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Anonymous wrote:My ds had a b average from a mom big 3 private and a 30. Got into both unass and Skidmore among many others. B students from big 3 with 31 ish scores will get into many of the schools mentioned. Ignore all stats on gpa or class rank other than your school’s Naviance and talk to your counselor.

EXACTLY! School context really matters here, and solid Bs at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS is not the same as solid Bs at my kid's public school.

The kid should continue to discuss target schools with the counselor and applying to 6-7, not 3.

Many of these kids would be A students in public. The top DC private schools are very demanding.

Baloney re these kids being A students at public.

You are wrong. You should see the level of work that is asked of 8th graders at my kid’s school. As are a dime a dozen in public but much harder to get in these schools.

"Public" school is not a monolith, and what I've seen from kids in Big 3 schools, their curriculum is not very different from the curriculum of a high quality public school (which has plenty of kids of highly educated professionals, who happened not to go the hedge fund/law firm partner route). The only difference is the classes are smaller and the kids have a lot more resources across the board.

Really? How can you say that in this day & age, when public schools have gone down the tube? When basic things like spelling and grammar have been almost discontinued? When teachers have so many students they don’t have time to grade homework or mark up and edit essays? Kids arrive at high school completely lacking a strong foundation in social studies, literature and science While private school students have been building it since first grade.

Interesting take on public school. Most of my neighbors’ kids go to public schools (NW DC) and somehow they seem quite literate. One kid on the street went to Wilson and is graduating from an Ivy this spring. She seems to have done well. Let’s not stereotype public school in such an extreme fashion

One kid in public HS and one who recently finished up at a Big 3. Both had/have many, many talented classmates, and both kids received a comparable education IMO. My older child, who is at an excellent college, has friends from both private and public. I know many people at the top of their fields and/or who are otherwise well educated, happy and highly successful in life - whether they went to public or private HS doesn’t seem to have made a significant difference in the end goals of success and happiness. Maybe for some on the fringes?

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Anonymous wrote:My ds had a b average from a mom big 3 private and a 30. Got into both unass and Skidmore among many others. B students from big 3 with 31 ish scores will get into many of the schools mentioned. Ignore all stats on gpa or class rank other than your school’s Naviance and talk to your counselor.

EXACTLY! School context really matters here, and solid Bs at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS is not the same as solid Bs at my kid's public school.

The kid should continue to discuss target schools with the counselor and applying to 6-7, not 3.

Many of these kids would be A students in public. The top DC private schools are very demanding.

Baloney re these kids being A students at public.

You are wrong. You should see the level of work that is asked of 8th graders at my kid’s school. As are a dime a dozen in public but much harder to get in these schools.

"Public" school is not a monolith, and what I've seen from kids in Big 3 schools, their curriculum is not very different from the curriculum of a high quality public school (which has plenty of kids of highly educated professionals, who happened not to go the hedge fund/law firm partner route). The only difference is the classes are smaller and the kids have a lot more resources across the board.

Really? How can you say that in this day & age, when public schools have gone down the tube? When basic things like spelling and grammar have been almost discontinued? When teachers have so many students they don’t have time to grade homework or mark up and edit essays? Kids arrive at high school completely lacking a strong foundation in social studies, literature and science While private school students have been building it since first grade.

Poster said quality public high schools of which there are many. most Regeneron scholars are forom public high schools.

FYI, “quality” public schools must follow the same standards & policies as “non quality.” My kids go to “quality” public schools, and I’m speaking from that experience. It’s completely different than the education private schools provide. Today. Now. In 2020.

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Anonymous wrote:I had a 3.2 GPA from a very average high school in a different state, SAT lower 1400s, ACT 32. I got into Tulane, GWU, Wisconsin, Maryland, and some others. Later on I got my act together and got a PhD at an ivy league university. There's really no reason to be getting Bs if you are above 95th percentile on a standardized test, other than laziness (which I was, and it sounds like you son is)

Nope. Your “very average high school” had a way different cohort than an elite private or a magnet like TJ. A B at an “average” high school is way different than a B at an elite school. When everyone in the school is bright and accomplished, it’s hard to get in the A range. These schools tend to be less forgiving in their grading. It really is different. Top 10% at an elite private or TJ is worlds away from “average” high school top 10%. A kid in the top 30% at the more elite schools would likely be top 10% at a school with less competition.

And I'm just hoping and praying that the school admissions people know this!

- Mom of another B student at a Big 3

Anonymous wrote:Some of the "big 3" actually have grade deflation, which is becoming an issue at a time that colleges are using straight GPA as a primary indicator when compared to the weighted 4+ GPAs from public schools.

+1 Especially with no weighted grades and (soon) no APs.

Some of the "big 3" actually have grade deflation, which is becoming an issue at a time that colleges are using straight GPA as a primary indicator when compared to the weighted 4+ GPAs from public schools.

Anonymous wrote:At our Big 3 (which has excellent college counseling), each family receives a sheet of paper which places their child into a grade cohort. The sheet then provides a list of schools where kids in that grade cohort have been accepted during the last three years.

OP - trust your school

This is excellent. What school is this?

