High ACT but gpa in low 3s

jajji said:
Hack to what degree. OP's kid made a near perfect score. For the ACT only the top 1% or so test takers make a near perfect score. If it was such an easy hack, then it would be larger than 1%. On the other hand, what's the % of kids who have high GPAs? Some high schools have so many valedictorians that it's diluted the meaning of it.

2 million people take the ACT, only <1% get a near perfect or perfect score. that's 20,000 kids. Most colleges would be lucky to have his kid.  He should not go to a CC. If he ends up there because of a GPA game, that's sad.
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With rampart grade inflation, then there is no reason why this kid shouldn't have a higher GPA.  I'm guessing bright but probably a slacker.

A community college might be just what this kid needs... a kick in the pants to work harder.

Heading straight into a UC with a poor work ethic, this kid will get crushed by the competition.
 
WTTCHMN said:
jajji said:
Hack to what degree. OP's kid made a near perfect score. For the ACT only the top 1% or so test takers make a near perfect score. If it was such an easy hack, then it would be larger than 1%. On the other hand, what's the % of kids who have high GPAs? Some high schools have so many valedictorians that it's diluted the meaning of it.

2 million people take the ACT, only <1% get a near perfect or perfect score. that's 20,000 kids. Most colleges would be lucky to have his kid.  He should not go to a CC. If he ends up there because of a GPA game, that's sad.
Click to expand...

With rampart grade inflation, then there is no reason why this kid shouldn't have a higher GPA.  I'm guessing bright but probably a slacker.

A community college might be just what this kid needs... a kick in the pants to work harder.

Heading straight into a UC with a poor work ethic, this kid will get crushed by the competition.
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Hey college is not for everyone. Maybe go to trade school or something.
 
WTTCHMN said:
jajji said:
Hack to what degree. OP's kid made a near perfect score. For the ACT only the top 1% or so test takers make a near perfect score. If it was such an easy hack, then it would be larger than 1%. On the other hand, what's the % of kids who have high GPAs? Some high schools have so many valedictorians that it's diluted the meaning of it.

2 million people take the ACT, only <1% get a near perfect or perfect score. that's 20,000 kids. Most colleges would be lucky to have his kid.  He should not go to a CC. If he ends up there because of a GPA game, that's sad.
Click to expand...

With rampart grade inflation, then there is no reason why this kid shouldn't have a higher GPA.  I'm guessing bright but probably a slacker.

A community college might be just what this kid needs... a kick in the pants to work harder.

Heading straight into a UC with a poor work ethic, this kid will get crushed by the competition.
Click to expand...

exactly what happened to me. I had a lowish gpa, decent SAT, went to a low end UC, got crushed lol
 
In my experience it's been much more important to major in something with solid earning potential/stable job opportunities (computer science, engineering, nursing) than it is to go to an elite university. As an example, I work with people who went to UCI and people who went to Cal Poly Pomona...one school is "better" (harder to get into/more prestigious) than the other but that has no impact on the quality of my coworkers or their career growth/opportunities.

I don't think a school with a low acceptance rate and a fancy name actually helps as much as people think it does.
 
OCtoSV said:
UC definitely seems to be a reach, though the top Bay area high schools generally get a lot more slots than LA/OC schools simply because there are more of them in the top 50.
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Are you saying the top Bay area HS's vs the TOP So. Cal. HS's?  It doesn't sound like you're comparing apples to apples here.  It sounds like you're saying the UC schools allocate a disproportional share of spots to Bay Area students. 
 
paydawg said:
OCtoSV said:
UC definitely seems to be a reach, though the top Bay area high schools generally get a lot more slots than LA/OC schools simply because there are more of them in the top 50.
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Are you saying the top Bay area HS's vs the TOP So. Cal. HS's?  It doesn't sound like you're comparing apples to apples here.  It sounds like you're saying the UC schools allocate a disproportional share of spots to Bay Area students.
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It's all a numbers game and has nothing to do with Nor Cal vs. So Cal.

As much as you'd like to think Irvine kids are so great, it's nothing compared to the caliber of kids coming out of the Bay Area.

In 2017, Uni had 32 National Merit Semi-Finalists, a respectable number for sure.

