Anonymous wrote:If a kid at a school like Sidwell/GDS/NCS-STA is taking the most advanced classes and has a few B+'s here and there (particularly in 9th and 10th grade) really does not seem to be a problem-our two kids with those kind of records at those schools both got into their very top college choices, both schools ranked in top 10 in any of the many polls/rankings.

B+ in an AP course in 11th or 12th grade is not a top college deal breaker when coming from the schools you mentiobed. The admissions people know curriculum rigor of those schools.

When grade inflation happened.

If a kid at a school like Sidwell/GDS/NCS-STA is taking the most advanced classes and has a few B+'s here and there (particularly in 9th and 10th grade) really does not seem to be a problem-our two kids with those kind of records at those schools both got into their very top college choices, both schools ranked in top 10 in any of the many polls/rankings.

In 1996.

Anonymous wrote:Are we talking just an average students here? Yeah, Bs are fine.

B is the new d

Are we talking just an average students here? Yeah, Bs are fine.

B's were good grades when A's were exceptional. Now they are run of the mill and so the B's status had dropped like a stone.

A "B" was good in the old days.

B/B pluses on their own are not bad - they are expected. But B/B plus averages on a transcript take students out of the running for many colleges, no matter how elite the HS ,or how difficult the course load.

When I went to NCS many years ago a C was basically considered an F. So a B isn't much better......

Anonymous wrote:Key is for the colleges to be familiar with the school, the curriculum and the caliber of the recent graduates.

This. Assuming we're talking about DC, then understand that top __ colleges know the drill at Sidwell, NCS, Holton and so on.

Be prepared for the onslaught of posters declaiming grade inflation....

Nothing wrong with a B+. It depends on the school and your child. Essentially all the best students at the selective privates will get some B+s, since the straight A student at the selective privates is a unicorn. Public schools that weigh AP/IB and honors classes have many of students with 4.5+ GPAs. A 3.8 GPA student from a Montgomery or Fairfax public school might have reason to worry about admission to UVa or College Park. If you get your sense of these things from College Confidential, it can be anxiety provoking. The same GPA from SFS, StA/NCS, GDS is very competitive for the most selective colleges if the student took a normal course load. The most selective colleges use unweighed GPAs and know how to review the grades at the top independents.

If you go to grad school a c is an f and a b is a D

Key is for the colleges to be familiar with the school, the curriculum and the caliber of the recent graduates.

How are they regarded at your child's private school? Ours considers them good given the rigor of the curriculum but there is some parental concern that colleges don't view them that way.