Does forcing kids to "brag" about community service on apps make anyone else cringe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eagle Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award are almost guaranteed entry into the University of California system providing you have the requisite GPA and test scores. Those awards demonstrate grit, determination and the ability to see a project from start to finish.

At our school, it seemed like having the requisite GPA and test scores almost guaranteed entry into any school in the California system, though what was needed in terms of scores and GPA varied by the particular university. Naviance showed a very clear pattern for virtually all of them, including Cal, UCLA and UCSD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. I think we’d all be better off if we went straight to standardized test scores: SAT scores and subject tests, that’s it.

You get a # and nothing else is known about you: race, gender, school, location, gpa.

Yes, we should base college admissions entirely on multiple choice tests...with SAT math questions at the algebra/geometry level.

Obviously you’d need to make the tests harder dumb ass

The point is, thet shouldn’t be anything extra. No bonus points for race, gender, geographic diversity, French horn.

I’d be curious to see what they end up with.

You would have kids loading up on "easy A" classes in HS and then doing SAT prep classes after school on there own time and dime.

I think we need to get rid of test scores all together. They are the worst measurement for success.

But unfortunately it is the only standardized measure. It is impossible to compare across schools and curriculums. Even within the same school there are easy and hard teachers teaching the same classes. Some don't give As as a principle, others allow endless retakes. GPA is no longer associated with any actual level of ability or achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eagle Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award are almost guaranteed entry into the University of California system providing you have the requisite GPA and test scores. Those awards demonstrate grit, determination and the ability to see a project from start to finish.

At our school, it seemed like having the requisite GPA and test scores almost guaranteed entry into any school in the California system, though what was needed in terms of scores and GPA varied by the particular university. Naviance showed a very clear pattern for virtually all of them, including Cal, UCLA and UCSD. [/quote]


What school do you go to? The Cal States are almost exclusively reserved for Californians. The U.C. system is cutting back on OOS to only 5% because Californians are furious they can't get their kids into the U.C. system.

[Anonymous]

The sections about community service only bother those who haven't done any genuine community service. If you don't have anything to report, just skip it. There are plenty of kids who don't have sports, ECs, leadership positions, or jobs. If you don't have community service, it's not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

I think the current set up is fine but we need to remove affirmative action and legacy status. And the best American colleges need to be punished for giving 10-25% of their seats away to international foreigners. How many thousands of seats at our top 50 colleges are occupied by kids (with fake test scores) with parents who are looting their countries? Every one of those seats could be filled by qualified Americans kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eagle Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award are almost guaranteed entry into the University of California system providing you have the requisite GPA and test scores. Those awards demonstrate grit, determination and the ability to see a project from start to finish.

At our school, it seemed like having the requisite GPA and test scores almost guaranteed entry into any school in the California system, though what was needed in terms of scores and GPA varied by the particular university. Naviance showed a very clear pattern for virtually all of them, including Cal, UCLA and UCSD.

Maybe if you are a Californian. It's almost impossible to get into UCLA or Berkeley OOS unless you are an athelete or have a hook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. I think we’d all be better off if we went straight to standardized test scores: SAT scores and subject tests, that’s it.

You get a # and nothing else is known about you: race, gender, school, location, gpa.

Yes, we should base college admissions entirely on multiple choice tests...with SAT math questions at the algebra/geometry level.

Obviously you’d need to make the tests harder dumb ass

The point is, thet shouldn’t be anything extra. No bonus points for race, gender, geographic diversity, French horn.

I’d be curious to see what they end up with.

You would have kids loading up on "easy A" classes in HS and then doing SAT prep classes after school on there own time and dime.

I think we need to get rid of test scores all together. They are the worst measurement for success.

But unfortunately it is the only standardized measure. It is impossible to compare across schools and curriculums. Even within the same school there are easy and hard teachers teaching the same classes. Some don't give As as a principle, others allow endless retakes. GPA is no longer associated with any actual level of ability or achievement.

That is not true. That is why there are so many test optional school and I think more schools will be test optional in the future and hopefully the money making industry of SAT/ACT/AP will go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. I think we’d all be better off if we went straight to standardized test scores: SAT scores and subject tests, that’s it.

You get a # and nothing else is known about you: race, gender, school, location, gpa.

Yes, we should base college admissions entirely on multiple choice tests...with SAT math questions at the algebra/geometry level.

Obviously you’d need to make the tests harder dumb ass

The point is, thet shouldn’t be anything extra. No bonus points for race, gender, geographic diversity, French horn.

I’d be curious to see what they end up with.

You would have kids loading up on "easy A" classes in HS and then doing SAT prep classes after school on there own time and dime.

I think we need to get rid of test scores all together. They are the worst measurement for success.

But unfortunately it is the only standardized measure. It is impossible to compare across schools and curriculums. Even within the same school there are easy and hard teachers teaching the same classes. Some don't give As as a principle, others allow endless retakes. GPA is no longer associated with any actual level of ability or achievement.

That is not true. That is why there are so many test optional school and I think more schools will be test optional in the future and hopefully the money making industry of SAT/ACT/AP will go away.

