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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Serious question:  doesn’t everyone get straight ‘As’ these days?[/quote]

In my DD's school (in Loudoun County), hardly anyone gets As in AP History courses.  There are other scattered courses that are difficult to get As in, but AP history is notoriously difficult.  So, even many of the top and brightest kids do not get straight As (if they are taking the most rigorous courses).  Not sure how it is at other schools or other counties.[/quote]

Second that....AP History is tough for our DD (C+) for right now....and she is a sophomore.[/quote]
General rule of thumb is that AP classes are not an appropriate academic choice if your student cannot get a B or higher[/quote]

Sadly this seems very true lately.  We have had kids with very little AP's but higher GPA's getting into much better schools than those with more B's than A's and a C here or there in AP's.  Which really truly sucks.  They are basically telling kids to take it easy, don't challenge yourself and get the easy A.  This is NOT what happens in college and kids are so sad/depressed/anxious when they realize that they can't get easy A's in college.  And the even bigger irony is most jobs do not give one crap what your GPA was when you graduated.  [/quote]

+1[/quote]

[b]This hasn't been my experience with 2 kids going through the college app process these past 3 years.  I think you need to have the most rigorous courseload  AND strong GPA to get into any selective school (e.g., W&M or UVA in-state; equivalent OOS).  And strong GPA means nearly all A's and A-'s in AP/IB courses.[/b]  A B or B+ here or there, in the earlier years of HS ok.  But if anybody got in with lower, it was that they had a challenging courseload, were exceptional in some other way and had a reasonable explanation for their one C. 
But, HS GPA is the best predictor of success in a college so I don't think that's wrong of colleges to focus on it.  First jobs don't care about your HS GPA, but your HS GPA is a fairly good predictor of your likelihood to graduate college and your college GPA.  It's a better predictor than SAT scores, but colleges use those to standardize and keep a check on the pressure on high schools for grade inflation. [/quote]

My experience too, with 3 who've gone through the process the last 5 years, two who are at UVA.  There is no way UVa is telling HS students to take it easy, don't challenge yourself and get the easy A.[/quote]

Just want to add that this seems to be what UVA (and other schools are saying). We just went on the tour, and the person giving the presentation said...
"One of the most common questions we get from students (and their parents) is asking which is better--getting an A in an honors class or a B in an AP class?"
The admissions counselor gave a small smile and said...
"The honest answer is, getting an A in an AP class."
It's competitive, no doubt, but I think the PP quoted above has the right idea that if you've got some As, with a mix of A- or B+ then taken all together with a very strong course load, you can be reasonably sure you'll be competitive at some of the more selective schools. Doesn't mean you absolutely won't get in with lower grades, but you have to be realistic that your child with the mostly Bs in AP classes is competing with the kids who got As. The B kid will totally be fine, and do well in whatever college they do get into.

The admission counselor also said over and over again that the GPA as an averaged numerical score is not counted, because they can't rate a school with a 5 point scale and a 4 point scale in the same way.
They take into account what courses are offered at the high school, and even factor in if there are restrictions (say a school that doesn't allow kids to take AP in 9th grade)
They then see what the kids took, and what grades they got, but it's not literally take every single solitary AP course.
Example: my kid is taking AP Calculus in junior year. They are not applying to an engineering program or looking to major in a lab science. They are taking AP Statistics their senior year. [/quote]

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