Does anyone have experience with a poor class rank but high test scores and above average GPA? My son's GPA is 3.89, 33 on ACT, 1470 on SAT but is ranked in the bottom half of his class. As you can probably guess, his high school is incredibly high performing and ranked nationally as a top 100 school. How much will this class rank hurt his application?
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Pima
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They will do a school profile. This will include the number of APs offered, how many students (%) that take APs. Pre-reqs required to take AP/Honors (curriculum rigor). They will also ask the GC to submit the breakdown for students that have graduated regarding post-HS education. Percentage of students that go Ivy vs 4 yr public/private vs 2 yr vs workforce. Hence, if 35% go Ivy, 45% go 4 yr, 20% 2 yr and 0 to workforce they than see that this school does not hand out As like Christmas presents. However, if the school has 0% go Ivy, 25% go 4 yr, 50% 2 yr and 25% workforce with that exact same gpa than it looks more like they do hand out A like presents.
I don't know what state you are from, but one thing to understand is the nom system. If your area is competitive than it could be an issue from a slate aspect.
I don't know what state you are from, but one thing to understand is the nom system. If your area is competitive than it could be an issue from a slate aspect.
Thanks for the replies. The school definitely has a good number of Ivy students and I would guess that the majority of the graduating class goes 4-yr after graduation so the school profile will be good. Plus they offer a lot of APs (which my son loaded up on, I think he has taken a total of 9 AP classes).
As for nom, that makes me nervous as well. I don't know how competitive the state is for that but he is at the best school in the state (KY) and I think/hope that the MOCs all know about the school. One of them is even an alum! We'll see if it helps ;-)
As for nom, that makes me nervous as well. I don't know how competitive the state is for that but he is at the best school in the state (KY) and I think/hope that the MOCs all know about the school. One of them is even an alum! We'll see if it helps ;-)
Christcorp
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This is one of those situations where we mention why the "Class Profile" is so important. If you're sitting there with basically a 3.9 gpa; and you're ranked in the bottom 50% of your class; what does that say???
It says that MORE than 50% of the class has an "A". That their GPA is HIGHER than 3.9. For most schools, that would not be a good thing. That means either the curriculum is very easy; or teachers are teaching students how to pass the tests and not learning material. There is no way that a traditional school can have more than half of the students receiving an "A" in their gpa unless there is very LOW QUALITY of education. Mind you, I said "Traditional School". There are some situations where the school is made up entirely of brainiacs.
Again; this is why class profile, act/sat, etc. are all taken into consideration.
It says that MORE than 50% of the class has an "A". That their GPA is HIGHER than 3.9. For most schools, that would not be a good thing. That means either the curriculum is very easy; or teachers are teaching students how to pass the tests and not learning material. There is no way that a traditional school can have more than half of the students receiving an "A" in their gpa unless there is very LOW QUALITY of education. Mind you, I said "Traditional School". There are some situations where the school is made up entirely of brainiacs.
Again; this is why class profile, act/sat, etc. are all taken into consideration.
The school is made up entirely of brainiacs LOL. It's a public magnet school that is application/merit based to get in so the school basically hand picks the best students in the district. It is definitely NOT low quality. It's actually really impressive what the kids from the school do.
Another related question...does USAFA use AP test scores as a consideration? We were advised by USMA to send the scores as they do evaluate them but I can't seem to find anything for Air Force.
Another related question...does USAFA use AP test scores as a consideration? We were advised by USMA to send the scores as they do evaluate them but I can't seem to find anything for Air Force.
Pima
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In VA, we have a school called TJ (www.tjhsst.edu) , it is a magnet where you must test to get accepted into the school. I am assuming it is like TJ. The median SAT is @1400 best sitting compared to the county avg in the high 1200s. USAFA will take this into consideration.
Our DS was an oddball in many ways regarding his path. He was the rare bird where his cgpa actually popped up higher with USAFA bc of the school profile.
PAR is a large portion of the WCS, but WCS = Whole Candidate. Where is he standing with his ECs and CFA?
Our DS was an oddball in many ways regarding his path. He was the rare bird where his cgpa actually popped up higher with USAFA bc of the school profile.
PAR is a large portion of the WCS, but WCS = Whole Candidate. Where is he standing with his ECs and CFA?
He is ddoing his official CFA next week but he has been working on it for some time and has been able to hit at least the averages in each event. He is a varsity athlete in two sports, on the school's state and national winning chess team, served as captain in one sport, has volunteer work with being a project coordinator...pretty typical SA resume ;-)
I just looked at his portal and the school required forms were available to look at so I downloaded the school profile and it says 97% of graduating seniors attend 4-yr, 2% attend 2-yr. Average ACT is 28 (state -wide is only 21), SAT is 1332. Tons of info on National Merit finalists, schoalrships awarded, extensive list of awards, AP classes with pass rate (80%) etc (interesting note...they had 1 SA appointment in 2018, I believe it was to USMA). I think it shows the rigor of the school.
I guess we just cross our fingers and hope for the best!
I just looked at his portal and the school required forms were available to look at so I downloaded the school profile and it says 97% of graduating seniors attend 4-yr, 2% attend 2-yr. Average ACT is 28 (state -wide is only 21), SAT is 1332. Tons of info on National Merit finalists, schoalrships awarded, extensive list of awards, AP classes with pass rate (80%) etc (interesting note...they had 1 SA appointment in 2018, I believe it was to USMA). I think it shows the rigor of the school.
I guess we just cross our fingers and hope for the best!