I think GPAs should be standardized

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they should get rid of them. My HS had a program called SWAS School Within a School.

In SWAS you join in ninth grade you make commitment to zero grades and not take SAT or ACT or take even AP classes. It forces colleges to 100 percent holistically review application.

A lot of kids went to IVY league each year

Isn't this why Saint Ann's gets 50--60% of kids into T20? No grades. Holistic report cards leads to holistic college apps.
https://saintannsny.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SchoolProfile24-25.pdf

No, lol. They got in because they are highly hooked.

Not really. A few (URM or donor)....but truly a lot of niche humanities students....that can be a form of hooked. Esp in RD.

Not really. Did you see all the last names at St. Anns?

Not really.

[Anonymous]

My HS way back in 1970s the GPAs was numerical 0-100 with everything graded and no extra points for honors. Even attendence and homework and class participation had grades. And we graded everything. Gym, Drivers Ed, Shop Class, Electives and back then even had mandatory Home Economics and shop class.

And we went out in the digits. People graduated with lets say a 86.13 GPA. So person highest GPA could do it all. I even had a swimming class graded equal weight with Physics.

Today it is not a real GPA. In Moco a 89.51 GPA is an A. In my day 89.51 was 89.51

[Anonymous]

Nah. Now with virtual capabilities, universities can administer whatever subject tests they want to make sure applicants meet their specific admission standards. There is always the possibility of cheating but that's for everything nowadays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I think there should be a national education system. Like in France or Japan or many other countries. We’re all fourth graders are learning the same thing or all 12th graders are learning the same thing, not including extras or electives

The problem is, we don’t have a national education system and we have too much of state rights culture to ever think that that’s important. Also, we want to have control over our local schools and we base the funding on (local) property taxes.

We are a long way off.

We are so much bigger than France or Japan. If California were a country it would be the 38th most populous. That's why each state having its own education system and own university system is not that crazy. More students attend colleges in the state of California than in the entire UK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My HS way back in 1970s the GPAs was numerical 0-100 with everything graded and no extra points for honors. Even attendence and homework and class participation had grades. And we graded everything. Gym, Drivers Ed, Shop Class, Electives and back then even had mandatory Home Economics and shop class.

And we went out in the digits. People graduated with lets say a 86.13 GPA. So person highest GPA could do it all. I even had a swimming class graded equal weight with Physics.

Today it is not a real GPA. In Moco a 89.51 GPA is an A. In my day 89.51 was 89.51

This is how Stuy works. There aren’t 500 valedictorians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GPA is becoming less and less meaningful. I do think moving to a number system would help things.

what's the stats now - something like 40% of grads at a 4.0. pretty shameful for average SAT is like 1150

Not only is there a lack of differentiation with all that inflation, but small missteps early in high school can easily knock a good student out of that top 40%.

Then that's a parental failure. You should have been more on top of it?

What?!?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obvious that GPAs are not standard, and really can't be, but it's fascinating to me that they are still the best predictor of a student's success in college.

Actually, most colleges are saying the SAT is the best predictor.

I thought they only predicted freshman year grades in college. Anyway, my 1130 son is kicking ass in college. He has a 3.7 gpa because he finally no longer needs to take the math courses that tanked his grades. He is a writing tutor in the writing center at his college and has won some awards. I’m thankful that he didn’t need to submit that 1130. My own SAT score back in the Stone Age was 1010. I now have two Master’s degrees. My brother got a 1300+ and failed out of his freshman year. Test scores aren’t everything.

+1. Good for your son!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher bias and favoritism is another issue. A national exam system could avoid the bias and favoritism in grading.

This isn’t India. Thankfully.
- Indian-American mom of 2 in T10

UK, and most of European countries have that national exam.

What makes you think 2 Indians in T10 strengthen your arguments? It does not, the Indian kids in the US can barely compete with Indian immigrant H1B workers. Visit any one of FANNG you will see the majority of SWE there are Indian immigrants.

Depends on the FAANG and the organization but that is a different conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think this is going to fix the problem, which is really different grading standards across all schools, unless you force all teachers across the country to use a standardized rubric, and somehow make them assign grade exactly the same homework, essays, and exams and grade these with the same degree of strictness. In other words, not possible.

Not even across all schools. Within schools you have, say one history teacher who is much more rigorous than another, so someone may get a B+ in the rigorous one when they would have gotten an A in the other class.

[Anonymous]

In NY, you have to take regents exams -they are state-wide finals everyone in the state takes, and then score factors into your final grade for the course. I think it is such a good idea to have that type of standardization. If a kid from a poor old mill town in upstate NY gets a 95 on regents bio, and a kid at Stuyvesant gets a 95 on bio, and a kid at an inner city all black HS gets a 95 on bio- that shows that they are relatively on par with each other academically. They are phasing out the regents exams (for equity) but I think it is such a misstep - other states should be implementing the same instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And I think there should be a national education system. Like in France or Japan or many other countries. We’re all fourth graders are learning the same thing or all 12th graders are learning the same thing, not including extras or electives

The problem is, we don’t have a national education system and we have too much of state rights culture to ever think that that’s important. Also, we want to have control over our local schools and we base the funding on (local) property taxes.

We are a long way off.

We are so much bigger than France or Japan. If California were a country it would be the 38th most populous. That's why each state having its own education system and own university system is not that crazy. More students attend colleges in the state of California than in the entire UK.

Japan has 150+ million people and they manage to do it. It’s a philosophical difference only. Americans like to be able to control their schools at the state and local government level, but that leads to the inconsistency we have today.