First quarter grades

[Anonymous]

Additional evidence of widespread grade inflation, strengthening the argument for standardized testing reclaiming its rightful place at the center of admissions decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, DD pulled plug on her ED choice that requires mid-semester grades after poor performance on early test. Will apply EA elsewhere and RD to first choice school.

DS did the opposite. He was applying EA and switched to ED hoping first quarter grades won't hurt him

Right, but his ED school seems not to require the first quarter grades. DD’s desired ED choice does, hence the one poor test grade having an outsize impact on. She is a 4.0 uw student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Additional evidence of widespread grade inflation, strengthening the argument for standardized testing reclaiming its rightful place at the center of admissions decisions.

+2 Students have come to rely on retakes to increase all grades to As. Some schools even allow retakes on Bs. Some schools only allow retakes if below an 80. My DC and friends purposely do poorly (put incorrect answers) on the first test to get below an 80, then retake to get a high A. This way they see the test and questions asked and adjust their studying to crush it the second time around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Additional evidence of widespread grade inflation, strengthening the argument for standardized testing reclaiming its rightful place at the center of admissions decisions.

+2 Students have come to rely on retakes to increase all grades to As. Some schools even allow retakes on Bs. Some schools only allow retakes if below an 80. My DC and friends purposely do poorly (put incorrect answers) on the first test to get below an 80, then retake to get a high A. This way they see the test and questions asked and adjust their studying to crush it the second time around.

that absolutely is cheating. shame on them, and on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's just insane. My kids' private schools have first quarter grades in several classes that cover ONE assignment.

Some teachers are being incredibly gentle with seniors grading, some are like "I don't give a crap, I'm grading like I always do" (which is: "you can get your grad up by semester's end--once you have more assessments and the midterm")

I hope admissions people know this. These grades are totally random and mean next to nothing in many cases.

Agreed. And very much also hope the colleges understand that quarter grades are not very meaningful.

They don't. Please don't ask us how we know, it is too painful to relive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, DD pulled plug on her ED choice that requires mid-semester grades after poor performance on early test. Will apply EA elsewhere and RD to first choice school.

DS had to do same (couldn't pull it up in time for ED bc they had a substitute for a long time and no additional grading). Rejected in RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Additional evidence of widespread grade inflation, strengthening the argument for standardized testing reclaiming its rightful place at the center of admissions decisions.

+2 Students have come to rely on retakes to increase all grades to As. Some schools even allow retakes on Bs. Some schools only allow retakes if below an 80. My DC and friends purposely do poorly (put incorrect answers) on the first test to get below an 80, then retake to get a high A. This way they see the test and questions asked and adjust their studying to crush it the second time around.

I mean, this is true for students in schools that allow this. The bad news is those kids are applying with a whole cohort of 4.0s

Our NYC private has no retakes, the GPA average is about 3.7 and a 3.9 kid has a good shot at HYP etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Additional evidence of widespread grade inflation, strengthening the argument for standardized testing reclaiming its rightful place at the center of admissions decisions.

+2 Students have come to rely on retakes to increase all grades to As. Some schools even allow retakes on Bs. Some schools only allow retakes if below an 80. My DC and friends purposely do poorly (put incorrect answers) on the first test to get below an 80, then retake to get a high A. This way they see the test and questions asked and adjust their studying to crush it the second time around.

that absolutely is cheating. shame on them, and on you.

How do you think the kids are all getting 4.0uw GPAs? They are literally ALL doing this. Purposely scoring below an 80 and retaking with no penalty. They didn’t create this system, the school did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Additional evidence of widespread grade inflation, strengthening the argument for standardized testing reclaiming its rightful place at the center of admissions decisions.

+2 Students have come to rely on retakes to increase all grades to As. Some schools even allow retakes on Bs. Some schools only allow retakes if below an 80. My DC and friends purposely do poorly (put incorrect answers) on the first test to get below an 80, then retake to get a high A. This way they see the test and questions asked and adjust their studying to crush it the second time around.

that absolutely is cheating. shame on them, and on you.

How do you think the kids are all getting 4.0uw GPAs? They are literally ALL doing this. Purposely scoring below an 80 and retaking with no penalty. They didn’t create this system, the school did.

In an ideal world where what matters is you know, learning stuff, this is great. Learn something, take a practice test, get feedback on it, do better next time.

My kid has learning disabilities and he uses the retake option a lot, even though he does study and try. And he still doesn’t get a great grade second time around. I don’t actually begrudge the 4.0 students doing the same - they get great grades, my kid gets okay grades, and they both have the same opportunity.

I realize if you have a kid who can get an A without studying, or one who is super conscientious and so is going to study hard the first time and thinks everyone else should too it can be galling. From my vantage point (kid has to study twice as hard as others just to get a mediocre grade) it is a little mystifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Additional evidence of widespread grade inflation, strengthening the argument for standardized testing reclaiming its rightful place at the center of admissions decisions.

+2 Students have come to rely on retakes to increase all grades to As. Some schools even allow retakes on Bs. Some schools only allow retakes if below an 80. My DC and friends purposely do poorly (put incorrect answers) on the first test to get below an 80, then retake to get a high A. This way they see the test and questions asked and adjust their studying to crush it the second time around.

that absolutely is cheating. shame on them, and on you.

How do you think the kids are all getting 4.0uw GPAs? They are literally ALL doing this. Purposely scoring below an 80 and retaking with no penalty. They didn’t create this system, the school did.

In our school district, you can only retake if you get less than a 70, and then the retake, the maximum score you can get is a 70. It prevents a 50 from completely ruining your grade. Your system sounds crazy and very manipulative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Additional evidence of widespread grade inflation, strengthening the argument for standardized testing reclaiming its rightful place at the center of admissions decisions.

+2 Students have come to rely on retakes to increase all grades to As. Some schools even allow retakes on Bs. Some schools only allow retakes if below an 80. My DC and friends purposely do poorly (put incorrect answers) on the first test to get below an 80, then retake to get a high A. This way they see the test and questions asked and adjust their studying to crush it the second time around.

that absolutely is cheating. shame on them, and on you.

How do you think the kids are all getting 4.0uw GPAs? They are literally ALL doing this. Purposely scoring below an 80 and retaking with no penalty. They didn’t create this system, the school did.

It's not happening in my kids school, in any subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's just insane. My kids' private schools have first quarter grades in several classes that cover ONE assignment.

Some teachers are being incredibly gentle with seniors grading, some are like "I don't give a crap, I'm grading like I always do" (which is: "you can get your grad up by semester's end--once you have more assessments and the midterm")

I hope admissions people know this. These grades are totally random and mean next to nothing in many cases.

Agreed. And very much also hope the colleges understand that quarter grades are not very meaningful.

They don't. Please don't ask us how we know, it is too painful to relive.

What were the quarter grades?