Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 17:51     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:A kid who isn't smart enough to earn an A or cheat to get an As wont do very well. You have to do one or the other to win.


Total BS. My kid had 5 Bs in HS. Is at an IVY, ECON MAjor. Mid to. High As on every class…..
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 17:48     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:Shooting for a top school (not HYP but still selective) from a solid public. Top rigor, good ECs, essays, recommendations - everything else considered, is one B okay? Two? Would love to hear instances where non-athlete students still received acceptances with a few hard earned B or B+ grades.


I don't think a few (or even several) B's are bad at all at a very rigorous high school that doesn't grade inflate. But if your kid goes to a HS that you know is grade inflationary, it's a different matter. If more than half the class gets As easily, a B at that grade inflating school is really a C at a non-inflating school. Does that makes sense?

Basically, just like all As are not alike (it's school by school) it's the same with Bs.

So hard to answer this outside of the specific context of your kid's school.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 17:06     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
A kid who isn't smart enough to earn an A or cheat to get an As wont do very well. You have to do one or the other to win.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 17:00     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.

Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class.


What kind of rigor? What extracurriculars


The school doesn't offer APs. There are 400 level classes, mostly seminars. The one with 5 kids in it is a literature seminar. DC also took a seminar in French language and multiple 400 level science classes which are sub-specialty classes (post what would be considered AP). It's not unusual to take this in 1 or 2 subjects but very kids take 5 or more. I'd estimate this to be 10 kids, maybe 20. Grades in seminars are usually based on 1 or 2 assessments (a paper or a portfolio) so it's not unusual to get a B first quarter on the first draft of this and then get it turned up to an A.

No ROTC or sports or anything involved. Kid applied as a language major which probably helped.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 16:33     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:Your student will be evaluated in the context of their high school. If twenty percent of the class has a 4.0, then getting three Bs will likely matter.

Having gone through the process before in recent years, it is very rare for an unhooked kid to overcome being outside the top 5 to 10 percent of the class to get into a T10 school.


My kid was not even top 20%. 1380 SAT with 5 B’s. Accepted to 3 IVYS. Same school a year earlier…. My daughter was the Salutatorian. Much higher SAT and almost perfect grades and denied at every IVY applied. Same major….
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 16:27     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Your student will be evaluated in the context of their high school. If twenty percent of the class has a 4.0, then getting three Bs will likely matter.

Having gone through the process before in recent years, it is very rare for an unhooked kid to overcome being outside the top 5 to 10 percent of the class to get into a T10 school.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 16:05     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
One unless your hooked
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 15:32     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.

Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class.


What kind of rigor? What extracurriculars
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 15:14     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This really depends on your school. Mine are at a very competitive public magnet without much grade inflation. Bs are common. But there are still a few kids with all As. You can get by with a B or two in very hard classes and still have a shot at top tier schools with no other hooks. But if everyone has all As or almost everyone does, then Bs are tough.


+1,000. It all depends on the school because the AO is evaluating the kids who have applied from the same school at the same time. Does your kid have top rigor classes and do their grades still put them in or towards the top 10 or 20% of their class? That matters more rather than the actual number of Bs. I have a niece who had all A's, but in less rigorous classes and got shut out of T25.


that same situation happens over and over every year at our private, a self proclaimed "top 3" student vying for VAL is flat rejected ED ivy. Then a kid who just missed top 10%--means one B+ or a couple of A-, rest A at ours-- but took every single hard course gets in ED ivy and students near the top cry foul, having no understanding that it is not about all A, it is about top rigor and still getting As or very close to all A
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 15:08     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.

Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class.


Doubt this. Quite average for an Ivy admit.

And Early? Don't believe it.


No, it absolutely happened. NYC private. I'm probably doxxing my kid because there are only a few where from which this would happen. I wanted to post because I think it's interesting to see that colleges do really read in the context of the high school and courses taken. We have younger kids as well.


I have a DC who was admitted ED to an Ivy (don't want to say which, but one with ED vs. REA/SCEA so that helps narrow it down). Has 9 B's across 9th -11th grades. This is from MCPS, which issues semester transcripts. Very high rigor in math/sciences and choice of electives, but not crazy rigor in English/History (meaning Honors, not AP aside from one -AP Lang). While I used to believe people who said essays, LORs, ECs, etc. don't matter that much, at this level they do. There is simply no other way to explain what people believe to be random. Objective measures (GPA, test scores) mean you'll be considered. Subjective measures tip the scale one way or the other, and the randomness comes from AOs having different opinions and even the same AOs having different opinions on different days. A student may feel their rejection is unfair - and they may be both right and wrong.


