What Does a College Admissions Consultant in Medfield Actually Do?
A college admissions consultant in Medfield starts from a weighting rule that is simpler than most and has a consequence most families miss. Medfield High School provides two GPA profiles, weighted and unweighted, on a 4.0 scale, and the weighted figure adds a fixed 0.8 for every full year course taken at the Honors or AP level and 0.4 for every semester course. Because the bonus is the same for Honors and AP, the weighted GPA measures how many courses were above College Prep, not how many were AP, and a reader learns the AP count from the course titles. The profile also requires every AP student to sit the May exam, so every AP on the transcript has a score behind it. The consultant’s first job is to plan a schedule that reaches AP in the core subjects by junior year and to choose AP courses where a 4 or 5 is realistic. At Montrose, St. Sebastian’s, Dana Hall, and Roxbury Latin, the schools Medfield families most often weigh, the rules differ in ways that change the plan.
Our guides to how the high school profile shapes college admissions and whether your high school matters for college admissions explain the reading a selective college performs; this page applies it to the Medfield schools. Our Westwood page and Hopkinton page cover the neighboring towns.
How Do Selective Colleges Read a Medfield High School Transcript?
| Medfield High School (School Profile 2023-2024 and DESE) | What the Sources State |
|---|---|
| Enrollment | Profile: 703 students, 185 in the Class of 2024; DESE 2025-26: 713 students, 174 in grade 12 |
| Grading scale | A+ 97 to 100, A 93 to 96, A- 90 to 92, B+ 87 to 89, B 83 to 86, B- 80 to 82, C+ 77 to 79, C 73 to 76, C- 70 to 72, D+ 67 to 69, D 63 to 66, D- 60 to 62, F below 60 |
| GPA | Two GPA profiles, weighted and unweighted, calculated at the end of each semester on a 4.0 scale; the weighted GPA adds 0.8 for each full year Honors or AP course and 0.4 for each semester Honors or AP course; pass fail, skill development, and special program courses are excluded |
| Class rank | The 2023-2024 profile contains no statement on rank or deciles |
| AP courses | 18: Art History, Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Science, European History, French, Macroeconomics, Physics 2, Psychology, Spanish, Statistics, Studio Art, US Government and Politics, US History |
| AP access | No cap printed; students are expected to take the AP examination in May to fulfill the course expectations |
| AP results | Profile, 2023: 542 exams by 278 students, 78 percent at 3 or higher, 20 percent scoring 5; DESE 2024-25: 485 exams, 92.2 percent at 3 to 5, with 151 scores of 5 |
| SAT and ACT | Profile, Class of 2023: SAT mean 1213 (Reading and Writing 608, Math 605), ACT composite 27; DESE 2024-25: 202 students tested, means 606 and 608 |
| Outcomes | Profile, Class of 2023: 93.3 percent four year college, 2.6 percent two year, 2.6 percent gap year; DESE 2024-25: 59.4 percent four year private, 29.7 percent four year public |
| Matriculation | Profile, Class of 2023 top schools: UMass Amherst 19, Fairfield 7, Northeastern 7, MassBay 5, Providence 5, URI 5, Bryant 4, College of Charleston 4, Elon 4, Indiana 4, UConn 4, UNH 4 |
Three things drive the Medfield reading. First, the flat bonus. A student with straight A grades across five full year Honors courses and a student with the same grades across five AP courses both show a weighted GPA of 4.8, so the weighted figure alone cannot tell a reader how rigorous the schedule was, and the course titles do that work. Second, the exam requirement. Every AP student sits the May exam, and the state figures describe the whole AP cohort: 485 exams in 2024-25 with 92.2 percent at 3 or higher and 151 fives, a sharp rise from 78 percent in 2023. A reader who sees an AP course on a Medfield transcript expects a score to follow. Third, the scale of the school. With about 175 seniors, a single class produces a handful of applicants to any given selective college, and the profile’s own top schools list for the Class of 2023 is led by UMass Amherst at 19 with Northeastern and Fairfield at 7; no Ivy League college appears on it. A Medfield applicant to a highly selective college is unusual within the school, which the counselor letter can say.
