B Student “Sweet Spot” Well Regarded Colleges and Universities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Second Delaware. Also Penn State, Pitt, UVM, CU Boulder, VA Tech. (Based on my B students experience)

A B student is not getting into VT. How long ago was this?

[Anonymous]

Bwah! Pitt of course!

[Anonymous]

"Sweet Spot". I detest that expression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Sweet Spot". I detest that expression.

thank you for your contribution to this conversation

[Anonymous]

UChicago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP-I think it also depends if it’s public vs private HS school.

We recently moved to VA from NY and never considered private as NY has so many great public schools that have great college placements.

Irrelevant to the conversation.

Nobody asked your opinion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I graduated high school in Senegal my final.GPA was 11/20 which is equivalent to a C in the US system. I obtained a HS diploma called Baccalaureate C (math and physics specialization). I got rejected by so many schools. Luckily and miraculously BYU admitted me. I graduated with a 3.9 GPA in Physics.

I don't know how kids in this country have As after As. I struggled so much in HS. My final Baccalaureate exam which I barely passed consisted of a 4 hrs exam in both math and physics, the equivalent of Calc 1 & 2 and Physics 1 & 2. I never had any exams closed to the difficulties of the tests I took in HS.

I wish other countries had a system similar to the US where kids can have As to boost their confidence. Instead most of us end up depressed and think we are incapable. But then I come to this forum and found that a B is bad performance lol.

It really depends on the high school. There are over 27,000 high schools in the U.S., and they all grade differently and all have different academic standards. Even every teacher within a school is differnt. Some give brownnosing pets an easy A, while others do the opposite. You really can't judge anything from a GPA.

PP here. You are absolutely correct. I did have classmates at BYU that were better prepared than me. In Senegal we have common core. In other words every HS Senior takes the same final exams for the baccalaureate exam on the same date. And I should also add that I did go to a Catholic private Senegal which had a good reputation. I just wished they were less stingy on the grading because I believe many of us could have ended up at better colleges. Now BYU may not be MIT to most Americans but for me it was especially coming from a very poor country. So at the end it worked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second Delaware. Also Penn State, Pitt, UVM, CU Boulder, VA Tech. (Based on my B students experience)

A B student is not getting into VT. How long ago was this?

He’ll be starting there this fall. He also had really strong community service so maybe that helped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:B student in honors and AP classes or B student in gen ed classes?

B studnet in a school where 60% of the class gets As or in a school where only 4 students have a 4.0?

You need to look at your own school's data because grades do not correlate school to school.

+1

[Anonymous]

All Bs? A few Bs? Where does GPA land in the class? Both of mine had a few Bs junior year and had great success with college acceptances. Not ivys but highly selective schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Catholic SLACs such as USD, USF, Loyola, Marquette, Gonzaga etc are all good options. BC, GU and SCU out of reach.

+1

Toured USF, a beautiful location with strong support for students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adelphi, Allegheny, Clark, U of Denver, Dickinson, Elon, Endicott, Furman, Goucher, Guilfird, Muhlenbwrg, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, Susquehanna, Wofford

why don't you just name every no-name school in the universe?

Why don't you just go back to bragging about your son's bright future in engineering/computer science along with the other 20,000 students with the same major and stats that will graduate in the same year?

Having toured a lot of those schools, and having a kid attend one, they're not "no name." They offer things your grade and status-obsessed little grubber will never achieve.

[Anonymous]

Small - Furman, Sewanee, Denison, Kenyon, Wooster, Dickinson, St Oalf, Lawrence, Rhodes, Conn College, St Lawrence, Skidmore, Franklin and Marshall, DePauw, Knox, Beloit,

Medium - Dayton, Miami Ohio, Elon, Syracuse, Butler, Creighton, Marquette, Providence, SMU, TCU, DePaul, Loyola Chicago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hope this helps—my B+ DD got accepted with good merit aid at the following schools:

EA:
Elon $19K
Marist $25K
Susquehanna in PA $50K
Gettysburg $37K
Ithaca $37K
Mary Washington $4K

RD:
Conn Coll $37K
Skidmore No merit.

WL:
Wake
Davidson

I meant to add that she showed demonstrated interest at all of these schools. She visited all but Skidmore and she sat in on virtual admissions talks for that one.

Define your B+ student -- 3.8 weighted GPA? unweighted GPA? I know someone with a 4.3 weighted GPA WL at Wake for example - in at UVA but waitlisted at Wake! Crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Share one school that fits this description in 2026:

Excellent reputation, strong programs, and accepts a good number of B students?

95% of colleges and universities in America.