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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DC is a junior at a Big 3 school. Deep into thinking/discussion about college applications this fall. 3.7 GPA, 1530 SAT. Took many (but not all) of the "most rigorous" courses available until junior year. Clearly strong student, but we are genuinely unsure about where this places him in general -- your views, parents of junior/senior students or of students who have already graduated? Unhooked kid, so we realize that college applications, esp at the top end will be very challenging. Since school does not provide information on class rank etc, we are just curious about where a student like the stands in relation to peers on a GPA basis.[/quote]

My kid is a recent Big 3 grad, and a 3.7 GPA put them at roughly the 75% percentile of the class. (Best estimate.) With a 35 ACT and similar rigor, they were competitive for T20 colleges and T10 SLACs, but not Ivies. With only one exception I can think of, every kid who got into an Ivy from that class was an academic rock star (top 4-5), recruited athlete, URM or have parents wealthy enough to endow a building or the like. [/quote]

Ding ding. This is the correct answer.
The cutoff for T10 is 3.8 and 1520-30, if you are unhooked. From there, you come up with a narrative framing of your short life as a high school student that is compelling and fits whatever needs a particular school wants to fill. You do not know those needs. That's the fun part. Look at how majors are distributed and ask yourself if school X needs another computer science major, etc. Hint: they have entire romance language depts. pumping out single digit majors each year. 
OP's students sounds like a perfect candidate for ED1 at UChicago (an amazing school full of very sharp, mature, unhooked kids from Big 3 type schools).
[/quote]

Agree. Chicago loves full-pay prep school kids who ED1. Even a 3.6 can be good enough, with a high test score and good recs and essays.[/quote]

This year may be an exception - know a full-pay student with a 4.0 u/w GPA (school doesn't offer APs), NMSF, 1600 SAT, and probably 800 on 3 SAT Subject tests (my DC assumes they were 800) and student was rejected ED. DC can't believe it happen to this kid - "X is brilliant - loves learning, loves ideas - the kid should be at MIT." And the kid is really nice - can't imagine a bad rec from any teacher who has had this kid.[/quote]

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