is grade deflation really hurting college admissions this year?

[Anonymous]

My kid goes to a Big3 school with significant grade deflation. It appears that the kids are not doing well at all with college admits this year. Maybe 5 kids total got EDs so far?
I know multiple kids who were deferred or rejected at University A or B when their peers at less competitive privates and publics were admitted to University A or B.
These are really smart and hard working kids but the school is such that only 1/12 kids in some classes are granted an A.
Is the grade deflation catching up? I just wonder what admissions really thinks when all the applicants from our school have GPAs under 3.8, many quite a bit under.

Am I just worrying too soon in the admissions season or have you noticed this too?
I have an underclassman.

[Anonymous]

This is certainly something very widely discussed.
TO and Covid grade inflation at many schools has turned everything on its head.
We will have to wait until RD but you are not the only one noticing this.
At another private school we are familiar with, the school recalibrated the grades so that what was a B+ is now an A to keep in line with other schools which grade more easily.
Time will tell I guess

[Anonymous]

I think it actually helps.

[Anonymous]

Opinions differ on this. However, in my DC’s experience, TO has made the low GPAs at Big3 schools a huge liability especially if you are applying to big public universities. Obviously, if your kid is at the top 1/3 of the class it doesn’t matter. My kid is in the bottom 1/2. So ACT comes in average for DC’s school (33 ACT), but GPA is 3.0-3.2 range. Being deferred and rejected at schools they would have gotten into three years ago. Colleges 100% care about high GPAs and AP/honors class more than ever before, which is something Dc’s school doesn’t offer. Yes, the admissions office gets a form explaining how rigorous the classes are, etc., but not sure it matters. ACT and SAT score just isn’t as important. Yes, we are nervous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is certainly something very widely discussed.
TO and Covid grade inflation at many schools has turned everything on its head.
We will have to wait until RD but you are not the only one noticing this.
At another private school we are familiar with, the school recalibrated the grades so that what was a B+ is now an A to keep in line with other schools which grade more easily.
Time will tell I guess

Which school is this? Is it one of the big3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Opinions differ on this. However, in my DC’s experience, TO has made the low GPAs at Big3 schools a huge liability especially if you are applying to big public universities. Obviously, if your kid is at the top 1/3 of the class it doesn’t matter. My kid is in the bottom 1/2. So ACT comes in average for DC’s school (33 ACT), but GPA is 3.0-3.2 range. Being deferred and rejected at schools they would have gotten into three years ago. Colleges 100% care about high GPAs and AP/honors class more than ever before, which is something Dc’s school doesn’t offer. Yes, the admissions office gets a form explaining how rigorous the classes are, etc., but not sure it matters. ACT and SAT score just isn’t as important. Yes, we are nervous.

OP here. I'm not seeing this matter. Kids in the top 1/3 aren't getting in either. Their 3.7 or 3.8 is getting continually passed over for kids with a 3.95 from less rigorous DMV privates or a 4.5 from publics.
I'm actually pretty nervous about this because I'm not sure the school is even aware.

[Anonymous]

MY colleague's son with "high GPA" (her opinion) and lots of extracurriculars at TJ did not get into UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a Big3 school with significant grade deflation. It appears that the kids are not doing well at all with college admits this year. Maybe 5 kids total got EDs so far?
I know multiple kids who were deferred or rejected at University A or B when their peers at less competitive privates and publics were admitted to University A or B.
These are really smart and hard working kids but the school is such that only 1/12 kids in some classes are granted an A.
Is the grade deflation catching up? I just wonder what admissions really thinks when all the applicants from our school have GPAs under 3.8, many quite a bit under.

Am I just worrying too soon in the admissions season or have you noticed this too?
I have an underclassman.

you suspect or you know?

[Anonymous]

Every year with this! Yes, parents complained about this pre-COVID and pre-TO. Yes, the schools are aware.

Yes, it’s just a terrible, terrible thing that some other student will take what is so rightfully your child’s spot at Whatever U. After all, your child went to a Big 3. Don’t AOs know this??

[Anonymous]

After ten years of looking at this, I don't think big state schools really care enough to really be "aware" of this. 3.7 is a great gpa at the DMV top privates but it still looks shabby compared to the number of 4.3+ floating around from public schools. And there is nothing wrong with the way publics grade - it is just different. But sometimes its just easier to rely on the fact that 4.3 is higher than 3.7.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the pp, sorry that sending your kid to a Big3 isn't a golden ticket into whatever school they want. So sad!

[Anonymous]

I think "how dare you not recognize our school" attitude is funny. As PP said, "oh, this year is so difficult, so different" has been going on since the 90s. It just feels different when it's your kid's turn to bat.

[Anonymous]

Each college will only take so many students from each school, public or private but if your child is at a school with a graduating class of 100 vs. 500, they are going to take fewer kids. Plus, most off the kids at privates are all competing for the same colleges.

[Anonymous]

My kids are at a competitive private in California with grade deflation. For context, over 1/3rd of the class at the public school DC would have attended have over a 4.0, and they do not restrict access to AP classes so kids routinely take 8-12 AP classes, while honors courses are gatekept at the private. My kids GPAs are markedly lower than their friends at the public HS (they went to public elementary/middle so know a lot of kids). The highest GPA mathematically possible at my kids HS is 4.2 while at our local public it is 4.9.

From my not-scientific observation of what I’ve seen over the past couple of years, I have concluded is that it is a mixed bag. I think grade deflation hurts kids applying to big public schools that don’t consider test scores. If your child’s dream school is UCLA or Cal, grade deflating private high schools aren’t going to help. At the competitive private schools near us, I’ve heard that UC applications are sharply down because why write four new essays for a separate application if you only have a chance at admission to UC Riverside? However, the flip side of that is that grade deflation seems to actually help significantly at private universities, particularly Ivies, SLACs, and other competitive schools. Those AdComs seem to have a good understanding of what schools grade inflate, and it hurts the kids from those schools.

Last year, what I saw, very generally speaking, was that the local public school had better admissions for the UCs and other big state schools and the private with grade deflation had better admissions for the Ivies and other private universities, of course relative to size. I think it’s too early to tell what will happen this year because the UCs aren’t out. Also, the strike may have hurt interest in the UCs because kids know a bunch of kids who didn’t have classes after October.

[Anonymous]

The Big 3 have been telling parents for the last 10 or so years that they have less and less pull with AOs. This is not the 1990s people, where sending your kid to a Big 3 meant it gave them a solid leg up in T10 admissions. TO has just complicated things more.

A lot of Big 3 parents are Genx and younger boomers (and immigrant parents) who despite being told these things by the school and other parents just refuse to believe it, because when our kids started in K, we didn't see this trend coming. I do think most of us have gotten this message, but, there are still some holdouts.

All schools send a profile along with the transcript so AOs know what a 3.7 at Sidwell vs. a 3.7 from an MCPS high school means. Admissions is just harder, too many kids, too few spots in top schools (and top schools are building a class that isn't going to pull as many kids from elite private schools).