Big 3 (or thereabouts) College Results - Class of 2021

[Anonymous]

Some privates have grade inflation, some have grade deflation because they are private schools. They make their own decisions.

[Anonymous]

Non-legacy and non-recruited athlete private school students are at a disadvantage in college admissions the minute they enroll at a Big 3 HS. Not because of the grading standards, rather because they chose to join a highly qualified (and small) peer group (many with hooks). My DDs Big 3 has attempted to resist the pressure to change how they grade but is not immune to this trend. In the past several years more graduating classes have had multiple valedictorians than was the norm. Full disclosure, my DD was not a valedictorian, recruited athlete or legacy. Earning straight As is a unique accomplishment at a Big 3 school and should continue to represent the incredible achievement it is. College admittance results for valedictorian(s) and the B+/A- students (with challenging course loads) are indistinguishable. The value Big 3 schools provide is an excellent college prep education. Lowering grading standards hinders that value and will be perceived that way by college admission officers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is great deflation at private schools. The defenders of the practice say that it is intellectually honest and ultimately college admissions recognize and even reward such rigor. If you are talking about an Ivy or school that can actually spend quality time to absorb an application and engage in a "holistic" process (e.g., SLACs), I agree. The problem arises for students who desire to attend large state universities. The OOS slots are limited in the first place. They are flooded by a sea of applicants. Admissions needs some way to stem the tide, and they take a very black and white approach to culling the herd -- based on GPA and class rank. In normal times, a Big 3 kid who was not in the top ten percent and with a GPA of 3.5 (i.e., the vast majority of the class) had a fighting chance because he/she often had a high standardized test score to balance out the picture. Without these scores now, most 3.5 applicants are quickly tossed aside.

It will be a brutal year for Big 3 college admissions.

Nope, there are more grades inflation at private schools.

At my DC's private school, DC has to work way harder to get As. DC previously attended a well regarded public school and did not have to work very hard to be on principal's honor roll, got all As,....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I’ve heard from is basically not getting in where they thought they would due in part to a lot more applicants than expected.

I think it has more to do with test optional. Let’s all those grade inflators (public schools) benefit and those grade deflators (big 3) get hurt. I predict worst college placement for the Cathedral schools as their insistence on not inflating grades like everyone else will hurt their students in a way that they will reconsider their anemic approach to giving an A.

Door to bust your bubbles, but grade inflators are 3 times higher in private schools than in public schools.
LOL
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/17/easy-a-nearly-half-hs-seniors-graduate-average/485787001/

Actually, they said, the upward creep is most pronounced in schools with large numbers of white, wealthy students. And its especially noticeable in private schools, where the rate of inflation was about three times higher than in public schools.

This article has nothing to do with big 3 privates in DC.

[Anonymous]

Here's what I know so far from my kids about their friends:
Stanford
Colby
Kansas
UMass Amherst
U Delaware

My own child has not heard from any of her colleges yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I’ve heard from is basically not getting in where they thought they would due in part to a lot more applicants than expected.

I think it has more to do with test optional. Let’s all those grade inflators (public schools) benefit and those grade deflators (big 3) get hurt. I predict worst college placement for the Cathedral schools as their insistence on not inflating grades like everyone else will hurt their students in a way that they will reconsider their anemic approach to giving an A.

Honestly, at some point, if what you are saying is true about Big 3 kids being disadvantaged is true, it will ruin the business model of these schools, and they will be forced to change. No one is going to pay 45K+ for the chance to lose out to public school kids of grading differences. The education is often really good but not that good.

The education is great. Full stop. But not playing the grade inflation game, when everyone is playing it, hurts college admissions chances. Full stop.

This whining has got to stop. The colleges and universities are all familiar with Washington’s tops schools and understand the grading disparities. This is simply a non issue that folks hold onto to get over the insecurities of their children not receiving offers from the top schools.

I think this is correct. The grading differences are NOT new. I went to a top boarding school in the 90s. Each year, only about 7% kids graduated with an average above 90. People were complaining about the same grading issues too at that time.

