So if there is no SAT and everyone gets A's what will distinguish kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Half of the graduating seniors at our public school have all As. Most have taken the exact same classes. Now you have hundreds of kids from even one school with the same academic credentials.

What school system is this? Is it one of the Maryland districts where you can get an A in the class with an 85 as long as your quarter grades are 80, 90, 80, 90? Or are they just grades that are artificially high due to COVID-19 grading policies?

At my kids' APS HS, grades were only given in Q4 for those who wanted to improve their class average for Q1-Q3 with the potential to go up 1 level. So, any student who'd normally have Bs and has the least bit of ambition could pretty easily end up with all As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Half of the graduating seniors at our public school have all As. Most have taken the exact same classes. Now you have hundreds of kids from even one school with the same academic credentials.

What school system is this? Is it one of the Maryland districts where you can get an A in the class with an 85 as long as your quarter grades are 80, 90, 80, 90? Or are they just grades that are artificially high due to COVID-19 grading policies?

At my kids' APS HS, grades were only given in Q4 for those who wanted to improve their class average for Q1-Q3 with the potential to go up 1 level. So, any student who'd normally have Bs and has the least bit of ambition could pretty easily end up with all As.

My kid’s public high school doesn’t have letter grades; it has a 100% scale. 5% boost for each honors class, 8% boost for Ap. The valedictorian this year (and there is one every year) had a 101.54 gpa. Cut off for NHS is a 92 weighted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Half of the graduating seniors at our public school have all As. Most have taken the exact same classes. Now you have hundreds of kids from even one school with the same academic credentials.

I worry that this will lead to unbelievable pressure on kids to perform on extracurriculars. They'll need to do all sorts of extra research, volunteering, etc.
They'll have to invent things, play instruments from birth (a little late for that), play travel sports 24/7, etc.
That is if they're not
-first generation minorities
-wealthy donors

There is something wrong with your school if 50% of the graduating class has straight As. Giving out easy As is part of the problem. All these people who claim they have a 4.?? whatever are joke. It means nothing coming from a public school that hands out As like participation medals. Many colleges are aware of this which will make not having a standardized test difficult for truly successful and deserving kids from these schools stand out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Half of the graduating seniors at our public school have all As. Most have taken the exact same classes. Now you have hundreds of kids from even one school with the same academic credentials.

What school system is this? Is it one of the Maryland districts where you can get an A in the class with an 85 as long as your quarter grades are 80, 90, 80, 90? Or are they just grades that are artificially high due to COVID-19 grading policies?

MCPS have the grading where you can get a 89.5 in the first semester and a 79.5 in the second and end up with an A. That is their grading policy when school is normally in session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Half of the graduating seniors at our public school have all As. Most have taken the exact same classes. Now you have hundreds of kids from even one school with the same academic credentials.

I worry that this will lead to unbelievable pressure on kids to perform on extracurriculars. They'll need to do all sorts of extra research, volunteering, etc.
They'll have to invent things, play instruments from birth (a little late for that), play travel sports 24/7, etc.
That is if they're not
-first generation minorities
-wealthy donors

There is something wrong with your school if 50% of the graduating class has straight As. Giving out easy As is part of the problem. All these people who claim they have a 4.?? whatever are joke. It means nothing coming from a public school that hands out As like participation medals. Many colleges are aware of this which will make not having a standardized test difficult for truly successful and deserving kids from these schools stand out.

Most people involved in admissions completely disagree with everything you have typed.

[Anonymous]

height?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Half of the graduating seniors at our public school have all As. Most have taken the exact same classes. Now you have hundreds of kids from even one school with the same academic credentials.

I worry that this will lead to unbelievable pressure on kids to perform on extracurriculars. They'll need to do all sorts of extra research, volunteering, etc.
They'll have to invent things, play instruments from birth (a little late for that), play travel sports 24/7, etc.
That is if they're not
-first generation minorities
-wealthy donors

There is something wrong with your school if 50% of the graduating class has straight As. Giving out easy As is part of the problem. All these people who claim they have a 4.?? whatever are joke. It means nothing coming from a public school that hands out As like participation medals. Many colleges are aware of this which will make not having a standardized test difficult for truly successful and deserving kids from these schools stand out.

Most people involved in admissions completely disagree with everything you have typed.

People on here are in love with Catholic high schools that simply give absurd amounts of busywork. They have stupid rules and limited resources. They don’t actually offer a more rigorous education than good publics. If they did, people would be flocking to them in droves and they’d be turning kids down. They’re not. Nationwide enrollment at diocesan high schools is way down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People on here are in love with Catholic high schools that simply give absurd amounts of busywork. They have stupid rules and limited resources. They don’t actually offer a more rigorous education than good publics. If they did, people would be flocking to them in droves and they’d be turning kids down. They’re not. Nationwide enrollment at diocesan high schools is way down.

Just wanted to point out that there are many independent Catholic high schools that are not diocesan, e.g. Jesuit high schools. Rigor varies widely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Half of the graduating seniors at our public school have all As. Most have taken the exact same classes. Now you have hundreds of kids from even one school with the same academic credentials.

