How many Bs are too many?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shooting for a top school (not HYP but still selective) from a solid public. Top rigor, good ECs, essays, recommendations - everything else considered, is one B okay? Two? Would love to hear instances where non-athlete students still received acceptances with a few hard earned B or B+ grades.

I don't think a few (or even several) B's are bad at all at a very rigorous high school that doesn't grade inflate. But if your kid goes to a HS that you know is grade inflationary, it's a different matter. If more than half the class gets As easily, a B at that grade inflating school is really a C at a non-inflating school. Does that makes sense?

Basically, just like all As are not alike (it's school by school) it's the same with Bs.

So hard to answer this outside of the specific context of your kid's school.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.

As a former straight-A student/NMSF, this has been my experience in life. That’s why the overzealous parents on this forum are so entertaining.

Because in the end soft skills usually matter more than hard skills.

+1 just had this conversation with my kid about what math class she should take. She was stressed she needed top classes across the board (which would a huge commitment for her for math because it doesn’t come easy). I countered with ‘take the next level down and get an A. You don’t want to be an engineer. You’ll do fine in life because your peers look up to you regardless of your math class,).

DS is not going to be an engineer either but he got into a top school and I am convinced that taking the toughest math courses his HS offered was one reason he was admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.

As a former straight-A student/NMSF, this has been my experience in life. That’s why the overzealous parents on this forum are so entertaining.

+100
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your student will be evaluated in the context of their high school. If twenty percent of the class has a 4.0, then getting three Bs will likely matter.

Having gone through the process before in recent years, it is very rare for an unhooked kid to overcome being outside the top 5 to 10 percent of the class to get into a T10 school.

My kid was not even top 20%. 1380 SAT with 5 B’s. Accepted to 3 IVYS. Same school a year earlier…. My daughter was the Salutatorian. Much higher SAT and almost perfect grades and denied at every IVY applied. Same major….

I guarantee your kid had something very unique about him and it wasn’t his essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your student will be evaluated in the context of their high school. If twenty percent of the class has a 4.0, then getting three Bs will likely matter.

Having gone through the process before in recent years, it is very rare for an unhooked kid to overcome being outside the top 5 to 10 percent of the class to get into a T10 school.

My kid was not even top 20%. 1380 SAT with 5 B’s. Accepted to 3 IVYS. Same school a year earlier…. My daughter was the Salutatorian. Much higher SAT and almost perfect grades and denied at every IVY applied. Same major….

I guarantee your kid had something very unique about him and it wasn’t his essays.

His essays were great, but so was my daughters….so nothing there. His hook was a start up he sold right before Sr year and decided to donate it all to charity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.

As a parent of a C/D student, I find it really condescending when this is posted on almost every thread about getting Bs. My student is on the edge of failing out of college and has no job prospects and no trust fund to buy companies or dedicate buildings. But keep telling yourself that your A/B student is so disadvantaged because they're smart and successful.

Yeah, I mean, the first PP is right, but also a huge chunk of C and D students are not crushing it and struggle through. So I wouldn’t encourage my kid to do that.

We aim for building a good work ethic and good grades but also focusing on people skills. There is a huge group of kids who have really leaned into technology and do not get out of their comfort zones. If your kid isn’t like that, they will have a huge leg up in life. Forget college, that will happen; I’m more concerned that they can be awkward and find a mate, find happiness. The next generation is going to struggle with that - they can just avoid everything and be online.

[Anonymous]

Getting one or two Bs or B+s is fine. You can include that you sought diversity of grading in one of your essays.

[Anonymous]

Our experience was that it depends on school and class selection. I think if your school has a reputation for rigor and you’re taking a lot of serious classes, you can tolerate a few Bs in honors level classes, our DC at a good private got into a high end SLAC with a few 88s floating around on the transcript in some intense courses. I suspect there is less margin for error with a less demanding course set.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.

Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class.

Would you mind sharing your kid's GPA? Also what major (or at least share humanities vs engr) vs which classes are the Bs from? Thx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shooting for a top school (not HYP but still selective) from a solid public. Top rigor, good ECs, essays, recommendations - everything else considered, is one B okay? Two? Would love to hear instances where non-athlete students still received acceptances with a few hard earned B or B+ grades.

Students with some B’s should apply to a wide range of reaches, targets and safeties that sound like a good fit, avoid psyching themselves and let the chips fall where they may.

You ever know till you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.

As a former straight-A student/NMSF, this has been my experience in life. That’s why the overzealous parents on this forum are so entertaining.

Because in the end soft skills usually matter more than hard skills.

+1 just had this conversation with my kid about what math class she should take. She was stressed she needed top classes across the board (which would a huge commitment for her for math because it doesn’t come easy). I countered with ‘take the next level down and get an A. You don’t want to be an engineer. You’ll do fine in life because your peers look up to you regardless of your math class,).

DS is not going to be an engineer either but he got into a top school and I am convinced that taking the toughest math courses his HS offered was one reason he was admitted.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.

Amusing anecdote, but not true IRL. Any combinations are possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.

Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class.

Would you mind sharing your kid's GPA? Also what major (or at least share humanities vs engr) vs which classes are the Bs from? Thx

GPA was 3.89 end of junior year. Bs were in a tech class required of all freshmen, math classes and a 400 level English class taken junior year. 400 level classes are humanities seminar classes mostly taken senior year, sometimes by juniors. They're known to be rigorous and taking more than 3 requires approval. DC will major in French.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.

Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class.

Doubt this. Quite average for an Ivy admit.

And Early? Don't believe it.

No, it absolutely happened. NYC private. I'm probably doxxing my kid because there are only a few where from which this would happen. I wanted to post because I think it's interesting to see that colleges do really read in the context of the high school and courses taken. We have younger kids as well.

I have a DC who was admitted ED to an Ivy (don't want to say which, but one with ED vs. REA/SCEA so that helps narrow it down). Has 9 B's across 9th -11th grades. This is from MCPS, which issues semester transcripts. Very high rigor in math/sciences and choice of electives, but not crazy rigor in English/History (meaning Honors, not AP aside from one -AP Lang). While I used to believe people who said essays, LORs, ECs, etc. don't matter that much, at this level they do. There is simply no other way to explain what people believe to be random. Objective measures (GPA, test scores) mean you'll be considered. Subjective measures tip the scale one way or the other, and the randomness comes from AOs having different opinions and even the same AOs having different opinions on different days. A student may feel their rejection is unfair - and they may be both right and wrong.

This is probably Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Most of these kids getting several Bs and getting into Ivy are usually getting into Cornell. I know several kids with good GPAs and decent scores who got into Cornell from NYC ED.