Anonymous wrote:St. John’s had over 1500 applicants for this year’s freshman class. Of course they didn’t accept them all given there about 300 students per grade. My DD is attending there, but also put a lot of pressure on herself in the middle school years of her k-8 because she wasn’t sure as a 6th grader where she wanted to attend and also wanted the scholars program if she did ultimately choose St. John’s. And given the grading scale at the k-8, that meant 93% in all subjects to get straight As. (Off topic, but I’m thankful to be back to a normal system where a 90% gets you an A-.)

Just echoing that those K-8 years were tough with the 93-100 for an A scale! Also happy to be back to a scale with more wiggle room.

This year was very competitive at SJC. I know of cases of siblings and honor roll students who were turned away, either rejected or waitlisted, so don’t take anything for granted. Your child should do their best, study hard for the HSPT, put effort into their essay, and hope that everything works out in their favor. However cast a wide net and focus on the positives of other schools too, rather than just having your heart set on one. I’ve witnessed kids who were shocked that they didn’t get in, but I have also witnessed happy surprises for others, so you never know. It really depends on the year and who else is applying.

Fingers crossed that everything falls into place for your child! It is a nerve wracking process!

Remember, both of these schools recruit lots of athletes. Those athletes can have grades and HSPT scores that are below (sometimes well below) the average for the school.

You need to remove all the athletes from the numbers and then look at the acceptance rates.

As everyone has said these schools get close to 1000 applicants. It’s a numbers game because it’s likely others from the k-8 will apply as well.

Both schools have hundreds more applicants each year than available positions. The majority of students will be rejected or wait listed. I'm sure plenty of students with your daughter's grades are accepted provided they have good HSPT scores, recommendations, and notable extracurriculars. But it's impossible to know or predict exactly who will be accepted. Prepare your kid for the possibility she won't get in and have backup plans.

St. John’s had over 1500 applicants for this year’s freshman class. Of course they didn’t accept them all given there about 300 students per grade. My DD is attending there, but also put a lot of pressure on herself in the middle school years of her k-8 because she wasn’t sure as a 6th grader where she wanted to attend and also wanted the scholars program if she did ultimately choose St. John’s. And given the grading scale at the k-8, that meant 93% in all subjects to get straight As. (Off topic, but I’m thankful to be back to a normal system where a 90% gets you an A-.)

Of course they don’t accept everyone. Even public schools don’t accept everyone as their are in school boundaries. SJC requires the High School Placement test, gpa, essay, and letters of recommendation. Most private and maybe all Catholic schools will require similar. I had to take a placement test in another state in the 80’s. So, I’m not sure it has anything to do with inflating their importance.

Not sure it’s a set GPA, but have heard of students being waitlisted at both. My guess it’s a mix of grades, test scores, how they compare to other applicants from their school, etc. I get the sense SJC may be a harder admit, but may be because they get more applicants. Regardless, I recommend applying to more than just these two schools considering difference in cost, location, etc. I think it’s natural for kids to put pressure on themselves during the applicant process. Good luck!

I'm starting to sense the two schools tend to inflate their importance and give out a sense that they do not accept all students. Can anyone share what the minimum GPA and/or general acceptance rate is?

DC attends a Catholic K-8 that is considered a feeder school to GC. They are placing a long of pressure on themselves to get straight As and were distraught to have two Bs so far this year. They worry about getting rejected from either or both schools.

I want to take off unneeded pressure by hopefully giving the news that some kids with lower grades typically get in. Are kids really not getting accepted at these schools and if so, what exactly is the acceptance threshold? Is a 3.0 good enough or are we talking 3.5 and above to get in? I want them to recalibrate their expectations on grades to not give themselves so much pressure.

Thanks!