I’m currently a sophomore at Thomas S. Wootton High School, which is one of the public schools in Montgomery County. According to the U.S. News rankings, my high school has a national rank of 65 and a state rank of 2. It’s actually ranked a little higher than Stuyvesant High School, which has a national rank of 69. I’ve seen several threads on here talking about Stuyvesant and how highly respected it is, but I’ve never seen any threads talking about Wootton. Is my high school highly respected? If it is, would it be as highly respected as a school like Stuyvesant to admissions committees?
My cumulative unweighted GPA, which includes middle school grades, is 3.82 (out of 4.0). If I were to exclude middle school grades, it would be 3.87 (out of 4.0). I’ve received three B’s since the start of high school, which were all from English. Ever since the start of sophomore year, I’ve been trying to improve my grade in English. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make the A for first semester but still came really close. I plan on getting straight A’s in all of my classes including English from this point on. However, in the case that I do continue to get B’s in English, would it still matter for college admissions if I intend on majoring in either computer science or engineering? Also, is my high school known for grade inflation/deflation?
Tomorrow, walk into your guidance counselor’s office and ask these kinds of questions. That person is the one who is in the best position to tell you about Wooton’s reputation with colleges and universities because he/she has access to all of the data about who from Wooton applied to and was admitted (or rejected) by various colleges and universities. This is something that all the high schools in Montgomery County track very, very closely.
High school reputation doesn’t matter and any downfalls (only X amount of APs) won’t be held against you. The quality of your GPA, test scores, letters of rec, EC’s, and essays are what matter. I’m sure it’ll be fine and it won’t be like scoff this kid went to ____ (BTW, for future reference don’t divulge so much personal information)
You exclude middle school grades for your GPA so you’re a 3.87. That isn’t bad if your school is supposed to be very good. It’s good you’re working to improve in English and that B might affect your SAT/ACT score later on but it won’t be a dealbreaker if you’re a CS or engineering major. If you decline, it’s a problem but if you maintain B’s in English or manage to go up, you’ll be fine. Definitely take AP Computer Science sometime.
About the inflation/deflation thing, that’s something you would have to ask your GC.
What do you mean by the quality of my GPA? Are you saying that a 4.0 at the top high school in the country would be valued the same as a school known for easy grades?
@kreefx: I live in th DC area, Wootton is an excellent high school, and admissions organizations are almost certain to know that in-depth (possibly better than you do). However, nothing is more important than YOUR grades, curricular rigor, and standardized test results.
I believe @TheDidactic means much what I do by “curricular rigor.” To illustrate, a 3.85 at Wootton – including ALL the most difficult and challenging courses – may actually be viewed as a superior admissions qualification in comparison to a 4.00 that is partially based several/many “fluff” courses. He’ll tell us if I have erred.
Wootton is an outstanding public high school - but not a magnet school like Richard Montgomery or Blair. So you will be facing a lot of academically talented competition when you apply to college. Cast your net beyond the Ivies and the local favorites when you start looking. There are many excellent schools that just don’t get on the local radar, though employers and grad schools know and respect them. Meanwhile, do the STARs program, and some internships or research - there are lots of option in the DC metro area - and figure out what you love. Luckily, you have the option of the outstanding Gemstone program at UMD as an in-state student and lots of other good possibilities besides. A few Bs in English isn’t going to keep you from achieving your personal and professional objectives even if there are no guarantees about being admitted to highly selective College X or Uni Y.
Thank you for all the advice. I am actually part of AOIT, which is the other signature program besides STARS that my school offers. By the end of high school, I will have taken four technology classes as well as having completed a NAF internship. Do you think that being in this program would be highly beneficial if I were to apply to Stanford or other schools known for computer science? Also, three of my technology classes aren’t offered at the honors or AP level. Would taking these classes be viewed as what @TopTier said to be “fluff” classes? Or would they realize that those courses were required for the signature program and were only offered on the normal level.
You kinda answered your own question near the beginning of your post. I’lll concur with another poster in that you should your counselor if your school’s name adds context to your gpa
Be careful when posting your stats and activities online. We already know your high school and even a few specific details could give away your identity to your peers and to adcoms. Just be careful with what you say now that your anonymity had been compromised.
If what you love is tech, and you are taking classes in that area that give you opportunities to test your interests and grow your skills, then they are absolutely not fluff, even if they aren’t at the honors or AP level. (I’m sure you will have plenty of those too - Wootton is an AP machine.) AOIT is a newer program than Stars, so I’d forgotten it - but I think it’s a great opportunity, especially the internship. Will it get you into Stanford? Look at Naviance for Wootton. I think the competition in the area for admission to Stanford is so extreme that you are probably better off not making it the target. By all means apply - but recognize it as a super-reach. Meanwhile, there are many outstanding schools that will get you where you want to go (and many of them with little or no debt. UMD has a highly regarded engineering program, for example. Once you have your junior year GPA, SATs scores, and financial picture worked out (talk to your parents now about what they can afford and what they expect), and you’ve had some time to think about what you want from your college experience, come back to CC and we can suggest a few schools to check out.
One of the great things about attending a rigorous school like Wootton is that college level courses will be exactly what you are used to. Same amount of work. Same high expectations. It’s not the tough transition that so many others have to make from schools where the As were easy and the demands were minimal.
Are you really sure you want to associate the name of your high school with your account? If I were you, I would make a new college confidential account. There aren’t many people who will have your exact stats from your high school. Don’t make it that easy to identify you.
