We New Yorkers are taking over here because we don't have a better alternative. I should tell my kid to start one - include a bunch of ads to monetize it and it would make for a great essay.
Worst case, looks like it's University of Illinois! |
HM is super rigorous and definitely where fun goes to die, so if you’re chasing brand name and can’t get into Ivies, Chicago would feel like home |
I am very curious what school this is because schools shouldn't be "pushing" kids to schools they don't want to go to. |
Chicagoan here. Lots of CA, TX, FL and CO here too! Not just east coast!!! |
I would bet a lot that the school isn't pushing Chicago out of the blue but rather than OP wanted a top20 school and the high school said "Chicago is your only chance." |
Since rigorous privates have competitive admission, they can usually choose strong/A students coming in from middle school so there are few average students academically. That said, from my experience a middle 50% gpa at a rigorous private would be around 3.6 due to the lack of inflation. Top half ranges from just below an A- (very high B+) to an A average. Ofc, rigor matters a lot! |
Generally very true (which is why my kid is not at Horace Mann) but there is a contingent of kids who party their way through HM and still do fine. Athletes/super wealthy/connected parents, etc. It is a very odd dynamic. |
True story: our school pushed a close friend’s DC to EA Princeton. He wanted Yale. They are an FA family with another DC in lower grade so the parents didn’t want to piss off the school. The boy ended up loving Princeton. |
I wish my kid had these problems - slumming it to Princeton instead of Yale. |
Not at our top private. No one gets a solid A average. 2 A, 2 A- and 1 B+ would put you in top 25%. Last year a core subject teacher gave majority of her class C’s in the final. |
What kind of school does your son want?
Two schools that come to mind are Tufts and Wesleyan. |
Obviously it’s going to be school dependent, even for non-inflated schools, some average at 3.4, others at 3.6. Grades are also somewhat subjective, a teacher may never give any one A in their class. Or a kid is well liked. So on and so forth. Then there is rigor to consider. |
The family thought Princeton would be too white and preppy. He ended up being glad he went. Perhaps the counsellor knew there were already connected kids/legacy applying to Yale, or maybe they genuinely thought Princeton would be a better fit. |
Same at our private. And my kid got into T10 with that grade… |
Seems this kid could aim higher given it’s a feeder. At our non-DMV private this kid gets into Cornell/WashU/Emory in RD assuming enough DI. I’d aim Higher for ED1 and reassess after Dec. A deferral is diff from a rejection. Read the tea leaves and be prepared to pivot. |