3.75/1550 Big 3 rising Senior - College Options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

If they are maintaining straight As in junior senior year in rigorous courses I’d say you’d get into 3 of the 6 regular and probably 5 of the 6 if you ED. It’s all still such a crap shoot. The benefit for strong kids now is that they will have all their junior year grades with face to face in session school. I think the past seniors got screwed because grades were so wonky and inflated during remote learning.

Thx. My kid has the 3.9 and change (3.95?) through junior year. We not a legacy/URM/recruit. Just smart and really driven. Would be thrilled with Michigan. Hard to know how high to aim.

3.95 at big 3: Mighican is basically a certainty.

God shot at Michigan. Chicago. Cornell if ED. Need test scores and good ECs.

Chicago if ED.

Don't waste an ED on Cornell unless you are legacy.

Chicago is harder to get into than cornell. It also doesn’t have back doors like the school of human ecology and ag.

Not for prep school kids who ED. STA sent something like 13 kids to Chicago this year, out of a class of 80.

Yes - Chicago seems to love STA and Sidwell kids who are willing to ED. Too bad my kid isn't interested in Chicago winters....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

Yes. 3.95 could well be the highest GPA for a graduating class at Sidwell. If your DC is 3.95 at Sidwell, they will have terrific options, ED or no ED.

How about a 3.85 kid taking rigorous course load?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

Yes. 3.95 could well be the highest GPA for a graduating class at Sidwell. If your DC is 3.95 at Sidwell, they will have terrific options, ED or no ED.

How about a 3.85 kid taking rigorous course load?

Will also have terrific options. There IS a difference between 3.95 (which is nearly perfect) and 3.85, but 3.85 is excellent obviously and will have very good options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

Doesn't this all depend on how hard the classes are you are taking? At my kids' top private, certain classes are WAY more rigorous (Multivariable Calc, Advanced Chem, Physics C, etc.). So a GPA alone doesn't mean all that much unless you know what classes the kid has taken.

This is always a factor. There are plenty of threads on DCUM where people write x-number of APs, but they haven’t said if the APs are ‘easier’ or harder. Taking Calculus and whatever are the hardest courses across the curriculum counts way more than accumulating APs/ IBs in classes that are less challenging.

No, it doesn't. Sidwell and GDS don't weight classes. The CCO will include a form in college apps indicating whether the student chose the most rigorous courses that were actually available to them.**

But Susan isn't amassing a higher GPA than Bob at Sidwell because Susan took multivariable calc and Bob took Calc AB. An A- is an A-, points-wise

** a friendly reminder that 'rigor' determinations include context, such as whether an incoming 9th grader will or will not ever be eligible for certain math / science / language offerings based on the course offerings at their MS

It’s not just whether the rigor box is checked. It’s about the overall package. I saw plenty of kids at MCPS who had ‘most rigorous’ checked because they were full IB but had taken ‘easier’ IB classes (meaning nonCalc) they had inferior results to students who were not full IB but had amassed a ‘most rigorous’ check with Calc, science AP, Eng AP etc. The actual classes matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

If they are maintaining straight As in junior senior year in rigorous courses I’d say you’d get into 3 of the 6 regular and probably 5 of the 6 if you ED. It’s all still such a crap shoot. The benefit for strong kids now is that they will have all their junior year grades with face to face in session school. I think the past seniors got screwed because grades were so wonky and inflated during remote learning.

Thx. My kid has the 3.9 and change (3.95?) through junior year. We not a legacy/URM/recruit. Just smart and really driven. Would be thrilled with Michigan. Hard to know how high to aim.

3.95 at big 3: Mighican is basically a certainty.

God shot at Michigan. Chicago. Cornell if ED. Need test scores and good ECs.

Chicago if ED.

Don't waste an ED on Cornell unless you are legacy.

Chicago is harder to get into than cornell. It also doesn’t have back doors like the school of human ecology and ag.

Not for prep school kids who ED. STA sent something like 13 kids to Chicago this year, out of a class of 80.

Yes - Chicago seems to love STA and Sidwell kids who are willing to ED. Too bad my kid isn't interested in Chicago winters....

Chicago knows that these kids are used to the academic grind and often find Chicago to be a step down in intensity. I have a kid at one of these schools who is debating ED-ing to Chicago. He isn't sure he wants to sign up for 4 more years of a pressure cooker environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

Yes. 3.95 could well be the highest GPA for a graduating class at Sidwell. If your DC is 3.95 at Sidwell, they will have terrific options, ED or no ED.

