small private HS, chances at T20

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was just freshman year. She has time to get her grades up, OP. Likely she had to adjust to high school expectations. As the PP said, the trend is important, and freshman year grades don't count as much as sophomore or junior year grades.

It’s so competitive these days. Most kids have an unweighted 3.8-4.0 for T20s. So, Freshmen year can really bring down that total gpa. Upper level courses only get harder. We explained that to our kids- rack up those As first two years as a cushion. Junior year is tough. My oldest had an uw 4 at a tough private and got in everywhere. His friends slightly lower were frozen out of T20s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Chicago (37)
Dartmouth College (17)
Yale University (17)
Georgetown University (13)
Boston College (11)
Harvard University (10)
Tulane University (10)
Columbia University (9)
Princeton University (9)
University of Virginia (9)
Wesleyan University (9)
Davidson College (8)
Bowdoin College (7)
Wake Forest University (7)
Washington and Lee University (7)
Colgate University (6)
Cornell University (6)
Duke University (6)
University of North Carolina (6)
University of St. Andrews (6)

St. Alban's college matriculation over 5 years.

33% of all graduates to the top privates on there: Chicago, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Duke, Cornell.

And that's not even counting privates not listed such as Penn, MIT, Stanford, Hopkins, etc.

That just goes to show what school you attend matters and there is leeway. I guarantee you top 33% of the class isn't a 3.8 or 3.9.

Ugh. Why so many U Chicago. Would not want my kid on that campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Chicago (37)
Dartmouth College (17)
Yale University (17)
Georgetown University (13)
Boston College (11)
Harvard University (10)
Tulane University (10)
Columbia University (9)
Princeton University (9)
University of Virginia (9)
Wesleyan University (9)
Davidson College (8)
Bowdoin College (7)
Wake Forest University (7)
Washington and Lee University (7)
Colgate University (6)
Cornell University (6)
Duke University (6)
University of North Carolina (6)
University of St. Andrews (6)

St. Alban's college matriculation over 5 years.

33% of all graduates to the top privates on there: Chicago, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Duke, Cornell.

And that's not even counting privates not listed such as Penn, MIT, Stanford, Hopkins, etc.

That just goes to show what school you attend matters and there is leeway. I guarantee you top 33% of the class isn't a 3.8 or 3.9.

Ugh. Why so many U Chicago. Would not want my kid on that campus.

Those are 5 year numbers. Our DC private does much better than that with less hooked kids.

[Anonymous]

DS goes to a Silicon Valley private, the middle of the pack goes to schools like USC, NUY, and a bunch of UCs including Cal and UCLA. Their gpas are typically around 3.3-3.5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS goes to a Silicon Valley private, the middle of the pack goes to schools like USC, NUY, and a bunch of UCs including Cal and UCLA. Their gpas are typically around 3.3-3.5.

This is WAY superior to DC private school results in the same GPA band. Completely irrelevant to this conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was just freshman year. She has time to get her grades up, OP. Likely she had to adjust to high school expectations. As the PP said, the trend is important, and freshman year grades don't count as much as sophomore or junior year grades.

It’s so competitive these days. Most kids have an unweighted 3.8-4.0 for T20s. So, Freshmen year can really bring down that total gpa. Upper level courses only get harder. We explained that to our kids- rack up those As first two years as a cushion. Junior year is tough. My oldest had an uw 4 at a tough private and got in everywhere. His friends slightly lower were frozen out of T20s.

This. My rising senior has a 3.85 with top rigor in math/science at a Big3. He/she is literally "on the line" for every single top20. I.e. per college counseling--best case scenario this kid gets into one. We have been surprised how harsh the reality is, as I had read on DCUM for years that colleges understand the deflated grading and that the average kids (3.6s, etc) will do so great with admissions. It's just not happening if you actually look at the data. I think there are posters on here who had graduates from 5+ years ago or are just parroting what they hear (which are tall tales). Let me tell you i WISH it was different. My kid worked extraordinarily hard for the 3.8+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS goes to a Silicon Valley private, the middle of the pack goes to schools like USC, NUY, and a bunch of UCs including Cal and UCLA. Their gpas are typically around 3.3-3.5.

This is WAY superior to DC private school results in the same GPA band. Completely irrelevant to this conversation.

OP didn't mention where they are located.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS goes to a Silicon Valley private, the middle of the pack goes to schools like USC, NUY, and a bunch of UCs including Cal and UCLA. Their gpas are typically around 3.3-3.5.

This is WAY superior to DC private school results in the same GPA band. Completely irrelevant to this conversation.

Most of the top silicon valley privates like Harker, Menlo, Nueva don't do too well with UC admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She's in 9th grade. It's fine as long as the trend is ever upward from here. But maybe lower the college expectation from T20 and be cool with that. Kids at high performing schools have so much pressure as it is.

It's not fine. If she has a 3.4 she's going to need a perfect 4.0 the next two years to get to a 3.8. A 3.8 is needed for a top20 outside of maybe U Chicago. I have scrutinized Scoir for a Big3. The line in the sand (even ED) is about 3.8. Some DCUM posters are seriously out to lunch or haven't had a senior in years.

you really suck at nuance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was just freshman year. She has time to get her grades up, OP. Likely she had to adjust to high school expectations. As the PP said, the trend is important, and freshman year grades don't count as much as sophomore or junior year grades.

