Our college counselors work closely with colleagues in college admission offices to give background and context to Catlin Gabel students’ experiences. In addition to meeting and speaking regularly with college admission representatives, the school publishes a School Profile that is included with each transcript. This document gives context for each student’s record. College application readers evaluate applicants from hundreds of different schools from across the globe, and understand the unique education that schools like Catlin Gabel offer students. They also judge applicants based on the opportunities available to them, so they do not expect our students to be part of a curriculum that is not offered here. In addition, students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement (AP) exams at Catlin Gabel if they wish, and to report their scores to colleges. In spring 2021, 68 students took 106 exams. 73% earned a score of 4 or 5.
A transcript including course titles and traditional letter grades (A-F) that college admission committees are familiar with is translated from the narrative reports and submitted to colleges. While we do not report weighted or unweighted grade point average (GPA) to colleges, college application readers are familiar with this practice and it encourages them to read our transcripts deeply; in fact, many colleges recalculate grade point average even if it is reported. We believe, and our students’ college admission results support, that our grade reporting practice is given full consideration in the application process.