How Do Medfield Area Independent School Transcripts Differ?
| School | Published Policy | Advanced Coursework | Matriculation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montrose School (Catholic tradition, girls, grades 6 to 12, Medfield; 244 students and 35 seniors per NCES 2023-24) | No school profile is published; grading, GPA, and rank policy are not public | 17 AP courses including Calculus BC, Physics 1, Chemistry, Computer Science A, European History, and Comparative Politics; average section of 12; counselor caseload 1 to 15 | Class of 2026 list of more than 100 institutions without counts, including Brown, Cornell, Duke, Northwestern, Penn, Notre Dame, Boston College, Tufts, Williams, and Berkeley; the page does not state whether the list is acceptances or matriculation; 100 percent to four year colleges |
| St. Sebastian’s School (Catholic, boys, grades 7 to 12, Needham; 390 students, 65 in the Class of 2026) | The profile prints no grading scale, GPA rule, rank policy, or test scores | 20 AP courses; all AP students must take the AP exam; 100 percent to four year colleges | Five year website list: Holy Cross 28, Boston College 24, Providence 16, Villanova 16, Georgetown 15, Harvard 12, Colby 11, Trinity 9, Tufts 7, Brown 5, Michigan 5, Virginia 5, Dartmouth 4, Duke 4, Princeton 3, Amherst 3, Cornell 2, Penn 2, Yale 1 |
| Dana Hall School (girls, grades 5 to 12, day and boarding, Wellesley; 320 upper school students, 31 percent boarding) | No GPA rule or rank policy printed; A+ grades introduced in fall 2024 and not applied retroactively; the school has decided not to include SAT or ACT scores on its profile | 18 AP and 10 Honors courses; students are limited in the number of AP and Honors courses they may take, with no numeric limit printed | Classes of 2022 to 2026: NYU 13, Northeastern 13, Tulane 11, Boston University 10, Colby 10, George Washington 10, Syracuse 10, Michigan 9, Cornell 8, Bucknell 7, Santa Clara 7, Tufts 6, Wake Forest 6, Brown 5, Bates 5, Boston College 5, Emory 5, Yale 2, MIT 2, Dartmouth 2, Penn 1, Columbia 1 |
| The Roxbury Latin School (boys, grades 7 to 12, West Roxbury; 308 students) | 9 point scale with one quality point added for Honors, Advanced, and accelerated courses; highest weighted GPA in the Class of 2025 was 9.33; no rank | No AP courses since 2023-24; juniors and seniors may take no more than five major courses per semester; Class of 2025 SAT middle 50 percent 650 to 770 and 640 to 790; 100 percent to four year colleges | Classes of 2021 to 2026: Harvard 29, Tufts 19, Brown 18, Georgetown 18, Dartmouth 12, Boston College 11, UMass Amherst 10, Trinity 8, Colby 7, Holy Cross 7, Yale 7, Cornell 6, Wake Forest 5, Chicago 4, Penn 4, MIT 3, Princeton 3 |
Montrose is the independent school in Medfield itself, and its public data is a course count, a class size, and a single year college list without counts, so a family considering it should ask the college guidance office for the profile that colleges receive. St. Sebastian’s and Roxbury Latin are the two boys schools Medfield families most often weigh, and they sit at opposite ends of the AP question: St. Sebastian’s keeps 20 AP courses with a mandatory exam, while Roxbury Latin dropped AP altogether and caps upper school students at five major courses, so a reader judges a Roxbury Latin transcript by which five courses rather than how many. Dana Hall limits AP and Honors enrollment without printing the number and withholds test scores by policy, so a Dana Hall transcript with several AP courses reads as near the school’s ceiling.
Where Do Medfield Graduates Enroll?
- Medfield High School, Class of 2023 (profile top schools list): UMass Amherst 19, Fairfield 7, Northeastern 7, MassBay 5, Providence 5, URI 5, Bryant 4, College of Charleston 4, Elon 4, Indiana 4, UConn 4, UNH 4. The list covers one class and top destinations only; a full multi year list is not published. DESE 2024-25: 59.4 percent four year private, 29.7 percent four year public.
- St. Sebastian’s, five years: Holy Cross 28, Boston College 24, Providence 16, Villanova 16, Georgetown 15, Harvard 12, Colby 11, Trinity 9, Tufts 7, Fordham 6, Middlebury 6, Northeastern 6, Notre Dame 6, Wake Forest 6, Brown 5, Bucknell 5, Clemson 5, Fairfield 5, Michigan 5, Virginia 5, Dartmouth 4, Duke 4, Indiana 4, Syracuse 4, Wisconsin 4, Princeton 3, Amherst 3, Vanderbilt 3, Cornell 2, Penn 2, Yale 1.
