<p>The fact that 30% going to Ivies relates back to the quality of schools. A 3.6 wgpa is lower than the avg, however, it is most likely overlooked by the high quality of the school, and CT does not fall in the NJ/NY pile. A student that has a lower gpa, but a large % that goes IVY is added into the equation. Every transcript includes an overview of the school’s course curriculum. For example, if you attend TJ in VA, and get a 3.2 wgpa, you will most likely be accepted because TJ has for yrs been ranked as the number 1 hs in the nation. It is a magnet and reknown in the NoVA area for their course curriculum, you must apply to attend this public school. </p>
<p>They look at both you the student, and your hs. You can be the valedictorian at a school deemed lower or less competitive and not get scholars/gemstone/honors while the kid who ranked top 25% got honors. It is the whole picture.</p>
<p>Also, remember weighted scores vary greatly, for some schools an AP course could be worth 4.5, for others it could be 5.0, thus the weight will change. I.E. a 90 on a a 4.5 w is 4.05, a 90 on a 5.0 is a 4.5. That is a huge weight difference. Now add in 9 APs and jump start, you are talking a world. Also, some schools have an A on a 7 point scale and some on a 10. In NC jumpstart had a weight of 4.5, the same as honors, even though you were taking college courses, whereas, the AP course of western art had a weight of 5.0. The irony was to be able to attend jumpstart, you had to have principal approval, and for AP western art anyone could take it with no pre-req, same with human geneography. The point is the “better” academic student actually was hurt by attending courses at college when it came to a wgpa. That is why schools will re-weight to put all of the students on the same playing field for their admission purposes.</p>
<p>I recall back in 06-07 on the hard copy of DS’s SAT, it showed what his gpa was according to the 5 schools he sent to, they varied wildly from 3.43 to 3.75, however, his hs stated his w was 4.13 or .17 (can’t remember). It was located at the very bottom. It also showed the % you fell into for the avg student at that school. I don’t know if that has changed because with DD we did on line only, but for those who got a paper score, maybe you can look and see if it still exists and share with us.</p>