Do You Know How Your Teen’s GPA Plays a Role in College Admissions?

For many high school students, the college application process can be overwhelming, especially regarding GPA and course selection. As a parent, it's essential to support your child through this process and ensure they make the right choices to succeed in the college admissions process.

First and foremost, it's important to understand that the transcript is the most critical aspect of your child's college application. While standardized testing, extracurricular activities, essays, and recommendations all matter, nothing matters more than a student's transcript. Colleges want to see how well your child has done over three or four years. Therefore, you must help your teen to understand it's time to focus on maintaining a high GPA.

In today's video, we're going to discuss GPA and college applications. Click on the image below to watch. 

It's worth noting not all high schools calculate GPAs or have class rankings. In these cases, colleges may recalculate GPA based on their evaluation criteria. Therefore, it's essential to understand the GPA requirements of the colleges your child is applying to and ensure that they meet or exceed them.

Your teen needs to select appropriate AP courses. Please don't allow them to bite off more than they can chew. They should be judicious in considering how much time they can allot to study for advanced placement courses. Taking a bunch of AP courses without performing well in them will not impress colleges. Colleges want to see that your child is challenging themselves and taking rigorous classes that the high school offers. However, it is important to remember that advanced placement scores between 4 and 5 do not necessarily factor into college admissions. Students must be prudent and choose challenging courses that do not overwhelm them.

Just recently, a family that we worked with several years ago re-enrolled their second child into our program. Mom clearly did not want her daughter to take as many exhaustive AP courses as child #1. She admitted I was right when I warned her of the perils of overextending and adding too many courses. Whether it's for the betterment of mental health or simply a matter of not having enough hours in the day, we do not want students doing so much work and still not getting into what they deem to be a "good" college. We can help you and your child to find great colleges despite their GPA.

It's vital to check the admissions requirements of the colleges your child is applying to, especially regarding math and foreign language courses. Some colleges require specific courses; having them on the transcript could help your child's chances of acceptance.

The college application process can be stressful for parents and students. The GPA is only one piece of the puzzle in the college admissions process. By understanding the importance of GPA and course selection, you can support your child and help them succeed with their college application and admissions processes.

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