- Dana Hall, Classes of 2022 to 2026 (five years): NYU 13, Northeastern 13, Tulane 11, Boston University 10, Colby 10, George Washington 10, Syracuse 10, Michigan 9, Cornell 8, Bucknell 7, Santa Clara 7, American 6, Providence 6, Tufts 6, UC San Diego 6, Wake Forest 6, Bates 5, Boston College 5, Brown 5, Elon 5, Emory 5, Richmond 5, Skidmore 5, Trinity 5, Villanova 5, Northwestern 4, Smith 4, Yale 2, MIT 2, Dartmouth 2, Amherst 2, Penn 1, Columbia 1.
- Roxbury Latin, Classes of 2021 to 2026 (six years): Harvard 29, Tufts 19, Brown 18, Georgetown 18, Dartmouth 12, Boston College 11, UMass Amherst 10, Trinity 8, Colby 7, Holy Cross 7, Yale 7, Cornell 6, Wake Forest 5, Chicago 4, Northeastern 4, Penn 4, Tulane 4, MIT 3, Princeton 3, Vanderbilt 3, Emory 3, NYU 3.
The four lists describe four different pipelines. Roxbury Latin, from classes of about 50, places roughly a quarter of each class at Harvard, Brown, Georgetown, Dartmouth, or Yale; St. Sebastian’s sends a Catholic college core to Holy Cross, Boston College, Providence, and Villanova with a Harvard and Georgetown top; Dana Hall is broad and mid selective with Ivy level placements in low single digits; Medfield High School’s only published list is dominated by UMass Amherst and the regional privates. A Medfield family should read the list that matches the school the student attends, and for Medfield High School should ask the guidance office for the current multi year data, since the profile prints one year of top schools only.
What Does the Data Mean for a Medfield Family Targeting Selective Colleges?
First, at Medfield High School the flat 0.8 bonus means a reader cannot tell Honors from AP in the weighted GPA, so the schedule should reach AP in the core subjects by junior year and the transcript should make that visible. Second, the mandatory exam turns every AP course into a scored course, so AP choices should favor subjects where the student can earn a 4 or 5; the school’s 2024-25 results, 151 fives across 485 exams, show that is common. Third, the school is small and its published destinations are regional, so a student targeting a highly selective college is likely to be one of a few in the class doing so, which makes the counselor letter, the essays, and one sustained activity with a measurable result the parts of the file that separate it.
Fourth, at St. Sebastian’s, Dana Hall, and Roxbury Latin the reader translates school specific labels through the profile, and at Roxbury Latin the five course cap means rigor is judged by selection rather than volume. Fifth, the pipelines are specific: Holy Cross, Boston College, Providence, Villanova, and Georgetown from St. Sebastian’s; NYU, Northeastern, Tulane, and Colby from Dana Hall; Harvard, Tufts, Brown, and Georgetown from Roxbury Latin. A list built with those patterns in view is more realistic than one built from national rankings alone.
What Should Medfield Families Do in Each Grade?
| Grade | Medfield High School | Montrose, St. Sebastian’s, Dana Hall, and Roxbury Latin |
|---|---|---|
| 9th | Honors placement where offered, since every Honors or AP full year course adds the same 0.8 and the early placements gate the later AP sequences; start one activity worth four years | Placement decisions; at Montrose and Dana Hall ask the college counseling office for the profile colleges receive |
| 10th | First AP where prerequisites allow, with the May exam planned from the start; PSAT 10 baseline | First advanced placements; at Dana Hall understand the AP and Honors limit; at Roxbury Latin the Honors and Advanced designations that carry the quality point |
| 11th | AP in the core subjects with exams planned for 4s and 5s; the junior schedule and grades carry the most weight; SAT or ACT in spring against the 606 and 608 state means | Peak rigor year within each school’s cap; at Roxbury Latin the five major course limit; SAT or ACT in spring |
| 12th | Peak AP load; college list built with the guidance office’s current multi year matriculation data in hand | College list built with the five year pipeline in view; senior fall grades matter for early applications |
When Should a Medfield Family Bring in a College Admissions Consultant?
