It is so hard this year, McLean HS boy 4.6 GPA got rejected from UVA

[Anonymous]

*very special son

[Anonymous]

Does your DC prefer to make friends with other AA students? If so, consider the black common app. Also, think about ways to help him stand out beyond just taking the most rigorous classes. What are his academic interests?

AA mom with high stat kids, please don't listen to this advice. Absolutely keep him in the most rigorous classes - his transcript & GPA are critical. The black common app is only for HBCU's so that's not helpful if he's not applying to those schools. Despite what some DCUM trolls love to claim, the most competitive schools are overwhelmingly white and Asian. Some of the SLAC's have more racial diversity, but many are in isolated rural areas (which may be perfect for some kids), so just make sure you take him on as many tours as you can to get a sense of the campus, the community & the surrounding area.

[Anonymous]

That is too bad, but he (the rejected McLean HS student) should move on and not look back. It really won't make that much difference. Life will have more bumps.

[Anonymous]

My DC was lucky to get into UVA in the ED round. However, my kid also had a rolling admission university acceptance under their belt before the UVA letter of acceptance came in. We super hyped-up JMU, VT and other safety schools they applied to as well. We knew UVA was super competitive. It was never assumed DC would get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way! Students with this GPA has to be top 5 (not top 5%) students in a typical FCPS school. Something has to be wrong somewhere.

McLean isn't a typical FCPS school. Part of holistic admissions is viewing the applicant in light of their school. As you implied, a 4.6 in McLean is more common than a 4.6 in FCPS

It really isn’t. My kid is at McLean and probably has something close to a 4.6 (a touch lower maybe?). They are among a very small group of kids in that cohort of GPA. I obviously don’t know everyone but most of the kids that have that type of GPA are in at very good schools. We had an amazing year. 3 at Harvard. 3 at Yale (I think). 1 to MIT. Also well represented are Duke, Brown, Chicago, other Ivies etc. A very high number to UVA and W&M. And shocker. Most of the Harvard and Yale kids are white or Asian. I am sure there are amazing kids at McLean and everywhere that didn’t make it into these schools. And it is a total shame. But really it’s not because of TO or first gens or whatever. It’s just luck of the draw.

PP, Is the 4.6 GPA the one that is cumulative at the end of 11th grade or the one that is calculated at the end of 12th grade?