Sidwell Junior - GPA concerns

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a sidwell parent but rather another private - you probably also need to account for rigor of curriculum (math level, years of foreign language etc).

This is a bust in the dc top privates saying this. Many dc kids shut out of top schools because they have lower GPAs than kids across the country coming in with 4.0 averages. Colleges are overwhelmed with applications and don’t have a way to actually fairly compare each students course load.

Yes they do. See the whole discussion around the profiles that are sent. They are extensivie and the AO's and regional AO's know these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And on the flip side, here's a link to Penn Charter's, which provides much more information including grade distribution for each class. https://www.penncharter.com/academics/college-counseling/collegeprofile

Sidwell's does this as well.

How do you know? Sidwell does not make their profile available to parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And on the flip side, here's a link to Penn Charter's, which provides much more information including grade distribution for each class. https://www.penncharter.com/academics/college-counseling/collegeprofile

Sidwell's does this as well.

How do you know? Sidwell does not make their profile available to parents.

Even detailed course level profiles do not give (or permit inference) regarding median/mean GPAs in any case

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And on the flip side, here's a link to Penn Charter's, which provides much more information including grade distribution for each class. https://www.penncharter.com/academics/college-counseling/collegeprofile

Sidwell's does this as well.

How do you know? Sidwell does not make their profile available to parents.

Even detailed course level profiles do not give (or permit inference) regarding median/mean GPAs in any case

They give the grade distributions in the courses. The schools can figure it out when they see your kid's individual stats against these pages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And on the flip side, here's a link to Penn Charter's, which provides much more information including grade distribution for each class. https://www.penncharter.com/academics/college-counseling/collegeprofile

Sidwell's does this as well.

How do you know? Sidwell does not make their profile available to parents.

Some of us have seen them, or worked in the office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought Sidwell doesn’t rank.

Numbers don’t lie. That not the same as ranking…

[Anonymous]

Is this the same way at other private schools in the area- do only a handful of students have 3.9/4.0 at NCS, GDS, Potomac, Holton etc.?

[Anonymous]

Yikes to the Harvard-Westlake and Penn Charter grade distributions -- no one is getting worse than Cs and lots of classes have over half the students getting As?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this the same way at other private schools in the area- do only a handful of students have 3.9/4.0 at NCS, GDS, Potomac, Holton etc.?

Holton has grade inflation for sure. My DD has around 93 average and that’s considered middle of the class according to CCO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this the same way at other private schools in the area- do only a handful of students have 3.9/4.0 at NCS, GDS, Potomac, Holton etc.?

GDS gives A+ grades, so I would think the distribution is higher.

[Anonymous]

holton does not have grade inflation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this the same way at other private schools in the area- do only a handful of students have 3.9/4.0 at NCS, GDS, Potomac, Holton etc.?

GDS gives A+ grades, so I would think the distribution is higher.

Who at GDS is getting A+s???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this the same way at other private schools in the area- do only a handful of students have 3.9/4.0 at NCS, GDS, Potomac, Holton etc.?

Holton has grade inflation for sure. My DD has around 93 average and that’s considered middle of the class according to CCO

Not really

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think you are a Sidwell parent. If you were, you would know that a 3.7 at sidwell is really high, to a rare degree.

OP here. Genuinely confused with the 3.7: The courses/grading is so tough that I feel a 3.7 should be VERY good, putting DC in the top quarter of the class or higher. However, DC tells me that her impression is that a significant number of kids claim to have 4.0 or close to 4.0 GPAs by this stage. Is this possible? Don't know what to make of it and the school clearly gives no guidance on class rank.

What is "a significant number"? 10, 20?

OP again. Sorry, should have been clearer. Significant: approximately 15 kids. Strikes me as a bit high, but no way to tell.

15 kids (12%) in a class have 4.0 or close to 4.0 GPAs? It does not seem any big3 privates would have that number of students with high GPAs. Any Sidwell teachers here?

NCS parent. My DD graduated recently. My understanding is that each year 0-2 girls will have a 4.0 at graduation. Getting a 3.8 will usually give you options like Stanford, Ivies, UCLA, Northwestern, etc. I assume Sidwell is similar. I would be shocked if 15 kids have a 4.0.

We have a DC in 3.8+ range and have NO expectations that they will be accepted to the list you provided.... it's my understanding that things have changed drastically in the past two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think you are a Sidwell parent. If you were, you would know that a 3.7 at sidwell is really high, to a rare degree.

OP here. Genuinely confused with the 3.7: The courses/grading is so tough that I feel a 3.7 should be VERY good, putting DC in the top quarter of the class or higher. However, DC tells me that her impression is that a significant number of kids claim to have 4.0 or close to 4.0 GPAs by this stage. Is this possible? Don't know what to make of it and the school clearly gives no guidance on class rank.

What is "a significant number"? 10, 20?

OP again. Sorry, should have been clearer. Significant: approximately 15 kids. Strikes me as a bit high, but no way to tell.

15 kids (12%) in a class have 4.0 or close to 4.0 GPAs? It does not seem any big3 privates would have that number of students with high GPAs. Any Sidwell teachers here?

NCS parent. My DD graduated recently. My understanding is that each year 0-2 girls will have a 4.0 at graduation. Getting a 3.8 will usually give you options like Stanford, Ivies, UCLA, Northwestern, etc. I assume Sidwell is similar. I would be shocked if 15 kids have a 4.0.

We have a DC in 3.8+ range and have NO expectations that they will be accepted to the list you provided.... it's my understanding that things have changed drastically in the past two years.

the PP said her daughter graduated recently. Pre COVID, her stats and results would be somewhat accurate. Post COVID, not so much.