The Honors placements that gate the AP sequences at Medfield High School are made from 9th grade onward, and the choice among the public school, Montrose, and the Needham, Wellesley, and West Roxbury independent schools is made earlier still, so families weighing those decisions benefit from a plan built early. Families whose student is already positioned well most often need the application year: a list built from the school’s own data rather than from rankings, essays that separate the file, and interview preparation. Our guides to whether you need a college admissions consultant, when to hire one, and what to expect from a first consultation set out the decision.
How Does Oriel Admissions Work With Medfield Families?
Oriel Admissions is based in Princeton with a New York presence and works as a college admissions consultant for Medfield families and for families nationwide, in person and remotely. Every engagement starts with the student’s own school profile, so a Medfield High School plan is built around the flat 0.8 bonus, the mandatory AP exam, and the small class, and a St. Sebastian’s, Dana Hall, Montrose, or Roxbury Latin plan around the school’s own course labels and its pipeline. Our team develops strategy, positioning, activities, essays, and interviews as one coherent whole. Our guide to choosing a college consultant in Boston explains how to evaluate any consultant, including us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Every student receives a weighted and an unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, calculated at the end of each semester. The weighted GPA adds 0.8 for each full year course and 0.4 for each semester course taken at the Honors or AP level, so Honors and AP carry identical weight and colleges distinguish them by course title.
The 2023-2024 profile, the most recent edition readable for this page, contains no statement about class rank or deciles. Families should confirm the current policy with the guidance office, since the 2025-2026 profile could not be opened.
Yes. The profile states that students are expected to take the Advanced Placement examination in May to fulfill the course expectations. Because the whole AP cohort tests, the state figures describe every AP student: 485 exams in 2024-25 with 92.2 percent scoring 3 or higher and 151 scores of 5.
The 2023-2024 profile reports a Class of 2023 SAT mean of 1213 (Reading and Writing 608, Math 605) and an ACT composite of 27. DESE reports that 202 students posted 2024-25 means of 606 and 608. A selective college compares an applicant to its own middle 50 percent, not to the school mean.
The profile prints a Class of 2023 top schools list only: UMass Amherst 19, Fairfield 7, Northeastern 7, MassBay 5, Providence 5, URI 5, and 4 each at Bryant, College of Charleston, Elon, Indiana, UConn, and UNH. DESE reports 59.4 percent of 2024-25 graduates at four year private colleges and 29.7 percent at four year public colleges.
No profile is linked from the academics or college guidance pages. The school states that it offers 17 AP courses in sections averaging 12 students, that 100 percent of graduates attend four year colleges, and that the Class of 2026 was admitted to more than 100 institutions including Brown, Cornell, Duke, Northwestern, Penn, and Notre Dame. NCES reports 244 students in grades 6 to 12 and 35 seniors.
Not any longer. The profile states that 2023-2024 was the last year AP courses were offered. The school grades on a 9 point scale, adds one quality point for Honors, Advanced, and accelerated courses, does not rank, and limits juniors and seniors to five major courses per semester. Across the Classes of 2021 to 2026 it placed 29 graduates at Harvard, 18 each at Brown and Georgetown, and 12 at Dartmouth.
No. Oriel Admissions is based in Princeton with a New York presence and advises families nationwide, in person where practical and remotely otherwise. This page exists because the Medfield schools use grading and reporting conventions that change how a plan should be built, not because the service is regional.
Sources: Medfield High School Profile 2023-2024, Medfield High School Guidance, College Information, Massachusetts DESE, Medfield High School, Massachusetts DESE SAT report, Medfield High School, Montrose School Academics, Montrose School College Guidance, NCES Private School Survey, Montrose School, St. Sebastian’s School Profile 2026-27, St. Sebastian’s School Matriculation, Dana Hall School Profile 2025-26, Dana Hall Five Year Matriculation List 2022-2026, Roxbury Latin School Profile 2025-2026, Roxbury Latin College Matriculation.
About Oriel Admissions
Oriel Admissions is a Princeton-based college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy. Our team brings deep expertise across every dimension of the application, and our distinctive 360 approach develops strategy, positioning, activities, essays, and interviews as one coherent whole. To discuss your family’s admissions strategy, schedule a consultation.