It is true. Do you have a high schooler? Grades have gotten ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eagle Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award are almost guaranteed entry into the University of California system providing you have the requisite GPA and test scores. Those awards demonstrate grit, determination and the ability to see a project from start to finish.

At our school, it seemed like having the requisite GPA and test scores almost guaranteed entry into any school in the California system, though what was needed in terms of scores and GPA varied by the particular university. Naviance showed a very clear pattern for virtually all of them, including Cal, UCLA and UCSD.

Maybe if you are a Californian. It's almost impossible to get into UCLA or Berkeley OOS unless you are an athelete or have a hook.

My kids go to a W school. You do need high grades, rigor and very good test scores to get into UCLA or Berkeley, but virtually all the kids above that high threshold get in. Those schools plus UCSD and UCSB (and Michigan, Vandy, Cornell, and WashU) are popular options for smart kids with no hooks. There are a couple of UC schools--UC Davis in particular--where there is not such a strong correlation between grades, scores and acceptances at our school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eagle Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award are almost guaranteed entry into the University of California system providing you have the requisite GPA and test scores. Those awards demonstrate grit, determination and the ability to see a project from start to finish.

At our school, it seemed like having the requisite GPA and test scores almost guaranteed entry into any school in the California system, though what was needed in terms of scores and GPA varied by the particular university. Naviance showed a very clear pattern for virtually all of them, including Cal, UCLA and UCSD.

Maybe if you are a Californian. It's almost impossible to get into UCLA or Berkeley OOS unless you are an athelete or have a hook.

what are you even talking about? Out of state students have a higher acceptance rate at both UC Berkeley and UCLA than do instate students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eagle Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award are almost guaranteed entry into the University of California system providing you have the requisite GPA and test scores. Those awards demonstrate grit, determination and the ability to see a project from start to finish.

At our school, it seemed like having the requisite GPA and test scores almost guaranteed entry into any school in the California system, though what was needed in terms of scores and GPA varied by the particular university. Naviance showed a very clear pattern for virtually all of them, including Cal, UCLA and UCSD.

Maybe if you are a Californian. It's almost impossible to get into UCLA or Berkeley OOS unless you are an athelete or have a hook.

My kids go to a W school. You do need high grades, rigor and very good test scores to get into UCLA or Berkeley, but virtually all the kids above that high threshold get in. Those schools plus UCSD and UCSB (and Michigan, Vandy, Cornell, and WashU) are popular options for smart kids with no hooks. There are a couple of UC schools--UC Davis in particular--where there is not such a strong correlation between grades, scores and acceptances at our school.

+1 I have a kid with very high scores and grades but no particular hook and the UCs came highly recommended to us as schools he should apply to as they are more numbers driven than some other schools of similar caliber. He was accepted at UCLA (had no interest in UC-Berkeley so can't speak to that one) but ended up instate at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eagle Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award are almost guaranteed entry into the University of California system providing you have the requisite GPA and test scores. Those awards demonstrate grit, determination and the ability to see a project from start to finish.

At our school, it seemed like having the requisite GPA and test scores almost guaranteed entry into any school in the California system, though what was needed in terms of scores and GPA varied by the particular university. Naviance showed a very clear pattern for virtually all of them, including Cal, UCLA and UCSD.

Maybe if you are a Californian. It's almost impossible to get into UCLA or Berkeley OOS unless you are an athelete or have a hook.

Good.

Signed,

A Californian

[Anonymous]

No it's not... if you have good stats and a good rank UCLA/Berkeley are doable. I know several unhooked students who were denied from numerous Ivies/private colleges but did get in OOS to either or both.

[Anonymous]

Agree from our FCPS school. The Naviance data on University of California schools highly suggests a level of test scores and GPA where almost every applicant is admitted. And below that almost no one is admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. I think we’d all be better off if we went straight to standardized test scores: SAT scores and subject tests, that’s it.

You get a # and nothing else is known about you: race, gender, school, location, gpa.

Yes, we should base college admissions entirely on multiple choice tests...with SAT math questions at the algebra/geometry level.

Obviously you’d need to make the tests harder dumb ass

The point is, thet shouldn’t be anything extra. No bonus points for race, gender, geographic diversity, French horn.

I’d be curious to see what they end up with.

You would have kids loading up on "easy A" classes in HS and then doing SAT prep classes after school on there own time and dime.

I think we need to get rid of test scores all together. They are the worst measurement for success.

But unfortunately it is the only standardized measure. It is impossible to compare across schools and curriculums. Even within the same school there are easy and hard teachers teaching the same classes. Some don't give As as a principle, others allow endless retakes. GPA is no longer associated with any actual level of ability or achievement.

That is not true. That is why there are so many test optional school and I think more schools will be test optional in the future and hopefully the money making industry of SAT/ACT/AP will go away.

It is true. Do you have a high schooler? Grades have gotten ridiculous.

1 out of college, 1 going to college and 1 in HS

The only thing ridiculous is the testing... SATs and APs.

Kids from our local schools think they are hot shots with their "rigorous academics".

Kids don't need to do all that to succeed in college. They just need to know how to learn.

Once they get to college everybody is the same no matter how "hard" your HS was.