I don't know what the answer is here or if anything needs to change ( weighted GPA for AP/ Honors, for example) but ZERO chance Cathedral schools EVER inflate grades. That will NEVER happen.

What is interesting though is the above STAT .

I have seen that born out in Naviance. Very few kids with an average above a 90 and about 1 student in the class/ 90 kids with an average above a 96

Yet, 1/3 of the same graduating class achieve NMSF or Commended, which I think means a 1450 or higher ?

Pretty reflective of the high academic standards and rigor at a school where you can be in top 1-3% of SAT test results out of 2.5 Million Nationally and still only get a B + at NCS/STA because that is just what the teachers are used to in terms of quality of writing, level of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is great deflation at private schools. The defenders of the practice say that it is intellectually honest and ultimately college admissions recognize and even reward such rigor. If you are talking about an Ivy or school that can actually spend quality time to absorb an application and engage in a "holistic" process (e.g., SLACs), I agree. The problem arises for students who desire to attend large state universities. The OOS slots are limited in the first place. They are flooded by a sea of applicants. Admissions needs some way to stem the tide, and they take a very black and white approach to culling the herd -- based on GPA and class rank. In normal times, a Big 3 kid who was not in the top ten percent and with a GPA of 3.5 (i.e., the vast majority of the class) had a fighting chance because he/she often had a high standardized test score to balance out the picture. Without these scores now, most 3.5 applicants are quickly tossed aside.

It will be a brutal year for Big 3 college admissions.

Parents at big 3 schools definitely don’t realize how important it is to stick to colleges and universities that have developed a relationship with the high school counselor. Only those schools will give these applications the attention to overcome the disparities in gpa between public and private. True grade deflation is not a rigor practice. Depressing grades is as manipulative and deceptive as grade inflation.

Please speak to the manipulative and deceptive nature of depressing grades...

Bumping this. Just what do you mean by that, PP ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I’ve heard from is basically not getting in where they thought they would due in part to a lot more applicants than expected.

I think it has more to do with test optional. Let’s all those grade inflators (public schools) benefit and those grade deflators (big 3) get hurt. I predict worst college placement for the Cathedral schools as their insistence on not inflating grades like everyone else will hurt their students in a way that they will reconsider their anemic approach to giving an A.

Door to bust your bubbles, but grade inflators are 3 times higher in private schools than in public schools.
LOL
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/17/easy-a-nearly-half-hs-seniors-graduate-average/485787001/

Actually, they said, the upward creep is most pronounced in schools with large numbers of white, wealthy students. And its especially noticeable in private schools, where the rate of inflation was about three times higher than in public schools.

This article has nothing to do with big 3 privates in DC.

Sure, if you say so

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I’ve heard from is basically not getting in where they thought they would due in part to a lot more applicants than expected.

I think it has more to do with test optional. Let’s all those grade inflators (public schools) benefit and those grade deflators (big 3) get hurt. I predict worst college placement for the Cathedral schools as their insistence on not inflating grades like everyone else will hurt their students in a way that they will reconsider their anemic approach to giving an A.

Honestly, at some point, if what you are saying is true about Big 3 kids being disadvantaged is true, it will ruin the business model of these schools, and they will be forced to change. No one is going to pay 45K+ for the chance to lose out to public school kids of grading differences. The education is often really good but not that good.

The education is great. Full stop. But not playing the grade inflation game, when everyone is playing it, hurts college admissions chances. Full stop.

This whining has got to stop. The colleges and universities are all familiar with Washington’s tops schools and understand the grading disparities. This is simply a non issue that folks hold onto to get over the insecurities of their children not receiving offers from the top schools.

I think this is correct. The grading differences are NOT new. I went to a top boarding school in the 90s. Each year, only about 7% kids graduated with an average above 90. People were complaining about the same grading issues too at that time.

I don't know what the answer is here or if anything needs to change ( weighted GPA for AP/ Honors, for example) but ZERO chance Cathedral schools EVER inflate grades. That will NEVER happen.

What is interesting though is the above STAT .

