Dedham (Framingham, Waltham, Plymouth: condos, hotel, transfer)

[robr2]

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.

As others noted, there may be reasons for applying to those schools - location, offerings, anticipated aid.

My daughter has a friend whose parents insisted they apply only to state schools that were within commuting range due to cost. The cost was full boat and if they had applied to private schools, they could have spent similar money for a more "name" degree.

[msRB311]

There's always a chance she could get a scholarship to a school like Wellesley, smith, Amherst, Colby, bowdoin, bates etc. i hope she's at least trying for some schools like that. She's a great kid who hasn't had the best family life. She is loved but I just wonder if the parents know what they're doing. It's hard to intervene in situations like this.

[msRB311]

So since so many parents these days share was little Johnny or Janies gpa is I've started taking note. I noticed a parent on Facebook saying their kid has a 4.2 gpa, got some sporting awards, etc. they live in nh and the kid is going to stonehill

Stonehill is a great school but back in the day someone with a 4.2 went to an Ivy, Stanford or BC.

I just can't help but feel like things with academia are getting worse. I have kids and i guess I don't see the need for my kids to break their backs and go above and beyond to get a 4.2 to go to stonehill. I know average B students who went to stonehill and partied every weekend. What is happening?

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by msRB311

So since so many parents these days share was little Johnny or Janies gpa is I've started taking note. I noticed a parent on Facebook saying their kid has a 4.2 gpa, got some sporting awards, etc. they live in nh and the kid is going to stonehill

Stonehill is a great school but back in the day someone with a 4.2 went to an Ivy, Stanford or BC.

I just can't help but feel like things with academia are getting worse. I have kids and i guess I don't see the need for my kids to break their backs and go above and beyond to get a 4.2 to go to stonehill. I know average B students who went to stonehill and partied every weekend. What is happening?

This is way off topic, but if someone has high grades and is going to a nonselective college, that typically suggests poor to middling standardized tests scores or a lack of academic ambition on the part of the student. An alternative explanation is that well-qualified students can get significant merit-based financial aid at less selective schools.

[CaseyB]

It's usually the money and or desire to stick closer to home.

[msRB311]

Well there seems to be a lot of kids out there with gpas over 4.0. Maybe that's part of the problem

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Well there seems to be a lot of kids out there with gpas over 4.0. Maybe that's part of the problem

To really distinguish yourself in college admissions today you need a much more well rounded application than simply having good grades/high GPA provides. I hear it all the time from my wife who's in the college admissions industry.

[msRB311]

I guess a GPA over 4.0 doesn't mean much these days. These poor kids.

[id77]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

This is way off topic, but if someone has high grades and is going to a nonselective college, that typically suggests poor to middling standardized tests scores or a lack of academic ambition on the part of the student. An alternative explanation is that well-qualified students can get significant merit-based financial aid at less selective schools.

IME it's always been money. Kids born to non-wealthy parents can do well and will get accepted to the prestigious universities, but unless they're so over the top good that they also get a full-ride scholarship, they're going to pack off to a cheaper or less-selective place that offers them that scholarship or is priced such they can afford it. Stretching for that prestige with student loans is a loser 9 times out of 10, as where one goes to uni rarely impacts job prospects after school but the debt it saddles them with lasts for decades if not most of their working years.

K-12 grades on the whole are a joke, with the standardized tests also laughable though to a lesser degree. Smart kids can get a 4.0 and good SAT/ACT scores with bad/no study habits and average kids can get a 4.0 and good SAT/ACT scores with good study habits. Smart kids with good study habits are lost in the noise. Something more is needed to figure out who's who.

[msRB311]

I think a lot of parents are dead set on not paying full price for college particularly if they have multiple kids. That often means a less impressive school.