Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with all the previous posters! A 4.0 is almost unheard of at a top private school because the teachers are always moving the bar so every student is challenged.

There are usually a handful of straight A students at a top private each year. One issue is that it is hard to be a superstar both in STEM subjects and humanities, as the top classes are generally pretty advanced, so even a very very bright student might have As in their strength area and A minuses/B pluses in the other category. But there definitely are some brilliant and hard-working kids who excel across the board.

This

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges just look at GPA. There is no effort to "put that into context" like you have been lead to believe. Learned that the hard way when DD started applying and the person who informed us was the college counselor at her big three. There are too many applications now and grades are so inflated that it can really be a disadvantage of coming from a private school. Still wouldn't have deterred us, as my DD is forever grateful for that experience. You really need to focus on grades the most. Sports are pointless unless you are collegiate level. Scores are very important, but edged out by grades.

. This is
Not true. I served on the admissions committee for a top 20 university and we knew exactly what each schools grade scale was. A kid with a 3.4 from a top private in NYC or Washington DC was viewed very differently from a kid with the same grade point from most publics. Some larger schools have an algorithm for each known high school that automatically adjusts gpa. Grades are very important but relative.

So how what do you do about kids who are not from a "known" high school.

We looked carefully at their scores and especially their recommendations. When I said we knew exactly, I meant for the private schools in this area, NYC, Boston, etc. We also knew that many of the top publics prepared kids very well. An A or A- average student from Thomas Jefferson or the Blair magnet who took a tough course load is well prepared for college, as is an A-/B+ average student from the top privates. Whether they were admitted depends on how their entire application looked.

Anonymous wrote:The answer is yes. I would say a or B+ or if you prefer A- is average or normal at the very top schools for a dedicated, excellent student. Thtat would translate to some Bs and many B+in classes with and about one third As. Kids who get these grades often test well ( 95-99 %) and get into to top schools including Ivies, top SLACs, and well regartded publics and most are happy with their placements. They work very hard and are under lots of presssure in high school and report they are very well prepared and have an easy academic adjustment to college. Most importantly they are fully challenged in high school and emerge as good writers and thinkers.

+1 Exactly my kids experince. he is doing well at a top ten college, getting all As. He works hard, but not as hard as High School!

Anonymous wrote:Of course they matter for admission; just another way to show your academic prowess...

From Stanford's admissions website:

We look for thoughtful, eager and highly engaged students who will make a difference at Stanford and in the world beyond. We expect that these students have taken high school course loads of reasonable and appropriate challenge in the context of their schools. We do not have a preference for any particular curriculum.

Students currently enrolled in AP courses are not required to submit AP scores as part of our admission process. AP scores that are reported are acknowledged but rarely play a significant role in the evaluation of an application. Grades earned over the course of a term, or a year, and evaluations from instructors who can comment on classroom engagement provide us with the most detailed insight into a student's readiness for the academic rigors of Stanford.