Dedham (Plymouth, Amherst, Wellesley: student loans, private school, universities)

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I've kind of given up in figuring what school is best to send kids to. My friends daughter goes to Mansfield high and has a 4.9 GPA. She is in AP courses with that kind of GPA, attends school in MA which is supposedly has better public schools most other states. The colleges she's applying to are like St Anselm's and Plymouth state. If those are the schools people with 4.9 GPAs end up going to then I don't know what to say anymore.

I'm confused by your statement because a 4.0 GPA is the highest GPA possible.

Also, when colleges look at a student's file they don't just look at the grades the student achieved. They also look at how rigorous the education is at that school. For example, a 4.0 at Lexington High in MA is going to be looked at much differently than a 4.0 at Fayetteville High East in Fayetteville, AR. The 4.0 in Lexington will be considered a much higher achievement.

Generally speaking, college admissions are FAR more competitive than they have been in the past. Someone who might have gotten into Harvard 10 or 20 years ago would never get in today most likely.

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I've kind of given up in figuring what school is best to send kids to. My friends daughter goes to Mansfield high and has a 4.9 GPA. She is in AP courses with that kind of GPA, attends school in MA which is supposedly has better public schools most other states. The colleges she's applying to are like St Anselm's and Plymouth state. If those are the schools people with 4.9 GPAs end up going to then I don't know what to say anymore.

Are those her safety schools? I imagine there are other reasons, not that I can fathom what they are but I’m not familiar with either school.

[msRB311]

Apparently when you take AP courses you can get as high as a 4.9

I'm not sure if they were safety schools. Usually people don't list safety to others when they are saying where they're applying. It was her grandmother telling me.

I think the family wants a significant amount of aid and she wants to stay close by...so those might be factors.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Apparently when you take AP courses you can get as high as a 4.9

I'm not sure if they were safety schools. Usually people don't list safety to others when they are saying where they're applying. It was her grandmother telling me.

I think the family wants a significant amount of aid and she wants to stay close by...so those might be factors.

I don't know what she's planning on majoring in but if it is nursing, St.A's is a solid nursing school. Also, they have the NHIOP (New Hampshire Institute of Politics which historically has hosted a lot of presidential candidates. Also, it is a location where CNN and other news stations usually broadcast from during election season) if she's majoring in political science.

[msRB311]

Right I'm not saying there's anything wrong with either of those schools. I would just think someone with a 4.9 gpa would be applying to more competitive places. But I guess these days everyone in the world applies to those places.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Right I'm not saying there's anything wrong with either of those schools. I would just think someone with a 4.9 gpa would be applying to more competitive places. But I guess these days everyone in the world applies to those places.

You don't need a degree from Harvard to carve out a great career!

[msRB311]

I get that. But if you have a 4.9 gpa you should have some highly competitive schools to apply for

[simplexsimon]

Someone smart and hard working enough to have almost straight A’s in all honors/AP since freshman year should be able to get scholarship money from a number of schools. I really hope she is able to get paid to go somewhere where her peer group is as successful as she is if money is an issue.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I'm confused by your statement because a 4.0 GPA is the highest GPA possible.

Also, when colleges look at a student's file they don't just look at the grades the student achieved. They also look at how rigorous the education is at that school. For example, a 4.0 at Lexington High in MA is going to be looked at much differently than a 4.0 at Fayetteville High East in Fayetteville, AR. The 4.0 in Lexington will be considered a much higher achievement.

Generally speaking, college admissions are FAR more competitive than they have been in the past. Someone who might have gotten into Harvard 10 or 20 years ago would never get in today most likely.

That's why they look at course load and weighted GPAs.

The bolded comment has no authority outside the Greater Boston Area.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Apparently when you take AP courses you can get as high as a 4.9

I'm not sure if they were safety schools. Usually people don't list safety to others when they are saying where they're applying. It was her grandmother telling me.

I think the family wants a significant amount of aid and she wants to stay close by...so those might be factors.

My Valedictorian in FL achieved a 5.667 (You can look up articles on Orange County Public Schools in FL and see there are even higher GPAs).

Dual Enrollment Courses were:
6.0 - A
5.0 - B
4.0 - C
2.0 - D
0.0 - E

AP were:
5.0 - A
4.0 - B
3.0 - C
2.0 - D
0.0 - E

Reg/Honors were:
4/0 - A
3.0 - B
2.0 - C
1.0 - D
0.0 - E

You were automatically placed in 'Honors' courses at my HS in Orlando and could toggle an AP for more rigorous load (Which a lot of people did, I was an average student and took 9 AP Courses) or even go do Dual Enrollment for free. Heres one article of a neighboring HS to show im not talking out of my a** : https://www.orangeobserver.com/artic...for-next-steps

I spec ifically remember someone who was like rank #25 (Still in top 3%, though) get into UNC Chapel Hill, Dartmouth, BU, Irvine and Brown. My cusin who went to Brookline HS a few years prior did not even get into BU or Brandeis with similar class structures. And Brookline is well known.