I have seen that born out in Naviance. Very few kids with an average above a 90 and about 1 student in the class/ 90 kids with an average above a 96

Yet, 1/3 of the same graduating class achieve NMSF or Commended, which I think means a 1450 or higher ?

Pretty reflective of the high academic standards and rigor at a school where you can be in top 1-3% of SAT test results out of 2.5 Million Nationally and still only get a B + at NCS/STA because that is just what the teachers are used to in terms of quality of writing, level of work.

Commended is 1380, and it is the PSAT not the SAT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I’ve heard from is basically not getting in where they thought they would due in part to a lot more applicants than expected.

I think it has more to do with test optional. Let’s all those grade inflators (public schools) benefit and those grade deflators (big 3) get hurt. I predict worst college placement for the Cathedral schools as their insistence on not inflating grades like everyone else will hurt their students in a way that they will reconsider their anemic approach to giving an A.

Door to bust your bubbles, but grade inflators are 3 times higher in private schools than in public schools.
LOL
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/17/easy-a-nearly-half-hs-seniors-graduate-average/485787001/

Actually, they said, the upward creep is most pronounced in schools with large numbers of white, wealthy students. And its especially noticeable in private schools, where the rate of inflation was about three times higher than in public schools.

This article has nothing to do with big 3 privates in DC.

Sure, if you say so

Let me guess, your kid doesn’t go to a big 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is great deflation at private schools. The defenders of the practice say that it is intellectually honest and ultimately college admissions recognize and even reward such rigor. If you are talking about an Ivy or school that can actually spend quality time to absorb an application and engage in a "holistic" process (e.g., SLACs), I agree. The problem arises for students who desire to attend large state universities. The OOS slots are limited in the first place. They are flooded by a sea of applicants. Admissions needs some way to stem the tide, and they take a very black and white approach to culling the herd -- based on GPA and class rank. In normal times, a Big 3 kid who was not in the top ten percent and with a GPA of 3.5 (i.e., the vast majority of the class) had a fighting chance because he/she often had a high standardized test score to balance out the picture. Without these scores now, most 3.5 applicants are quickly tossed aside.

It will be a brutal year for Big 3 college admissions.

Parents at big 3 schools definitely don’t realize how important it is to stick to colleges and universities that have developed a relationship with the high school counselor. Only those schools will give these applications the attention to overcome the disparities in gpa between public and private. True grade deflation is not a rigor practice. Depressing grades is as manipulative and deceptive as grade inflation.

Please speak to the manipulative and deceptive nature of depressing grades...

Bumping this. Just what do you mean by that, PP ?

It is unrealistic to expect college admissions offices to pay attention to strange, atypical grade distributions from private schools. No college admissions officer cares about Big 3 schools enough to prioritize their grads over other area privates. They will get overlooked for scholarships and admissions if their grading practices vary widely from other comparable schools. Colleges do not recognize “big 3”. They treat all our area privates the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of UVA ED disappointment yesterday.

Because they got in and have to go?

Not commenting on UVA specifically, but it is curious to see how often there is "buyer's remorse" in the ED game.

Is it even competitive?[/quote]


Confused. Are you asking if UVA is competitive? For non-top 3 (who have a 4.0 max gpa), thenstats of the 75th percentile enrolled students last fall had a 4.48 GPA, a 1490 SAT and a 34 ACT. For applicants from the DMV area you have to have at least a 75th percentile to get in. And top ten percent of your class.

There were lots of unhappy ED applicants in the NOVA publics yesterday. Lots of wait list students too. The no. of ED applications had risen 35% so this was to be expectd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is great deflation at private schools. The defenders of the practice say that it is intellectually honest and ultimately college admissions recognize and even reward such rigor. If you are talking about an Ivy or school that can actually spend quality time to absorb an application and engage in a "holistic" process (e.g., SLACs), I agree. The problem arises for students who desire to attend large state universities. The OOS slots are limited in the first place. They are flooded by a sea of applicants. Admissions needs some way to stem the tide, and they take a very black and white approach to culling the herd -- based on GPA and class rank. In normal times, a Big 3 kid who was not in the top ten percent and with a GPA of 3.5 (i.e., the vast majority of the class) had a fighting chance because he/she often had a high standardized test score to balance out the picture. Without these scores now, most 3.5 applicants are quickly tossed aside.

