Where do low A- students from highly selective, rigorous, elite high schools get in?
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Anonymous
She absolutely LOVES Cornell. I think the differentiator was her essays, leadership ECs (she was also HS class Prez), and teacher recommendations. This was HS class of '20. |
Anonymous
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So, the 1500 is good. Good enough for anywhere.
90 or A- is also good. But a lot will depend on the rigor of the school. APs? Calculus BC? IB? It makes a big difference. Unless you are in the middle of nowhere, the "good" colleges are going to be aware of your school. So they'll know. Rigor of classes is a big deal. How does she compare with her classmates? Where did they get in last year? That'll give you a baseline. I cannot stress essays enough. Knock that out of the park. Also the teacher recs. And for the ECs, make sure there is demonstrable passion and leadership by senior year. Everything is still possible. She'll have to know what kind of school she wants. |
Anonymous
However, if BU is known for that, the grad school should also be aware of it, and this factor should be considered, right? I'm not sure how challenging it will get moving forward, but my daughter has finished with all A's so far, and she does want to go to graduate school for research. In fact, considering this aspect, I thought BU is great, as it is known for being a research powerhouse. |
Anonymous
My DC's elite high school counselors made sure to give us ideas of schools to tour over Junior year spring break. If your kid's school is that good, they should be doing the same. |
Anonymous
PP's kid must not have been the best applicant to Villanova from his Catholic high school. |
Anonymous
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ED wisely and to a school where the sat is at 50tb percentile or higher. Do not apply for aid. Aim for a high target or low reach.
Low reach might be an “easier” Cornell school like human ecology, not top but not bottom NESCAC like Colby or tufts. Other schools like Davidson or wake or grinell would fall into this category. UVA or Emory if interested. High target might be BU/BC, Tulane, a nescac like bates, other top but not as popular schools like macalester, pitzer, Carleton, or a UT Austin. |
Anonymous
I chuckle every time I see "elite". My FCPS DS got an appointment to West Point and a ride to Princeton. |
Anonymous
Do you chuckle when folks mention elite public schools like TJ? |
Anonymous
Your point is? (and I'm sorry you're broke) |
Anonymous
What you need to determine is where to visit in a few months. You will get guidance from counselor soon and can develop a clearer list when you have that info (and junior grades are in). As for spring break, look at somewhere drivable that has three or so schools with different profiles. I would avoid T25 at this point, which I would advise everyone: Don’t start with a shiny toy that your kid may never get. Based on your kid’s general profile, maybe a Md/Virginia/NC trip could be: a school from each category: - Large schools: Tech, JMU, UNC Charlotte, UMD - Medium Schools : Wake, W&M, - small schools: W&L, Davidson, Mary Washington, Richmond It more matters that she gets a feel for what she may want out of college than visit somewhere she will def apply. And also more importantly than where she might be admitted, I would be focusing on what she may want to study and then see if any on the list have that program. Or try to figure out if anything is a non-starter (maybe you want on campus housing or no Greek life). |
Anonymous
Not really. A C+ is APush isn’t good. Villanova is competitive. |
Anonymous
Mother of the C+ here. Yes, that's what the counselor told us -- that when they make their cuts, students who have Cs on their transcript junior year probably don't advance to the next round. |
Anonymous
| A C+ for the quarter, not the year, correct? If your child is only a junior, don’t they have time to get that grade up before end of the year? At my child’s high school the transcript only reflects end of year grades or grades to date for senior year, so one quarter of a C+ could turn into a B, etc… |
Anonymous
Our high school reports only one grade, the year-end grade. His quarter grades were C+, B-, B, C+, with a C- on the midterm and no final. For AP classes, each quarter is 2/9 and the midterm is 1/9. My kid had a 79.222 for the year, which the teacher would not round up to a B-. Really sucked but what can you do? (This was junior year and he is now a senior.) |
Anonymous
| Gotcha. That stinks. It’s an outlier of a grade and hopefully won’t impact them too much. |