Grades are the Be All and End All

[Anonymous]

It will not matter how rigourous your child's curriculum is, nor how stellar their ECs, how brilliantly written their essays or how high their SATs or ACTs. What will matter most is their GPA. And it won't matter whether, as the schools will tell you, whether that GPA has been on an upward trajectory or whether their is a solid explanation why you worked hard for that 3.7 GPA vs. someone with that 4.3. Looking at the stats of the schools that rejected my DD, she was easily above their average SAT/ACT scores, but below the apparently weighted GPAs of most of those accepted.

[Anonymous]

I don'think this is correct.
class rank is probably more important than just GPA. Colleges know not all high schools are equally rigorous.
If the high school doesn't give out class rank, that's where the counselor's recommendation/explanation comes in.

[Anonymous]

It will not matter how rigourous your child's curriculum is, nor how stellar their ECs, how brilliantly written their essays or how high their SATs or ACTs. What will matter most is their GPA. And it won't matter whether, as the schools will tell you, whether that GPA has been on an upward trajectory or whether their is a solid explanation why you worked hard for that 3.7 GPA vs. someone with that 4.3. Looking at the stats of the schools that rejected my DD, she was easily above their average SAT/ACT scores, but below the apparently weighted GPAs of most of those accepted.

This cannot be true, since only a student taking rigorous courses (and, as a result, weighted) could even get a 4.3. Also, there are hundreds of colleges, and they don't all do things the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It will not matter how rigourous your child's curriculum is, nor how stellar their ECs, how brilliantly written their essays or how high their SATs or ACTs. What will matter most is their GPA. And it won't matter whether, as the schools will tell you, whether that GPA has been on an upward trajectory or whether their is a solid explanation why you worked hard for that 3.7 GPA vs. someone with that 4.3. Looking at the stats of the schools that rejected my DD, she was easily above their average SAT/ACT scores, but below the apparently weighted GPAs of most of those accepted.

How many threads are you going to start? There is a definite pattern. But if it helps to get it off your chest, go for it. However, your efforts would be better spent now pursuing rolling admissions for your DD. You can try and transfer to Harvard or Yale later. Let it go!

[Anonymous]

Well, I can only talk about what I see from the list of schools that rejected my DD. A few of them, we cannot even see the Naviance numbers, b/c the numbers of applicants are too small, so Naviance masks the information. But the common date point I see is SAT/ACT scores that put DD above the average, but GPA on the edge, and that played out to rejection across the board. I think in only one case did her essay/interview even give her a chance. But we've move on. She has selected the school that selected her. That will be their loss and the other accepted students who won't have the benefit of learning from my equally smart/compassionate young lady.

[Anonymous]

Not true, otherwise my all As in a "rigorous program" at a "rigorous" HS DC would have been accepted to the two schools that rejected him. Plus he had leadership and other excellent ECs. There are plenty of kids like him too

[Anonymous]

U.K. Schools don't care about grades above a reasonable level but are more interested in test scores.

[Anonymous]

There's still more to the process than that tho. I've been trying to research the admissions process rubric. I agree with the OP to a point - schools definitely have their GPA cutoffs- that is the first pass and you kid is given a rating at that point. And I would say that the GPA has more weight than test scores. However if you are on the edge but have strong ECs and essays and fill a niche the school is looking for it can push you over. Rank may be less important.

The other problem is in our area there are thousands of kids that have good grades and solid test scores. What I'm doing with my DD is helping her figure out how to present her ECs and personality. She has the grades to match the schools she is interested in but it is still not a guarantee.

Let's face it this is the most obscure process ever and you can rack your brain trying to make sense of it, but I don't think that's possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It will not matter how rigourous your child's curriculum is, nor how stellar their ECs, how brilliantly written their essays or how high their SATs or ACTs. What will matter most is their GPA. And it won't matter whether, as the schools will tell you, whether that GPA has been on an upward trajectory or whether their is a solid explanation why you worked hard for that 3.7 GPA vs. someone with that 4.3. Looking at the stats of the schools that rejected my DD, she was easily above their average SAT/ACT scores, but below the apparently weighted GPAs of most of those accepted.

The gap between her high test scores and her lower grades apparently illustrated to the colleges that your DD was not trying.
They should take into account the difficulty of your school and your DD's relative rank there. If not I'd yell at the college counselors at DD's school.

[Anonymous]

With grade inflation being as rampant as it is, if you don't have at least a 4.0 W/GPA, you're not really trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, I can only talk about what I see from the list of schools that rejected my DD. A few of them, we cannot even see the Naviance numbers, b/c the numbers of applicants are too small, so Naviance masks the information. But the common date point I see is SAT/ACT scores that put DD above the average, but GPA on the edge, and that played out to rejection across the board. I think in only one case did her essay/interview even give her a chance. But we've move on. She has selected the school that selected her. That will be their loss and the other accepted students who won't have the benefit of learning from my equally smart/compassionate young lady.

That makes no sense. She can only attend one school so if she'd gotten into more she would have turned down others right? So she picked one and will hopefully thrive there and share her talents with the students at that school.

And yes, GPA matters the most. Not sure many schools say otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will not matter how rigourous your child's curriculum is, nor how stellar their ECs, how brilliantly written their essays or how high their SATs or ACTs. What will matter most is their GPA. And it won't matter whether, as the schools will tell you, whether that GPA has been on an upward trajectory or whether their is a solid explanation why you worked hard for that 3.7 GPA vs. someone with that 4.3. Looking at the stats of the schools that rejected my DD, she was easily above their average SAT/ACT scores, but below the apparently weighted GPAs of most of those accepted.

The gap between her high test scores and her lower grades apparently illustrated to the colleges that your DD was not trying.
They should take into account the difficulty of your school and your DD's relative rank there. If not I'd yell at the college counselors at DD's school.

The high level colleges want kids who are working very hard, challenging themselves and who love learning. They don't want the ones skating by on innate intelligence. Many top schoos reject the vast majority of 4.0 candidates with perfect or near perfect test scores. It's hard to even get into the state school with a 3.7. Did you just fall off the turnip truck or what?

[Anonymous]

Did you read the long thread from the admissions officer a few weeks ago, OP? He/she made the point that they have many, many top scoring students and they simply cannot take all of them. They don't even take just the very very top.... they try to find a mix even when kids have top scores. But, top scores alone (whether it is grades or test scores) are not enough. There are too many knocking on the door. They can't all come in.

[Anonymous]

I think DC would be better off going to a mediocre h.s. and being at the top of the class, than going to a rigorous h.s. and being in the middle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think DC would be better off going to a mediocre h.s. and being at the top of the class, than going to a rigorous h.s. and being in the middle.

Or apply that logic to college....