Sky-High GPAs at Virginia State Schools? Time to Ground Expectations and Open Doors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having read the first ten responses or so I can’t believe no one has said the GPA requirements have moved up with grade inflation in the public schools.

OP, without retakes and grade inflation your kid would not get a B+ in their class, they’d get a C or low B. Ten years ago your kid still would not have received an offer from tech or UVA. The school is not inline with their abilities and/or academic performance.

Agree, it’s a reflection of the grade inflation and retakes in public. My kids all went to different private schools in VA that did not offer all the weighting and retake options. All got into VA colleges with GPAs below the 25% ranges for GPA, and lower test scores now that those are also skewed.

The GPAs are so misleading at this point. Parents thing their kid with a 4.0 is a top student, but they don’t realize there’s a kid with a 4.8 in the same class as their kid.

yep. Had this conversation with a neighbor who thinks her snowflake is a genius with a weighted gpa of 4.1. Her kid is in the bottom 50% of the highschool rankings wise. She could not believe this.

[Anonymous]

I agree with you OP to an extent. There is and should be a state funded school for all high school graduates. However, that school does not necessarily have to be the state flagship. With private college tuitions going sky high, it does make sense that some high achieving kids who would have other selective private colleges before are now selecting their "good" in-state option, and this will make those schools more selective. However, as long as there are still other options for all kids, I don't see a problem with this.

[Anonymous]

OP, and some of those admitted to UVA, WM and even VT will choose other schools not in Virginia. The UVA admit will choose Princeton. A likely William Mary student, decides to ED to Duke. It can be a bit of a fluid process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having read the first ten responses or so I can’t believe no one has said the GPA requirements have moved up with grade inflation in the public schools.

OP, without retakes and grade inflation your kid would not get a B+ in their class, they’d get a C or low B. Ten years ago your kid still would not have received an offer from tech or UVA. The school is not inline with their abilities and/or academic performance.

Agree, it’s a reflection of the grade inflation and retakes in public. My kids all went to different private schools in VA that did not offer all the weighting and retake options. All got into VA colleges with GPAs below the 25% ranges for GPA, and lower test scores now that those are also skewed.

The GPAs are so misleading at this point. Parents thing their kid with a 4.0 is a top student, but they don’t realize there’s a kid with a 4.8 in the same class as their kid.

Just wanted to put in some context.

The GPA ranges cited by OP sound like our FCPS school (Mclean/Langley) for weighted GPAs of accepted students. If you max out on APs in FCPS, you can get a 4.5 weighted GPA at the max, not including DE courses. LCPS and other systems have different ways to calculate weighted GPA so the max rates are higher.

Our dingbat FCPS school counselor told us that with a weighted GPA of 4.3 and an SAT of 1500+, DC was guaranteed to get into UVA. From past experience with previous DC, we didn't believe her at all. But DC did get in. DC had 4 Bs on their transcript when they applied.

Anyhow, at our school, about 25% of the graduates had weighted GPA of 4.0 or above, at least according to this year's graduation program listing the honors graduates (wGPA 4.0 or higher).

The University of Virginia (UVA) doesn't have minimum GPA or SAT score requirements for admission, but the average GPA of admitted students is around 4.31.

The average GPA at Virginia Tech is 4. This makes Virginia Tech Extremely Competitive for GPAs.

The average GPA at JMU is 3.55.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reality also is that a state public university needs to accept students from all over the state. When I was at UVA, a very very high percentage of students came from NoVA — and that is still the case. For many of them, it clearly was HS a 2nd time and they had the same friends from home at UVa.

In Craig County, if any HS student gets accepted to any college, their name and school is posted on the HS sign board out front (meaning only maybe 10-12 per year go off to any college).

In VA Beach, where the public schools are fine but the parents are less obsessive, getting in to UVa often will get a student’s name on the sign board (yes, it is a bit uncommon, so still notable).

In FCPS, UVa attendance in particular is not atball uncommon. Every FCPS HS sends bunches there every year, and the typical HS kid goes to college somewhere.

This is comical. My DS went to school in VB and is at UVA but there are no sign boards. 😆. Lots of kids go to UVA there and always have.

I guess you don’t live near Cox HS, where it has happened within the last 6 months…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having read the first ten responses or so I can’t believe no one has said the GPA requirements have moved up with grade inflation in the public schools.

OP, without retakes and grade inflation your kid would not get a B+ in their class, they’d get a C or low B. Ten years ago your kid still would not have received an offer from tech or UVA. The school is not inline with their abilities and/or academic performance.

Agree, it’s a reflection of the grade inflation and retakes in public. My kids all went to different private schools in VA that did not offer all the weighting and retake options. All got into VA colleges with GPAs below the 25% ranges for GPA, and lower test scores now that those are also skewed.

The GPAs are so misleading at this point. Parents thing their kid with a 4.0 is a top student, but they don’t realize there’s a kid with a 4.8 in the same class as their kid.

Just wanted to put in some context.

