Evaluating GPA, high school reputation

I have found that colleges do indeed recognize the stronger high schools around the country just as they recognize certain states as having better educational systems

Yes, school reputation is a factor. Jefferson High in Fairfax County, VA is a great example. How much of a factor depends on the school. That said, higher grades are always better regardless of the school, and 3.0 is a common point of demarcation for lots of things.

BUT a 2.8 at a tougher more respected academic school may be equal to a 3 plus GPA at a weaker academic school--

We were recently asked to put together a profile for the team my son will play with this summer. We were not sure how to list his GPA.

Our school district bases GPA on a 4.3 scale. When listing his GPA, do we just post his as 3.9 or should we state that it is 3.9 on a 4.3 scale? Does it matter?

Do other schools do GPA this way?

Thanks

3.9/4.3 is how you list that GPA. You should use his un-wieghted GPA. The High School academic reputation and strength of your son's academic schedule matter a lot. The higher you shoot in the academic world, the more it matters. The easier it is for the coach to get you through admissions the better your off-speed pitches start to look.

In the end your standardized test scores (SAT/ACT) will level the playing field and be the trump card as far as admissions are concerned. As for how to reference your GPA I would suggest the student's average score (e.g. 92, 89, etc. vs 3.9, 2.8, etc)

Hoping I can ride the shirttail of this thread and ask a similar question in terms of how to list gpa or should I even include a qualifier...my son, has been taking all high school honors classes available to him since 8th grade...the school's gpa system is a 4.0 system, but A's in an honor class actually give you (I think) a 5 in the system, B's a 4 and so on...so, his actual current GPA as a sophmore is 4.2 (in a 4.0 system)...do I list it as 4.2 - honors student or do I say anything about the honors classes and colleges, etc. will understand? Just curious. May not even matter...I'm very proud of him...have always told him that your baseball skills are good, but the academics will open MANY more doors for him (even in baseball).

scdigger - congrats on your son's success in the classroom and on the baseball field. my understanding is your son will submit your overall gpa as 4.2 (4.0 scale) and then seperate gpa determined by your core classes on a college application. you will also give colleges your transcipt during the recruiting process, and then an updated transcript during application for addmission. giving a coach a copy of your transcript is usually one of the first steps in the baseball recruiting process. they usually want to know what kind of student he is from the "get-go". some schools will be more interested in grades than others. i agree with you that everything starts with the classroom. we recently went through the recruiting/admission process, and it is a long road. best of luck and send me a pm if you have a specific question.

The admissions department at colleges know about the relative strengths and grading scales of the different high schools. Both of my kids are now through the college application process and in both cases, the colleges they applied to recalculate the GPAs to get them onto a common scale. So if your grades are out of a 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 or out of 100, never fear, the schools will figure it out.

As for the coaches, our experience was that they are using GPA as a screen. To quote a UCSD coach, the first thing I look at is can they play? If I think they can, the next thing is can they do the work? For that, they are basically looking for a yes no answer - and if there is a doubt, they will work with admissions to get an answer. Just list your GPA as it is shown on your report card under cumulative e.g. 4.2/4.0 W. My son always did his weighted and no one ever cared about that. Just put a W after the GPA.

Good advice from the other posters. When you list it as 4.2 the coaches in the area (SC) will know what it means. If they need more detailed info they will let you know. In SC the first thing they will be trying to figure out is how much lottery money he will qualify for. They will therefore want to know class rank and SAT score.

You are definitely right about grades and SAT's opening doors. I've seen many kids in this area blow opportunities because of grades and SAT scores. Just recentlly there were two area kids that "decommitted" from the schools that they had originally signed NLI's with because of inadequate SAT scores.

Have him take the SAT early, and several times. You might even consider one of the prep courses, but that depends on the kid. Some do just as well studying a prep book as they do sitting through a course.

Sounds like you've already figured out the proper approach. Shoot for as much academic money as possible first. Whatever athletic money you get is just gravy.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions about SC schools. I've been through it all fairly recently and would be happy to share anything I've learned.

quote:

Originally posted by scdigger:
Hoping I can ride the shirttail of this thread and ask a similar question in terms of how to list gpa or should I even include a qualifier...my son, has been taking all high school honors classes available to him since 8th grade...the school's gpa system is a 4.0 system, but A's in an honor class actually give you (I think) a 5 in the system, B's a 4 and so on...so, his actual current GPA as a sophmore is 4.2 (in a 4.0 system)...do I list it as 4.2 - honors student or do I say anything about the honors classes and colleges, etc. will understand? Just curious. May not even matter...I'm very proud of him...have always told him that your baseball skills are good, but the academics will open MANY more doors for him (even in baseball).

When my son was in high school his senior class had 41% of the kids (214 kids in senior class) score 29+ or their ACT. You can bet the farm that the higher academic institutions know about his school.

There are several State and Private academic scholarships that do not take into account the caliber of the High School.

My older boy got a 31 on his ACT and had a 3.8/4 GPA.
His GPA did not put him in the top 25% of his class, which was just under 400 kids!

He did get some academic money, but not nearly as much had he been in the top 25%.

A team mate got a 27 ACT and a 3.3 GPA and got twice as much because he was in the top 25% at his High School, which does not have near the academic reputation.

Doesn't seem fair, but that's the way it is!

Some schools give automatic money based on plain vanilla GPA. These schools may be trying to boost there stats for ratings purposes or create a discount for a segment of kids. However, grade inflation is looked on VERY negatively in college admissions. A kid with a 3.8 GPA that is in the second quartile of his class reflects poorly on the competitiveness of the HS. This is why many HS are not releasing class ranks anymore. Too many kids with too high a GPA. That HS rep may not be what you think it is. It should be noted that strength of schedule is often viewed more critically than GPA.

quote:

Originally posted by leftyshortstop:
Some schools give automatic money based on plain vanilla GPA. These schools may be trying to boost there stats for ratings purposes or create a discount for a segment of kids. However, grade inflation is looked on VERY negatively in college admissions. A kid with a 3.8 GPA that is in the second quartile of his class reflects poorly on the competitiveness of the HS. This is why many HS are not releasing class ranks anymore. Too many kids with too high a GPA. That HS rep may not be what you think it is. It should be noted that strength of schedule is often viewed more critically than GPA.

Definitely not true in this case, my friend!
Our High School has a very high Asian and Indian enrollment.(There are 2 major hospitals in the district and another one nearby)
We had 2 kids from this class get perfect ACT's and another a perfect SAT.
96% of the students attend college.
The top 10 in the class attended:
1 MIT, 2 Stanford, 4 Washington University, 1 George Washington, 1 Harvard and 1 to some University in China.

My Son graduated in 3 1/2 years from college, so we did reap some benefit, but still, the caliber of the High School did negatively affect the scholarship money available.

Also, I was wrong on the class size. I said it was just under 400. It was actually 297. My Son was tied for #82.

The high school that my daughter attends changed their grade scale from 93=A, 85=B, 77=C, & 70=D to 90=A, 80=B, 75=C, and 70=D. The reason for the change is they felt that the kids were at a disadvantage against other kids when trying to get into the nations best colleges & univesities. I was told by her guidance department that the private institutions look at the high school academic reputation but the top public institutions only look at GPA and ACT/SAT scores. Some admissions departments now do not require any type of ACT/SAT score. I ask the members of this forum if this is only a select few colleges or is this the wave of the furture.

Our High School is going the other direction!

An "A" in Honors classes is now worth 4.75 instead of 5, and a "B" is worth 3.75, etc.

It still is A 92-100, B 83-91 C 75-83