Anonymous wrote:I had a 3.2 GPA from a very average high school in a different state, SAT lower 1400s, ACT 32. I got into Tulane, GWU, Wisconsin, Maryland, and some others. Later on I got my act together and got a PhD at an ivy league university. There's really no reason to be getting Bs if you are above 95th percentile on a standardized test, other than laziness (which I was, and it sounds like you son is)

Nope. Your “very average high school” had a way different cohort than an elite private or a magnet like TJ. A B at an “average” high school is way different than a B at an elite school. When everyone in the school is bright and accomplished, it’s hard to get in the A range. These schools tend to be less forgiving in their grading. It really is different. Top 10% at an elite private or TJ is worlds away from “average” high school top 10%. A kid in the top 30% at the more elite schools would likely be top 10% at a school with less competition.

We have a child who had a 31 ACT and B+ to B range grades who got into Michigan Early Action last December. Kid was at a DC highly rated private and Naviance showed that the grades and ACT score were a strong match for Michigan. We are full pay.

We had friends kids applying to Michigan from Whitman and their naviance showed the ACT sweet spot to be closer to 33. I don't remember the GPA sweet spot.

In our very limited (and admittedly, speculative) experience we think the private school made the difference as the admissions officers would have known that at DCs school, B+s and Bs come with a significant amount of work. They are not default grades for people who don't work hard.

Anonymous wrote:Michigan. Full pay OOS, elite prep = guarantee admission

Not with a 3.0.

Anonymous wrote:OP, what public school posters are saying is irrelevant.
Grades are weird at the Big3 schools.
At ours about the lowest tier colleges anyone attends are schools like Colorado, Northeastern, Vermont etc.
I have the list from last year and these are some of the lowest tier schools on it.
And yet most students have a B average.
Very, very few kids graduate with all As--really just a small handful.

I'm not saying the school is better than or harder than public schools (I have kids in both) but the grading scales are very, very different.
Colleges know this.
It's not uncommon for kids to get Bs or even Cs in the big3.

We live in Philadelphia; DD#1 attended big3 equivalent. Had 2 C+s freshman year; overall 3.4 (unweighted) and a 31 ACT, attends Wisconsin.

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Anonymous wrote:My ds had a b average from a mom big 3 private and a 30. Got into both unass and Skidmore among many others. B students from big 3 with 31 ish scores will get into many of the schools mentioned. Ignore all stats on gpa or class rank other than your school’s Naviance and talk to your counselor.

EXACTLY! School context really matters here, and solid Bs at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS is not the same as solid Bs at my kid's public school.

The kid should continue to discuss target schools with the counselor and applying to 6-7, not 3.

Many of these kids would be A students in public. The top DC private schools are very demanding.

Baloney re these kids being A students at public.

You are wrong. You should see the level of work that is asked of 8th graders at my kid’s school. As are a dime a dozen in public but much harder to get in these schools.

"Public" school is not a monolith, and what I've seen from kids in Big 3 schools, their curriculum is not very different from the curriculum of a high quality public school (which has plenty of kids of highly educated professionals, who happened not to go the hedge fund/law firm partner route). The only difference is the classes are smaller and the kids have a lot more resources across the board.

Really? How can you say that in this day & age, when public schools have gone down the tube? When basic things like spelling and grammar have been almost discontinued? When teachers have so many students they don’t have time to grade homework or mark up and edit essays? Kids arrive at high school completely lacking a strong foundation in social studies, literature and science While private school students have been building it since first grade.

Poster said quality public high schools of which there are many. most Regeneron scholars are forom public high schools.

My sense at one of the Big 3, is that the kids with a mix of Bs and some As and high test scores do very well when it comes to SLACs (think NECSAC other than Amherst and Williams) and many others (other than Swarthmore or Pomona) maybe not quite as well at Top 25 universities. The advantage over public school kids with high scores may be more at SLACs than at large universities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My ds had a b average from a mom big 3 private and a 30. Got into both unass and Skidmore among many others. B students from big 3 with 31 ish scores will get into many of the schools mentioned. Ignore all stats on gpa or class rank other than your school’s Naviance and talk to your counselor.

EXACTLY! School context really matters here, and solid Bs at Sidwell/STA/NCS/GDS is not the same as solid Bs at my kid's public school.

The kid should continue to discuss target schools with the counselor and applying to 6-7, not 3.

Many of these kids would be A students in public. The top DC private schools are very demanding.

Baloney re these kids being A students at public.

You are wrong. You should see the level of work that is asked of 8th graders at my kid’s school. As are a dime a dozen in public but much harder to get in these schools.

"Public" school is not a monolith, and what I've seen from kids in Big 3 schools, their curriculum is not very different from the curriculum of a high quality public school (which has plenty of kids of highly educated professionals, who happened not to go the hedge fund/law firm partner route). The only difference is the classes are smaller and the kids have a lot more resources across the board.

Really? How can you say that in this day & age, when public schools have gone down the tube? When basic things like spelling and grammar have been almost discontinued? When teachers have so many students they don’t have time to grade homework or mark up and edit essays? Kids arrive at high school completely lacking a strong foundation in social studies, literature and science While private school students have been building it since first grade.

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Anonymous wrote:Michigan.

Nope.

Yes, Michigan.

Michigan isn't going to take a 3.0 OOS student unless they are a recruited athlete.

Stop exaggerating. “B” is anything below 3.6.

Also, a B-average student might have all As in core classes, but Bs in all the rest of the stuff, so the school might recalculate that kid in to an A student for what they care about.