Parents of DCPS HS graduates - were your kids prepared for college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PPs are missing the forest for the trees in this argument. J-R doesn't suck. What happens at J-R is that top sophomores and juniors aren't strongly encouraged or prepped to take the PSAT, although good scholarship money rides on a top score. By contrast, in the burbs, top students are generally pushed to compete for NM scholarship monies. Same at some of the top privates, not so much for the scholarships but to burnish college applications. The PSAT problem at J-R is yet another manifestation of the age-old DCPS problem of not pushing talented kids to aim high in college admissions as a general rule. The job is left to families in DCPS.

FYI:
I have high schoolers at STA and NCS and the schools don't offer the 9th grade PSAT and only about 25% of the class takes the 10th grade PSAT (it's administrated on a Saturday and it's not really advertised plus the time conflicts with any kid playing sports so almost no one signs up). There is surprisingly almost no focus on PSAT testing (I was honestly surprised).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PPs are missing the forest for the trees in this argument. J-R doesn't suck. What happens at J-R is that top sophomores and juniors aren't strongly encouraged or prepped to take the PSAT, although good scholarship money rides on a top score. By contrast, in the burbs, top students are generally pushed to compete for NM scholarship monies. Same at some of the top privates, not so much for the scholarships but to burnish college applications. The PSAT problem at J-R is yet another manifestation of the age-old DCPS problem of not pushing talented kids to aim high in college admissions as a general rule. The job is left to families in DCPS.

FYI:
I have high schoolers at STA and NCS and the schools don't offer the 9th grade PSAT and only about 25% of the class takes the 10th grade PSAT (it's administrated on a Saturday and it's not really advertised plus the time conflicts with any kid playing sports so almost no one signs up). There is surprisingly almost no focus on PSAT testing (I was honestly surprised).

I should add that everyone takes the 11th grade PSAT but my kids' friends at JR and the Catholics all took the 9th and 10th grade tests as practice.

[Anonymous]

There was more of a push for kids to take the PSAT at J-R pre Honors for All. My two kids are very spread out in age. The eldest had a much better experience academically at Wilson than the youngest is having at J-R. Both of my children took 7 or 8 AP exams and scored all 4s and 5s (mainly 5s).

[Anonymous]

The emphasis placed on high test scores has dropped nearly everywhere since the summary judgment motions and trial in the SFFA v Harvard case revealed how much more important “hooks” are than test scores in elite college admissions (2019), and the UCs went test blind (2021).

[Anonymous]

Covid is half the reason. Taking SATs and APs was so difficult during the pandemic that schools gave up and didn't bother to reinstate them. Some colleges are returning to requiring test scores, like MIT.