this very-real concern.

That’s right.