is grade deflation really hurting college admissions this year?

[Anonymous]

Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I can say is, if I had known that large star publics (Tennessee, Wisconsin, Indiana) would be off the table without a 4.0 and 1400+, I would never have put them through the torture of their private school. Worst mistake we ever made.

I am not putting my kids theough private schools so they can attend tennessee or wisconsin. Or indiana!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

That’s sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

NCS has a higher percentage of is graduates going to Ivies that either of those schools. Look at the stats. After ivies they have a larger number going in the top 20 in top 30 then either of those schools as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

NCS has a higher percentage of is graduates going to Ivies that either of those schools. Look at the stats. After ivies they have a larger number going in the top 20 in top 30 then either of those schools as well.

You have to remember Sidwell class has 120 or 130 max number of students and NCS averages 85 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

NCS has a higher percentage of is graduates going to Ivies that either of those schools. Look at the stats. After ivies they have a larger number going in the top 20 in top 30 then either of those schools as well.

You have to remember Sidwell class has 120 or 130 max number of students and NCS averages 85 or so.

So you can’t count the number of IV or top 30 garage have to do it by percentage of the great otherwise it means nothing same with STA they only have 76 students in this class this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

NCS has a higher percentage of is graduates going to Ivies that either of those schools. Look at the stats. After ivies they have a larger number going in the top 20 in top 30 then either of those schools as well.

You have to remember Sidwell class has 120 or 130 max number of students and NCS averages 85 or so.

So you can’t count the number of IV or top 30 garage have to do it by percentage of the great otherwise it means nothing same with STA they only have 76 students in this class this year

*Ivy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

NCS has a higher percentage of is graduates going to Ivies that either of those schools. Look at the stats. After ivies they have a larger number going in the top 20 in top 30 then either of those schools as well.

What are NCS parents complaining about then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

Not familiar with Sidwell, but in my experience its not easy to get a 4.0 or anything close to it at GDS either. I would assume Sidwell is similar. GDS seems to gatekeep more than NCS in order to put student in the best position to maximize or improve their GPAs. For all the complaints above about NCS removing APs (they have not), it feels to me (and this is just anecdotal) that more students at NCS take a language AP, multiple science APs and AP Calc, whether it be AB or BC. Those are hard classes and they can torpedo a GPA, and make it harder to do well in the non-AP humanities courses that are quite challenging. At GDS they were very cautious about who they let take those classes, and which they were allowed to take at the same time. Rigor was only worthwhile if you could do well, and if you were not looking to go into a STEM field or Engineering, they really asked you to think long and hard as to whether the risk was worth it. In our experience they did this in a way that left the kids feeling good about themselves and knowing they were being put in a position to be successful and play to their own strengths. Again, this is the sense I had having had kids at both schools, and having had good experiences with both. It is really hard to do well at NCS, but everything feels dire in December, and things do tend to brighten up by Spring. Outcomes in May look very different than in December.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there an issue with grade deflation at Sidwell or GDS?
If not, that further disadvantages NCS when its graduates are compared to graduates of other top DC privates.

NCS has a higher percentage of is graduates going to Ivies that either of those schools. Look at the stats. After ivies they have a larger number going in the top 20 in top 30 then either of those schools as well.

This doesn’t answer my question. Is grade deflation a problem at Sidwell and GDS?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I didn’t read all of the responses but I found it interesting that the two schools my don was deferred at for EA were in-state schools. Neither one is known for a low admissions rate either. I guess his 3.3 just can’t measure up against the high and super high GPAs. Those schools were his safety schools so it’s not a big deal but just surprising.

3.3 is low, for public and private.

It is absolutely not low at NCS. Most of my daughters friends are right around 3.0-3.4

+1 different school. But, the PP's belief that it is is precisely what these kids are up against. They don't fully get that a B in AP Physics C is calculated as a 2.7 (whereas on the public school scale that 2.7 looks like a C-), and missing an A by .2 gets you a 3.3 for that class (whereas in other schools, that likely would have been made an A one way or the other, probably rounded up, but also a 3.3 is a C+ in a AP level course, not a just barely missed an A by the skin of your teeth in a very hard AP class). This is what posters mean by grade inflation/deflation. The exact same performance (not even considering the different standards) get vastly different grades. Not a problem when ADs take actually look at the classes and grading scale and recalculate -- but not all schools do that given the volume of applications they get these days and many use an AI cut.