I worry that this will lead to unbelievable pressure on kids to perform on extracurriculars. They'll need to do all sorts of extra research, volunteering, etc.
They'll have to invent things, play instruments from birth (a little late for that), play travel sports 24/7, etc.
That is if they're not
-first generation minorities
-wealthy donors

There is something wrong with your school if 50% of the graduating class has straight As. Giving out easy As is part of the problem. All these people who claim they have a 4.?? whatever are joke. It means nothing coming from a public school that hands out As like participation medals. Many colleges are aware of this which will make not having a standardized test difficult for truly successful and deserving kids from these schools stand out.

Most people involved in admissions completely disagree with everything you have typed.

People on here are in love with Catholic high schools that simply give absurd amounts of busywork. They have stupid rules and limited resources. They don’t actually offer a more rigorous education than good publics. If they did, people would be flocking to them in droves and they’d be turning kids down. They’re not. Nationwide enrollment at diocesan high schools is way down.

You are bitter about Catholic high schools for some personal reason. However, you do not speak a universal truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry - wrong link. I’m following too many threads. https://www.admissions.caltech.edu/apply/first-yearfreshman-applicants/standardized-tests

Yes, for kids coming out of well resourced high schools it will largely come down to what level of math a student completed successfully. I feel like it is already a bit like this, and that you could reasonably guess my kids' SAT scores by where they ended up in math. The humanities are important too, but there isn't as much differentiation in English classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the sat goes away, kids from unknown high schools won't apply much or get in to better schools. I posted recently on a different thread about my kid with a high gpa and 1320 sat not getting into a good lac. Which I don't think is a bad score at all, but whatever. A poster asked if it was a known rigorous high school or not. But why does that matter??? If two kids have identical sats, the edge should not automatically go to the kid at the more well known high school.

An A is not an A by any other name, and it does not smell as sweet. Sorry.

If anything, a move like this is going to make brand-name high schools even more important. Or they are just going to start randomly picking names out of a hat. Who knows. Admissions is a crap shoot.

Name brand high schools are either expensive tuition (private), expensive house (public), or high powered magnet. So this change will make colleges less diverse rather than more diverse. A kid in a cloistered private school who got a 1400 is no smarter than the kid from rural Alabama who got a 1400.

If you're a super smart kid from rural Alabama, you'll be able to distinguish yourself in ways other than just getting As. You'll likely be winning math or debate competitions or win your state's history day competition. Or have the science teacher who has taught for 40 years say this is the brightest most incredible student I've ever taught. I wouldn't worry. It'll work

The smart kid from rural Alabama always had an advantage, just by virtue of the fact that there are a smaller number of similar kids applying, test or no test. Considering that the Alabama kid probably has less access to tutors and test prep, the absence of a test makes it easier to take those kids, not harder.

[Anonymous]

Let's just admit it. Whatever criteria gets used for college acceptances will ultimately be optimized by wealthier families. No SAT/ACT anymore? Fine, tutors to boost grades, and connections to secure plum volunteer, work and research opportunities. Private coaches to make your athlete better.

This will only re-arrange the chairs, not capsize the way things work.

[Anonymous]

I think most of the strongest students at our DC private have a test score they are happy to submit. Probably also true at the public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most of the strongest students at our DC private have a test score they are happy to submit. Probably also true at the public schools.

Not if it’s test blind

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the sat goes away, kids from unknown high schools won't apply much or get in to better schools. I posted recently on a different thread about my kid with a high gpa and 1320 sat not getting into a good lac. Which I don't think is a bad score at all, but whatever. A poster asked if it was a known rigorous high school or not. But why does that matter??? If two kids have identical sats, the edge should not automatically go to the kid at the more well known high school.

An A is not an A by any other name, and it does not smell as sweet. Sorry.

If anything, a move like this is going to make brand-name high schools even more important. Or they are just going to start randomly picking names out of a hat. Who knows. Admissions is a crap shoot.

Name brand high schools are either expensive tuition (private), expensive house (public), or high powered magnet. So this change will make colleges less diverse rather than more diverse. A kid in a cloistered private school who got a 1400 is no smarter than the kid from rural Alabama who got a 1400.

If you're a super smart kid from rural Alabama, you'll be able to distinguish yourself in ways other than just getting As. You'll likely be winning math or debate competitions or win your state's history day competition. Or have the science teacher who has taught for 40 years say this is the brightest most incredible student I've ever taught. I wouldn't worry. It'll work

The smart kid from rural Alabama always had an advantage, just by virtue of the fact that there are a smaller number of similar kids applying, test or no test. Considering that the Alabama kid probably has less access to tutors and test prep, the absence of a test makes it easier to take those kids, not harder.

I disagree. I'm from Alabama, and pretty much everyone assumes that people from Alabama are stupid. Admissions officers are probably no exception. Without a standard way to measure aptitude across the country, I think most admission officers will assume that the A from Opelika is worth less than the A from Sidwell.

The brilliant kid from rural no-where (think Sheldon from Big Bang) will always find a way, but fewer "almost brilliant - but really smart and never had access to opportunity" kids will be admitted.