How about a 3.85 kid taking rigorous course load?

3.85 unhooked from top area privates will do very well but can more or less forget about the very top schools (read HYPS + MIT). With a strong hook, would be competitive anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

So your subtext is Sidwell is so much more uber than gds. Got it.

Seriously, you really think all the gds students have "easily" lower sats? That is some artogant uber mom weird.

No let me be more clear: GDS seniors appear to have higher GPAs than Sidwell seniors do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

Doesn't this all depend on how hard the classes are you are taking? At my kids' top private, certain classes are WAY more rigorous (Multivariable Calc, Advanced Chem, Physics C, etc.). So a GPA alone doesn't mean all that much unless you know what classes the kid has taken.

This is always a factor. There are plenty of threads on DCUM where people write x-number of APs, but they haven’t said if the APs are ‘easier’ or harder. Taking Calculus and whatever are the hardest courses across the curriculum counts way more than accumulating APs/ IBs in classes that are less challenging.

No, it doesn't. Sidwell and GDS don't weight classes. The CCO will include a form in college apps indicating whether the student chose the most rigorous courses that were actually available to them.**

But Susan isn't amassing a higher GPA than Bob at Sidwell because Susan took multivariable calc and Bob took Calc AB. An A- is an A-, points-wise

** a friendly reminder that 'rigor' determinations include context, such as whether an incoming 9th grader will or will not ever be eligible for certain math / science / language offerings based on the course offerings at their MS

It’s not just whether the rigor box is checked. It’s about the overall package. I saw plenty of kids at MCPS who had ‘most rigorous’ checked because they were full IB but had taken ‘easier’ IB classes (meaning nonCalc) they had inferior results to students who were not full IB but had amassed a ‘most rigorous’ check with Calc, science AP, Eng AP etc. The actual classes matter.

Reminder, we aren't talking about MCPS here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

If they are maintaining straight As in junior senior year in rigorous courses I’d say you’d get into 3 of the 6 regular and probably 5 of the 6 if you ED. It’s all still such a crap shoot. The benefit for strong kids now is that they will have all their junior year grades with face to face in session school. I think the past seniors got screwed because grades were so wonky and inflated during remote learning.

Thx. My kid has the 3.9 and change (3.95?) through junior year. We not a legacy/URM/recruit. Just smart and really driven. Would be thrilled with Michigan. Hard to know how high to aim.

3.95 at big 3: Mighican is basically a certainty.

God shot at Michigan. Chicago. Cornell if ED. Need test scores and good ECs.

Chicago if ED.

Don't waste an ED on Cornell unless you are legacy.

Chicago is harder to get into than cornell. It also doesn’t have back doors like the school of human ecology and ag.

This is true for most but not students from Big 3. Chicago will take almost any student from these very tony private schools if they ED. U of Chicago loves the wealthy kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

If they are maintaining straight As in junior senior year in rigorous courses I’d say you’d get into 3 of the 6 regular and probably 5 of the 6 if you ED. It’s all still such a crap shoot. The benefit for strong kids now is that they will have all their junior year grades with face to face in session school. I think the past seniors got screwed because grades were so wonky and inflated during remote learning.

Thx. My kid has the 3.9 and change (3.95?) through junior year. We not a legacy/URM/recruit. Just smart and really driven. Would be thrilled with Michigan. Hard to know how high to aim.

3.95 at big 3: Mighican is basically a certainty.

God shot at Michigan. Chicago. Cornell if ED. Need test scores and good ECs.

Chicago if ED.

Don't waste an ED on Cornell unless you are legacy.

Chicago is harder to get into than cornell. It also doesn’t have back doors like the school of human ecology and ag.

This is true for most but not students from Big 3. Chicago will take almost any student from these very tony private schools if they ED. U of Chicago loves the wealthy kids.

Second U of Chicago. But, OP, you should be getting so many things checked off on your list if rising senior and private school. Brag letters, rec requests, approx college short list. By this time, I was starting to "yell" at my senior to start writing the supp essays for some of her colleges and start brainstorming Common App topics (the hardest thing honestly)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

If they are maintaining straight As in junior senior year in rigorous courses I’d say you’d get into 3 of the 6 regular and probably 5 of the 6 if you ED. It’s all still such a crap shoot. The benefit for strong kids now is that they will have all their junior year grades with face to face in session school. I think the past seniors got screwed because grades were so wonky and inflated during remote learning.

Thx. My kid has the 3.9 and change (3.95?) through junior year. We not a legacy/URM/recruit. Just smart and really driven. Would be thrilled with Michigan. Hard to know how high to aim.