But Mission San Jose had 91 Semi-Finalists in a single class of 500 kids.  So that's 18% of the class that scored in the 99th percentile on the PSAT.
 
WTTCHMN said:
paydawg said:
OCtoSV said:
UC definitely seems to be a reach, though the top Bay area high schools generally get a lot more slots than LA/OC schools simply because there are more of them in the top 50.
Click to expand...

Are you saying the top Bay area HS's vs the TOP So. Cal. HS's?  It doesn't sound like you're comparing apples to apples here.  It sounds like you're saying the UC schools allocate a disproportional share of spots to Bay Area students.
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It's all a numbers game and has nothing to do with Nor Cal vs. So Cal.

As much as you'd like to think Irvine kids are so great, it's nothing compared to the caliber of kids coming out of the Bay Area.

In 2017, Uni had 32 National Merit Semi-Finalists, a respectable number for sure.

But Mission San Jose had 91 Semi-Finalists in a single class of 500 kids.  So that's 18% of the class that scored in the 99th percentile on the PSAT.
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https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/admissions-source-school

You can actually see all the numbers here.  Using WTTCHMN's two school examples - threw in Northwood for good measure.

Overall UC system:  Mission San Jose (447 applied, 375 admitted); Uni (404 applied, 285 admitted); Northwood (372/276)
UC Berkeley: MSJ (344/63); Uni (279/40); Northwood (232/39)
UCLA: MSJ (370/46); Uni (312/37); Northwood (290/39)

MSJ has ~500 graduates, Uni has 500ish, Northwood 500ish graduates.
 
Not a slam on Irvine schools at all - that's where I would be living if I moved back to OC and still had school age kids. The quality of Bay area public high schools is broad and deep with many charters as well. It's also super liberal so bond measures pass pretty easily. For my $900K assessed valuation my property tax bill is over $12K without any Mello-Roos, so schools are very well funded and parent support groups raise millions of $$ across many districts.

Great UC site. My kids high school shows systemwide 314 applied, 232 admitted. Cal was 212/34; UCLA 249/29; UCSB 248/79
 
Looking at an ultra competitive Bay area school like Saratoga HS (Saratoga RE starts at $2.5M) - Cal 168/38; UCLA UCLA 196/28
 
Interesting stats. Don't see a HUGE difference between some of these high schools and their acceptance rate to UCB and UCLA. Included Fairmont as a private HS comparison.

Berkeley:
MSJ 18%
Uni 14%
NW 16%
Saratoga 22%
Whitney 23%
Fairmont 12%

UCLA:
MSJ 12%
Uni 11%
NW 13%
Saratoga 14%
Whitney 11%
Fairmont 7%

Go figure, IVC beats some of these HS. 22% for UCLA, 19% for UCB.
 
Maserson said:
Interesting stats. Don't see a HUGE difference between comparing some of these high schools and their acceptance rate to UCB and UCLA. Included Fairmont as a private HS comparison.

Berkeley:
MSJ 18%
Uni 14%
NW 16%
Saratoga 22%
Whitney 23%
Fairmont 12%

UCLA:
MSJ 12%
Uni 11%
NW 13%
Saratoga 14%
Whitney 11%
Fairmont 7%

Go figure, IVC beats some of these HS. 22% for UCLA, 19% for UCB.
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Also not much difference when comparing non-Irvine HS like Foothill (30% Cal/20% UCLA), Tustin (18%/7%), El Toro (15%/15%), Tesoro (18%/10%), San Juan Hills (13%/10%). 
 
nosuchreality said:
JIMHO, the more interesting stat is enrolled especially for HS.
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Same.  But UC apps are due so early (end of Nov) and that's before kids hear back from early decision and early action schools.  Wonder how much of that factors into the yield.
 
morekaos said:
On topic...

Grades vs. SAT scores: Which is a better predictor of college success?
[url]https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-22/grades-vs-sat-scores-which-is-a-better-predictor-of-college-success[/url]
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You can take prep courses for tests like the SAT/ACT and score materially higher than without taking those prep courses or just be a naturally good test taker while to go good grades in school it takes long-term focus and work ethic.  Just like the article seems to prove, as along as the test scores are around average a student with a high GPA will be basically do as well as the student that got good/great test scores along with the high GPA.
 
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