You are clearly out of touch with what is happening in MCPS schools, including those schools with high farms rates. |
Says you. Which says nothing. |
NP here. Be careful what you consider elite. Many state schools are extremely competitive, and with grade inflation and a high volume of high GPAs from each school, standardized tests may be important to help separate out applicants. Many kids have essentially the same academic record. Who is more likely to actually succeed at the school? The kid who reported a lot of 4s and 5s? Or the kid who didn’t report any AP scores? |
Yes, that particular public school district has documented evidence of grade inflation that it is attempting to change by revamping its grading policy in the coming year. But you are saying that you have evidence that private schools have grade deflation relative to public schools? Please cite that evidence--because it just sounds like you're mouthing a bunch of stuff that people like to say because they're paying $40k a year plus for tuition, and not because you've actually seen data. |
My “evidence” is that virtually all Adcoms say that on the scale of importance the scores don’t matter very much, including Adcoms at top schools. Even at the most selective schools, no one is getting in on the basis of AP scores. No one. |
If you're applying overseas, that's exactly what you're getting in on. AP exams results have to be 5's, SAT's need to be competitive, essays well written and teacher recommendations stellar, plus you might have an actual interview and a further exam to take before being offered a place. |
Yale requires AP scores if you don’t submit SAT/ACT. UCLA and UCB also look at AP scores because they can’t use SAT/ACT. Plenty of less elite, but still selective, colleges see it the same way: they want some standardized metric. AP or IB or SAT or ACT doesn’t matter that much. But if you try applying without any of them, you’ll be at a disadvantage. |
I have seen data at my kid’s own elite private school. See above post giving concrete examples comparing the gross inflation at MCPS with my kid’s private school grading policies. |
Oh my god. The overwhelming majority of American high school students are not applying to friggin Oxford. I’m talking about AMERICAN admission practices. You people are just out of control. |
That "data" only exists in the made up land of "I believe it therefore it must be true" land of the DCUM private school board. There are plenty of crap privates in this area whose caliber of instruction is below that of the public schools, particularly for STEM subjects where they can't find qualified teachers for the lower salaries some privates pay teachers. My neighbor's kid at a Catholic school private is 2 years older than my kid and they were doing the same level math in elementary school. |
Feel free to share that "data" from your kid's own "elite" private school so we can all learn from you about why private schools are systematically more difficult graders than public schools. Hint: a newspaper article about grading policies in a single public school district does not constitute data about all private schools. |
Ooh, someone's been triggered lol. Who cares what the Catholic school kid is doing in math. I am talking about high schools, and in particular the higher ranked high schools in the DMV. These schools don't inflate grades like public schools. FWIW, my kid is taking AP Calc in 11th grade. Most take it in 12th. I personally don't see an issue with this mainly because this particular school tests kids before they place them in math (unlike public schools that just push them through with inflated grades). Kids in private schools are actually learning math vs. being awarded high grades in advanced classes they don't belong in. |
Triggered aren't we lol. |
This exactly. AP classes are strongly gatekept in private schools. Anyone can take an AP in public, which is why kids are getting poor AP scores even though they got As in the class. |
Triggered are what some people like to say when they're nervous because they can't formulate an intelligent response. |