It will be a brutal year for Big 3 college admissions.

Parents at big 3 schools definitely don’t realize how important it is to stick to colleges and universities that have developed a relationship with the high school counselor. Only those schools will give these applications the attention to overcome the disparities in gpa between public and private. True grade deflation is not a rigor practice. Depressing grades is as manipulative and deceptive as grade inflation.

Please speak to the manipulative and deceptive nature of depressing grades...

Bumping this. Just what do you mean by that, PP ?

It is unrealistic to expect college admissions offices to pay attention to strange, atypical grade distributions from private schools. No college admissions officer cares about Big 3 schools enough to prioritize their grads over other area privates. They will get overlooked for scholarships and admissions if their grading practices vary widely from other comparable schools. Colleges do not recognize “big 3”. They treat all our area privates the same.

They treat schools based on decades of relationships and known school profiles. True "big3" doesn't mean a thing, but certainly colleges "know" STA, NCS, Sidwell, etc by their profiles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of UVA ED disappointment yesterday.

Because they got in and have to go?

Not commenting on UVA specifically, but it is curious to see how often there is "buyer's remorse" in the ED game.

Is it even competitive?[/quote]


Confused. Are you asking if UVA is competitive? For non-top 3 (who have a 4.0 max gpa), thenstats of the 75th percentile enrolled students last fall had a 4.48 GPA, a 1490 SAT and a 34 ACT. For applicants from the DMV area you have to have at least a 75th percentile to get in. And top ten percent of your class.

There were lots of unhappy ED applicants in the NOVA publics yesterday. Lots of wait list students too. The no. of ED applications had risen 35% so this was to be expectd.

Are you suggesting that UVA takes more than 75% of its students from outside of the area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is great deflation at private schools. The defenders of the practice say that it is intellectually honest and ultimately college admissions recognize and even reward such rigor. If you are talking about an Ivy or school that can actually spend quality time to absorb an application and engage in a "holistic" process (e.g., SLACs), I agree. The problem arises for students who desire to attend large state universities. The OOS slots are limited in the first place. They are flooded by a sea of applicants. Admissions needs some way to stem the tide, and they take a very black and white approach to culling the herd -- based on GPA and class rank. In normal times, a Big 3 kid who was not in the top ten percent and with a GPA of 3.5 (i.e., the vast majority of the class) had a fighting chance because he/she often had a high standardized test score to balance out the picture. Without these scores now, most 3.5 applicants are quickly tossed aside.

It will be a brutal year for Big 3 college admissions.

Parents at big 3 schools definitely don’t realize how important it is to stick to colleges and universities that have developed a relationship with the high school counselor. Only those schools will give these applications the attention to overcome the disparities in gpa between public and private. True grade deflation is not a rigor practice. Depressing grades is as manipulative and deceptive as grade inflation.

Please speak to the manipulative and deceptive nature of depressing grades...

Bumping this. Just what do you mean by that, PP ?

It is unrealistic to expect college admissions offices to pay attention to strange, atypical grade distributions from private schools. No college admissions officer cares about Big 3 schools enough to prioritize their grads over other area privates. They will get overlooked for scholarships and admissions if their grading practices vary widely from other comparable schools. Colleges do not recognize “big 3”. They treat all our area privates the same.

I don't have a kid at NCS/Sidwell/St. Albans, but you're kidding yourself if you think that a 4.0 at Edmund Burke or Maret is the same as a 4.0 from St. Albans--or frankly, as even the same as a 3.5. I mean, any college, at all. They all know those three schools and know how rigorous the standards at those schools are compared to other area privates. I would say Potomac and Holton come in close 2nds, then the rest (and let's just say I have kids at what I would consider the "coming in 2nd).