The GPA ranges cited by OP sound like our FCPS school (Mclean/Langley) for weighted GPAs of accepted students. If you max out on APs in FCPS, you can get a 4.5 weighted GPA at the max, not including DE courses. LCPS and other systems have different ways to calculate weighted GPA so the max rates are higher.

Our dingbat FCPS school counselor told us that with a weighted GPA of 4.3 and an SAT of 1500+, DC was guaranteed to get into UVA. From past experience with previous DC, we didn't believe her at all. But DC did get in. DC had 4 Bs on their transcript when they applied.

Anyhow, at our school, about 25% of the graduates had weighted GPA of 4.0 or above, at least according to this year's graduation program listing the honors graduates (wGPA 4.0 or higher).

What is the median GPA at your FCPS (McLean/Langley)? If 4.3 seems to be the line where kids start to get into UVA consistently, would the median be a 3.5?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having read the first ten responses or so I can’t believe no one has said the GPA requirements have moved up with grade inflation in the public schools.

OP, without retakes and grade inflation your kid would not get a B+ in their class, they’d get a C or low B. Ten years ago your kid still would not have received an offer from tech or UVA. The school is not inline with their abilities and/or academic performance.

Agree, it’s a reflection of the grade inflation and retakes in public. My kids all went to different private schools in VA that did not offer all the weighting and retake options. All got into VA colleges with GPAs below the 25% ranges for GPA, and lower test scores now that those are also skewed.

The GPAs are so misleading at this point. Parents thing their kid with a 4.0 is a top student, but they don’t realize there’s a kid with a 4.8 in the same class as their kid.

Just wanted to put in some context.

The GPA ranges cited by OP sound like our FCPS school (Mclean/Langley) for weighted GPAs of accepted students. If you max out on APs in FCPS, you can get a 4.5 weighted GPA at the max, not including DE courses. LCPS and other systems have different ways to calculate weighted GPA so the max rates are higher.

Our dingbat FCPS school counselor told us that with a weighted GPA of 4.3 and an SAT of 1500+, DC was guaranteed to get into UVA. From past experience with previous DC, we didn't believe her at all. But DC did get in. DC had 4 Bs on their transcript when they applied.

Anyhow, at our school, about 25% of the graduates had weighted GPA of 4.0 or above, at least according to this year's graduation program listing the honors graduates (wGPA 4.0 or higher).

The University of Virginia (UVA) doesn't have minimum GPA or SAT score requirements for admission, but the average GPA of admitted students is around 4.31.

The average GPA at Virginia Tech is 4. This makes Virginia Tech Extremely Competitive for GPAs.

The average GPA at JMU is 3.55.

For enrolled it is 4.38 for UVA, 4.10 for VT, and JMU 3.89 according to SCHEV data. W&M is 4.36.

[Anonymous]

For the public school admits which will be majority of state schools, the GPAs should be sky high with the rules allowing retests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having read the first ten responses or so I can’t believe no one has said the GPA requirements have moved up with grade inflation in the public schools.

OP, without retakes and grade inflation your kid would not get a B+ in their class, they’d get a C or low B. Ten years ago your kid still would not have received an offer from tech or UVA. The school is not inline with their abilities and/or academic performance.

Agree, it’s a reflection of the grade inflation and retakes in public. My kids all went to different private schools in VA that did not offer all the weighting and retake options. All got into VA colleges with GPAs below the 25% ranges for GPA, and lower test scores now that those are also skewed.

The GPAs are so misleading at this point. Parents thing their kid with a 4.0 is a top student, but they don’t realize there’s a kid with a 4.8 in the same class as their kid.

yep. Had this conversation with a neighbor who thinks her snowflake is a genius with a weighted gpa of 4.1. Her kid is in the bottom 50% of the highschool rankings wise. She could not believe this.

This must really vary by high school. My kid with a 4.4 is in the top 4% of his high school (just graduated a couple weeks ago, school doesn't rank each specific student, just gives a percentage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the public school admits which will be majority of state schools, the GPAs should be sky high with the rules allowing retests.

Again with this. Not the case for all classes/schools.

[Anonymous]

There has been massive grade inflation in both high schools and colleges, and this has gone on for decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the public school admits which will be majority of state schools, the GPAs should be sky high with the rules allowing retests.

Again with this. Not the case for all classes/schools.

What is the median GPA at your VA public high school? And is it in Arlington, Alexandria or Fairfax County?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the public school admits which will be majority of state schools, the GPAs should be sky high with the rules allowing retests.

Again with this. Not the case for all classes/schools.

What is the median GPA at your VA public high school? And is it in Arlington, Alexandria or Fairfax County?

I don’t know. But I do know that my kid didn’t retake tests. They got it right the first time. It may the case for other classes/kids but the negative stuff about public schools is so old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the public school admits which will be majority of state schools, the GPAs should be sky high with the rules allowing retests.

Not sure where you get your information from but this is not true for all schools and all classes. I’ve had 3 DC attend/currently attending UVA in the past 5 years and there were no retakes for them at their Arlington HS. Extra credit on occasion in some classes but no retakes.

[Anonymous]

Kid should go StonyBrook or at least apply