This is where you are applying heavily to the schools that your counselor says "know your school." But not all schools do, no matter where you go. So you need to follow the counselor's lead and hope you land at a good fit. Also remember that the schools ranked even in the low 100s are excellent and produce leaders. Strong kids can get an excellent education and succeed anywhere.

This is very confusing and I think I'd rather not know this much. I do know that in my kid's AP calculus BC class there were NO As (of any variety) given in the first quarter and quite a few Cs. 🤪 (announced by the teacher) The tests have gotten harder and grades have gone down.

It is ridiculous that in a Calculus BC class there are no A’s. Only students who are good at math are taking BC. Everyone else is taking Calculus AB or stats or just going up to pre-calculus. What this teacher hs doing us ruining the chances of students in this class not getting accepted into STEM majors because it is assumed that stem majors should be getting an A calculus BC . It’s the reason why calculus BC has one if the highest rates of students getting a 5 on the AP test- over 40% of test takers get a 5.

Yes, it's frustrating. My kid just got a perfect math PSAT but there has not been a student who has scored above an 89 on an exam in this class. And of course there are no retakes. And my kid came from a highly public and had received course grades in the high 90s there (final grads of 98%, etc)

Have you asked the admin about it? Really by calculus BC 50- 75% of students should be getting A’s on tests if the class is being taught well. I would ask the school for more information because it is a very poor reflection on the math program at that school if no one is getting an A. Of course it is most likely that teacher but the school probably won’t admit that.

Some private schools have very difficult upper level math. These kids will score 5s on the AP but barely eke out an A or B+ in the class. The teachers just wrote unreasonable exams. It’s a very dumb way to test knowledge but it is what it is.

So none of you have discussed this with US admin? This has been the situation for years. What exactly do you think will change if you aren’t willing to address it?

What makes you think it hasn’t been discussed? The schools back their teachers.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure I understand OP’s complaint. NCS students do well in college admissions.
Harvard has grade inflation and I don’t see anyone ever complaining about that. Columbia and Cornell have grade deflation.
It is what it is. You know the deal when you accept a spot at any of these schools. No one is forcing your child to go to NCS.
It is known to be a tough slog. Or are you saying that public school kids should get less spots at top schools which is ridiculous since 50% or more students at Ivys already come from private schools. Private schools are over represented in the ivys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a public school HS teacher and I resent how everyone on this thread acts like public school teachers give out As like candy.
Many of us don’t do that. I teach Honors and AP level classes and presently I have only 2 kids in my AP class who have an A. My honors classes have about 3 As per 30 students (in each section). Many students have Cs. I don’t doubt that NCS is much harder and stricter with grading. But the top kids at public also have to work very hard. Middling students less so (compared with private school students).
One of my own kids is at private school (less rigorous than NCS).

It's great that you grade appropriately but many districts inflate. There are routinely 100+ valedictorians at my other child's high school (all kids with perfect grades for 4 years).

Also, they are talking about how the schools scale the grades, not just the grades being given. When the same score/letter grade at school A is assigned a GPA of a 2.7 while at another it is a 3.3, what else would you call it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a public school HS teacher and I resent how everyone on this thread acts like public school teachers give out As like candy.
Many of us don’t do that. I teach Honors and AP level classes and presently I have only 2 kids in my AP class who have an A. My honors classes have about 3 As per 30 students (in each section). Many students have Cs. I don’t doubt that NCS is much harder and stricter with grading. But the top kids at public also have to work very hard. Middling students less so (compared with private school students).
One of my own kids is at private school (less rigorous than NCS).

It's great that you grade appropriately but many districts inflate. There are routinely 100+ valedictorians at my other child's high school (all kids with perfect grades for 4 years).

Also, they are talking about how the schools scale the grades, not just the grades being given. When the same score/letter grade at school A is assigned a GPA of a 2.7 while at another it is a 3.3, what else would you call it?

My point stands. It always some other kids school that inflates the grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only rule about grade inflation is that it’s happening at every school but your own kid’s.

What on earth else do you call it when over 50% of a graduating class has above a 4.0 and there are literally hundreds of valedictorians? I’m asking seriously. Do you think that is NOT grade inflation somehow? What else could it be?

Which school?