It’s so competitive these days. Most kids have an unweighted 3.8-4.0 for T20s. So, Freshmen year can really bring down that total gpa. Upper level courses only get harder. We explained that to our kids- rack up those As first two years as a cushion. Junior year is tough. My oldest had an uw 4 at a tough private and got in everywhere. His friends slightly lower were frozen out of T20s.

This. My rising senior has a 3.85 with top rigor in math/science at a Big3. He/she is literally "on the line" for every single top20. I.e. per college counseling--best case scenario this kid gets into one. We have been surprised how harsh the reality is, as I had read on DCUM for years that colleges understand the deflated grading and that the average kids (3.6s, etc) will do so great with admissions. It's just not happening if you actually look at the data. I think there are posters on here who had graduates from 5+ years ago or are just parroting what they hear (which are tall tales). Let me tell you i WISH it was different. My kid worked extraordinarily hard for the 3.8+.

Sometimes I wish there were a pop up box that required the person to enter the year their DC graduated from college. Folks get on here and pop off about this and that ("my DC got into an Ivy only taking 2 years of science"), then end up saying "Oh, my DCs graduated in 2012 and 2015."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD goes to a small private. Each year about 4-5 go to T5s, about 25-30 go to T20s.
9th grade report card came out, A, A-, B+, B+, B-. She is guessing ranking 30 among students based on their discord grade discussion.
varsity sports.
student government.
non-profit set up with friends.
What efforts to get in T20.

She can go to UCLA. The don’t count Freshman year. But need all A’s going forward. Don’t push your kid beyond capabilities. Doesn’t sound like T-20 kid to be honest.

Same with Emory on freshman year…

Emory isn’t even T20

I really don't think the people making these suggestions are claiming Emory is T20 - they are sharing schools that do not count frosh grades and may be a more realistic option for OP's DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what does big 3 mean here?

LOL, take that to the private/independent thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Chicago (37)
Dartmouth College (17)
Yale University (17)
Georgetown University (13)
Boston College (11)
Harvard University (10)
Tulane University (10)
Columbia University (9)
Princeton University (9)
University of Virginia (9)
Wesleyan University (9)
Davidson College (8)
Bowdoin College (7)
Wake Forest University (7)
Washington and Lee University (7)
Colgate University (6)
Cornell University (6)
Duke University (6)
University of North Carolina (6)
University of St. Andrews (6)

St. Alban's college matriculation over 5 years.

33% of all graduates to the top privates on there: Chicago, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Duke, Cornell.

And that's not even counting privates not listed such as Penn, MIT, Stanford, Hopkins, etc.

That just goes to show what school you attend matters and there is leeway. I guarantee you top 33% of the class isn't a 3.8 or 3.9.

How low is the avg GPA for a Colgate or Wake admit?

NP - much lower for Colgate than Wake. Our salutatorian this year applied ED to Wake and did not get it; kids who got into Colgate were around the too 20% of the class and unremarkable in terms of extracurriculars and such.

Agree with this. There is a poster (posters?) who tosses out Wake as an option for middle of the pack kids at DC privates but at ours it's a tough admit. GPA 3.8+ is required and this is a school with an average GPA of 3.5.

Interesting. Our DCs are at an independent in another (very competitive) metro area and kids get into Wake ED in the 3.5ish range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Chicago (37)
Dartmouth College (17)
Yale University (17)
Georgetown University (13)
Boston College (11)
Harvard University (10)
Tulane University (10)
Columbia University (9)
Princeton University (9)
University of Virginia (9)
Wesleyan University (9)
Davidson College (8)
Bowdoin College (7)
Wake Forest University (7)
Washington and Lee University (7)
Colgate University (6)
Cornell University (6)
Duke University (6)
University of North Carolina (6)
University of St. Andrews (6)

St. Alban's college matriculation over 5 years.

33% of all graduates to the top privates on there: Chicago, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Duke, Cornell.

And that's not even counting privates not listed such as Penn, MIT, Stanford, Hopkins, etc.

That just goes to show what school you attend matters and there is leeway. I guarantee you top 33% of the class isn't a 3.8 or 3.9.

How low is the avg GPA for a Colgate or Wake admit?

NP - much lower for Colgate than Wake. Our salutatorian this year applied ED to Wake and did not get it; kids who got into Colgate were around the too 20% of the class and unremarkable in terms of extracurriculars and such.

Agree with this. There is a poster (posters?) who tosses out Wake as an option for middle of the pack kids at DC privates but at ours it's a tough admit. GPA 3.8+ is required and this is a school with an average GPA of 3.5.

Interesting. Our DCs are at an independent in another (very competitive) metro area and kids get into Wake ED in the 3.5ish range.

+1 here
Non-DMV independent in similar metro area.
Wake ED is for 3.5-3.6; but Wake RD is tough if not URM or 3.9+

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what does big 3 mean here?

LOL, take that to the private/independent thread.

Most ppl on this topic are not in DMV….id bet majority are outside.