You mean your child had 9 classes where his or her final grade was a B?

Not really. It was 9 semester Bs - and for some, the other Semester was an A. As one example, they got a B in AP Lang for Semester 1 and then an A for Semester 2. So it's kind of like 4.5 classes had a B. Each year-long class receives two grades. MCPS doesn't combine them into one final grade at the end (it just combines two quarters into one semester).






Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 14:58     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.

Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class.


Doubt this. Quite average for an Ivy admit.

And Early? Don't believe it.


No, it absolutely happened. NYC private. I'm probably doxxing my kid because there are only a few where from which this would happen. I wanted to post because I think it's interesting to see that colleges do really read in the context of the high school and courses taken. We have younger kids as well.


I have a DC who was admitted ED to an Ivy (don't want to say which, but one with ED vs. REA/SCEA so that helps narrow it down). Has 9 B's across 9th -11th grades. This is from MCPS, which issues semester transcripts. Very high rigor in math/sciences and choice of electives, but not crazy rigor in English/History (meaning Honors, not AP aside from one -AP Lang). While I used to believe people who said essays, LORs, ECs, etc. don't matter that much, at this level they do. There is simply no other way to explain what people believe to be random. Objective measures (GPA, test scores) mean you'll be considered. Subjective measures tip the scale one way or the other, and the randomness comes from AOs having different opinions and even the same AOs having different opinions on different days. A student may feel their rejection is unfair - and they may be both right and wrong.


You mean your child had 9 classes where his or her final grade was a B?





Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 14:39     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Starting off with specific colleges in mind and then trying to cultivate your academics and activities to gaining entry to those colleges is a great way to end up with a lifelong anxiety disorder, which is far more likely to keep you from achieving your dreams than not getting into the 'right' college.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 14:25     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.


As a parent of a C/D student, I find it really condescending when this is posted on almost every thread about getting Bs. My student is on the edge of failing out of college and has no job prospects and no trust fund to buy companies or dedicate buildings. But keep telling yourself that your A/B student is so disadvantaged because they're smart and successful.


C's get degrees and D stands for diploma. Your kid will be fine as long as he keeps his head above water. He needs to learn how to schmooze and network, that's where the money is. If he's still an underclassman and isn't in a fraternity, he should pledge one this semester.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 14:16     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:The A students work for the B students, the C students own the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.


As a parent of a C/D student, I find it really condescending when this is posted on almost every thread about getting Bs. My student is on the edge of failing out of college and has no job prospects and no trust fund to buy companies or dedicate buildings. But keep telling yourself that your A/B student is so disadvantaged because they're smart and successful.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2025 14:15     Subject: How many Bs are too many?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid was admitted early to an Ivy this year with 4 B+ grades 9-11th and 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades (making a total of 6 B's). White kid with no hooks at all, applied for financial aid, rigorous NYC private.

Top rigor in all subjects (one of maybe 10 kids at the school in this category). The 2 first quarter senior year B+ grades were in classes that only about 5 kids take each year (because of rigor). My kid has since raised them to As but they were Bs at the time the grades were sent for the ED application as there had only been a single assessment in each class.


Doubt this. Quite average for an Ivy admit.

And Early? Don't believe it.


No, it absolutely happened. NYC private. I'm probably doxxing my kid because there are only a few where from which this would happen. I wanted to post because I think it's interesting to see that colleges do really read in the context of the high school and courses taken. We have younger kids as well.


I have a DC who was admitted ED to an Ivy (don't want to say which, but one with ED vs. REA/SCEA so that helps narrow it down). Has 9 B's across 9th -11th grades. This is from MCPS, which issues semester transcripts. Very high rigor in math/sciences and choice of electives, but not crazy rigor in English/History (meaning Honors, not AP aside from one -AP Lang). While I used to believe people who said essays, LORs, ECs, etc. don't matter that much, at this level they do. There is simply no other way to explain what people believe to be random. Objective measures (GPA, test scores) mean you'll be considered. Subjective measures tip the scale one way or the other, and the randomness comes from AOs having different opinions and even the same AOs having different opinions on different days. A student may feel their rejection is unfair - and they may be both right and wrong.