3.95 at big 3: Mighican is basically a certainty.

God shot at Michigan. Chicago. Cornell if ED. Need test scores and good ECs.

Chicago if ED.

Don't waste an ED on Cornell unless you are legacy.

Chicago is harder to get into than cornell. It also doesn’t have back doors like the school of human ecology and ag.

Not for prep school kids who ED. STA sent something like 13 kids to Chicago this year, out of a class of 80.

+1. Also depends on which of Cornell's 7 colleges the application is going to. Cornel's Architecture School (#1 in the country) has like a 2.5% acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is at 3.75/1550. Rigorous course load (combo of rigorous math/science). Good/Solid ECs but not at a national level. NO legacy/urm/athlete hooks. Not looking to major in STEM. Of course, we expect to have a substantial conversation(s) with college counselor later this year..but DCUM suggestions on reach/target/safety schools with these stats ?

I'm sorry, but why isn't the "substantial conversation" with the GC enough? You are paying tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition to send your kid to a school with an outstanding counseling office with a proven track record in college admissions, yet you feel compelled to ask a bunch of internet strangers for advice?

OP again. Thanks. Good question. I have simply not gotten full clarity in any interactions with any school teachers/officials/counselors at any stage. Polite, informative responses but wrapped in a bit of vagueness. Hence the search for additional information..

I think OP meant "substantive"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

Yes. 3.95 could well be the highest GPA for a graduating class at Sidwell. If your DC is 3.95 at Sidwell, they will have terrific options, ED or no ED.

How about a 3.85 kid taking rigorous course load?

3.85 unhooked from top area privates will do very well but can more or less forget about the very top schools (read HYPS + MIT). With a strong hook, would be competitive anywhere.

Are schools like these outside of your "very top schools" disclaimer: Duke, Amherst, Pomona, Brown (I know all are still crazy hard, just trying to get a sense of your "forget it" category)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

Yes. 3.95 could well be the highest GPA for a graduating class at Sidwell. If your DC is 3.95 at Sidwell, they will have terrific options, ED or no ED.

How about a 3.85 kid taking rigorous course load?

3.85 unhooked from top area privates will do very well but can more or less forget about the very top schools (read HYPS + MIT). With a strong hook, would be competitive anywhere.

Are schools like these outside of your "very top schools" disclaimer: Duke, Amherst, Pomona, Brown (I know all are still crazy hard, just trying to get a sense of your "forget it" category)

Yes, in my view, 3.85 from Big 3 puts HYPSM totally out of reach for the unhooked. The schools you mentioned -- Duke, Amherst, Pomona -- would be very much within reach. Brown is probably just out of reach as well (short of exceptional offsetting factors).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll bite. Here’s a selection of really nice schools, of different sizes and locations that could be of interest, depending on major and setting. Lots of very different schools.

Reach: Northwestern, Cornell, U Penn, U Chicago, Bowdoin, Brown, Dartmouth
Target / Reach: Michigan, Rochester, Wash U, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Tufts
Target: Colby, Colgate, U Washington, Boston College, NYU
Safeties: Univ of Toronto, McGill, Wisconsin, Reed, Bates, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Tulane

My kid has a 3.9 at a Big3; can he/she move the target/reaches to target?

No.

It isn't about your kids stats, it is about the number of kids who have similar records who are applying to all of the same schools.

Did the 5 kids going to Yale from STA this year have the highest grades? Heard they were not athletic recruits or legacies…

There are X times the number of kids applying for generally the same number of seats that existed 30 years ago.

so the 3.95 kid has the same options as the 3.75 kid?

I can't answer specifically the impact of the 0.20 differential, but it needs to be said that STA, NCS, GDS and Sidwell aren't identical when it comes time to assign grades.

Anecdotally, GDS kids who I know personally have all had higher GPAs than my Sidwell teen. As in, > 3.90. Their ACT/SATs were easily lower, even when superscored. One girl had a 4.0 at GDS and her mom acted like that wasn't a big deal, all you need to do is work hard! That sort of situation is a unicorn at Sidwell.

Yes. 3.95 could well be the highest GPA for a graduating class at Sidwell. If your DC is 3.95 at Sidwell, they will have terrific options, ED or no ED.

How about a 3.85 kid taking rigorous course load?

3.85 unhooked from top area privates will do very well but can more or less forget about the very top schools (read HYPS + MIT). With a strong hook, would be competitive anywhere.