Where do the "B" students go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is an A student (uw 4.0) and top choice is currently Mary Wash. It’s a great small school. Size is right for DC, they have strong programs in areas of interest, DC has spent time on the campus for a summer program and loved the grounds and facilities, has talked to several professors and really liked them. The price is great at DC’s stats would get automatic merit aid. Just because B students can also get into doesn’t make it a bad school.

FWIW, second choice is currently U of Richmond but we can’t afford it without a hefty chunk of aid, and UR isn’t known as being super generous.

I’ve been pushing W&M, which DC has the stats to be a target, but they don’t like it nearly as much as the other two.

It’s great that VA has so many public and private options.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is an A student (uw 4.0) and top choice is currently Mary Wash. It’s a great small school. Size is right for DC, they have strong programs in areas of interest, DC has spent time on the campus for a summer program and loved the grounds and facilities, has talked to several professors and really liked them. The price is great at DC’s stats would get automatic merit aid. Just because B students can also get into doesn’t make it a bad school.

FWIW, second choice is currently U of Richmond but we can’t afford it without a hefty chunk of aid, and UR isn’t known as being super generous.

I’ve been pushing W&M, which DC has the stats to be a target, but they don’t like it nearly as much as the other two.

It’s great that VA has so many public and private options.

Mary Washington is an amazing school that doesn’t get much love on this site. I’m an alum and proud of it. I went on to grad school at a more prestigious university, but Mary Washington was a much better experience.

DP. Another proud alum here! I loved my four years at MWC and also went on to a prestigious grad program. I do think the school has changed a lot from my days there (1990 grad).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are thousands of colleges. What state are you in?

Virginia.

ODU
Radford
Longwood
VCU
Mary Washington
George Mason
CNU

DP- this is a tough pill to swallow because these were safety schools with a B average in the 90/00s. For many parents, it’s hard to wrap our heads around this.

Grade inflation. B in the 90s is an A now.

If your kid went to public school, yes.

I love this. The suggestion that there has been no grade inflation in private schools is ridiculous. There’s not a private school in the DMV where the average GPA isn’t a solid B or better.

+1
Private school parents are so deluded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re on FB, there’s a group called something like: College Admissions for Awesomely Average Kids. The group is specifically for kids with under 3.5 weighted GPAs & 1100ish (or less) SAT scores.

Lots of good info on colleges that readily accept kids with these stats. You can search the page for your kid’s GPA to find “results” posts from previous cycles (note: for some schools, like JMU, they admit OOS kids with way lower GPAs than NoVA kids. So shoot your shot, just something to be aware of)

Any citation for this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone speak to the merits of Longwood and CNU?

My B/B+ student is interested in them but doesn't want to miss out on the classic college experience!

Pretty sure both of those schools epitomize the classic college experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’re on FB, there’s a group called something like: College Admissions for Awesomely Average Kids. The group is specifically for kids with under 3.5 weighted GPAs & 1100ish (or less) SAT scores.

Lots of good info on colleges that readily accept kids with these stats. You can search the page for your kid’s GPA to find “results” posts from previous cycles (note: for some schools, like JMU, they admit OOS kids with way lower GPAs than NoVA kids. So shoot your shot, just something to be aware of)

Any citation for this?

This is true for where I live now in MA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are thousands of colleges. What state are you in?

Virginia.

ODU
Radford
Longwood
VCU
Mary Washington
George Mason
CNU

VCU is a real and interesting school with reasonable admissions standards, yes. The rest of those schools bite.

Your knot very articulate PP.

This B student graduated from Radford! Forever grateful and still an active alumni recruiter and donor.

“Your knot…”

This has to be a joke but it’s kind of funny 😀.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone speak to the merits of Longwood and CNU?

My B/B+ student is interested in them but doesn't want to miss out on the classic college experience!

I have a rising freshman soon to begin at CNU so while our experience with the school is still limited, I am beyond impressed with how CNU has been approaching things thus far.

The programs and resources that are in place to welcome new students is beyond impressive. This child is my 4th with two of my four currently attending T20 and T5 schools, so I feel I do have other institutions to compare to. All colleges say that they care about their students and look to build community but this school, CNU, is the real deal and has been demonstrating that very thing in everything they do. If what CNU has shown us already is a reflection of what is ahead, my rising freshman is going to have an incredible experience.

[Anonymous]

An unweighted "B" from where?

Very different to get B's from large, average HS school (private or public) where more than have the class has a 4.0 avg. And B's really mean C's.

But if your student is getting B's from Philips Andover and taking very rigorous courses and doesn't weight GPA or give out As easily despite only admitting top students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jesuit colleges and universities that aren’t Georgetown or BC. Excellent and practical educations that lead to great careers after a fun four years.

+1. I went to a small Jesuit college in the Midwest and had an amazing four years. I went on to a top school and was well prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An unweighted "B" from where?

Very different to get B's from large, average HS school (private or public) where more than have the class has a 4.0 avg. And B's really mean C's.

But if your student is getting B's from Philips Andover and taking very rigorous courses and doesn't weight GPA or give out As easily despite only admitting top students.

Um, what? Bs mean Bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quality LAC’s that many top students overlook- Ohio Wesleyan, Earlham, Wofford, Rhodes, Wooster, Centre, Hendrix, and the list goes on…

There are some really strong schools in this list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An unweighted "B" from where?

Very different to get B's from large, average HS school (private or public) where more than have the class has a 4.0 avg. And B's really mean C's.

But if your student is getting B's from Philips Andover and taking very rigorous courses and doesn't weight GPA or give out As easily despite only admitting top students.

Um, what? Bs mean Bs.

oh you sweet, naive, summer child ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know everyone here has kids with unweighted 4.0s but where do the smart but non-4.0 kids go? The ones with ECs that are good but not great (rec sports their whole life but no travel), good ECs but not great (volunteer at org their whole life but ever started one), etc? Kid is a rising soph so we're not fully in this world yet.

I don’t think admissions cares if you played rec sports or pay to play travel games. The top 1% of high school athletes are recruited. Volunteering at an organization that long is remarkable. Admissions know when a parent started one so don’t worry.

They go to many differently colleges including the ones that the “top” stats go to. Mine is an A/B student below 4.0 and I’m not worried at all. They will have a lot of options.

I feel bad for the kids who did all AP classes with top scores and didn’t get in to the schools they were hoping for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In-state if not one that is highly competitive.
If tuition is not an issue, there are a lot more options with ED T30-T60 schools. Try to get a good test score.

For straight B students? Nope.

From schools 76 to 4,000? Better chances.

Most of us can name several kids with As and Bs equally that are in top 50 schools. Where do you think those slots went when the 1550 SATs and 4.8 GPAs were rejected?