Why is it difficult to get As in private school? DC worked really hard, and all assignments are good, still got a B+

[Anonymous]

Usually participation is 10% of the grade. If your kid is averaging a B+ on assignments and papers, they can still eek out an A- if they get 100% of the participation grade.

The key is probably to figure out how to boost their quality of work to an A-. If they can get just a little better, then they can usually get an A in the class if they earn all of the participation points.

The best kids learn how to game the system early. Go talk to your teachers and ask for feedback on the essay. Make corrections on successive essays and assignments using the previous feedback as guidance.

[Anonymous]

Have they had a conversation with their teacher to see how they can improve? This is what they will need to do in the workplace so having the conversation now in high school is good practice and will help them learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually participation is 10% of the grade. If your kid is averaging a B+ on assignments and papers, they can still eek out an A- if they get 100% of the participation grade.

The key is probably to figure out how to boost their quality of work to an A-. If they can get just a little better, then they can usually get an A in the class if they earn all of the participation points.

The best kids learn how to game the system early. Go talk to your teachers and ask for feedback on the essay. Make corrections on successive essays and assignments using the previous feedback as guidance.

In top schools there is no participation grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually participation is 10% of the grade. If your kid is averaging a B+ on assignments and papers, they can still eek out an A- if they get 100% of the participation grade.

The key is probably to figure out how to boost their quality of work to an A-. If they can get just a little better, then they can usually get an A in the class if they earn all of the participation points.

The best kids learn how to game the system early. Go talk to your teachers and ask for feedback on the essay. Make corrections on successive essays and assignments using the previous feedback as guidance.

In top schools there is no participation grade.

Sidwell English gives 10% for participation. Again, teachers can have different grading standards and practices within the same school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why high schools send school profiles to colleges so they can see what the average GPA is for students at that particular school.

I prefer private school grading because there is almost always room for improvement. In public schools, meeting the standard gets you an A so there's no motivation to work harder than that. That's why the GPAs are so much higher in public schools. The students met the standard and got an A but their work is not what many would consider A work. Meeting the standard used to be a B or C years ago.

This is SUCH a cope & a completely delusional take.

It doesn't matter at ALL. You are delusional if you think they take that into consideration. ALL schools care about is inflating their OWN numbers for college board reportings. They will 100 percent always accept the student with a 4.5 GPA from some rando public school over the student with a 3.4 GPA from a rigorous private school. It's ALL about the numbers. Same goes for law school. No one cares how "rigorous" your school is

This is true. I recently spoke with the former admissions director from Brown. They told me that in the past decade they've shifted emphasis away from the SAT and onto GPA for "equity" reasons. Kids at "elite" private high schools are given no breaks because they are perceived as "privileged." Your 3.4 GPA kid at NCS/STA stands no chance against the 4.5 GPA kid from the local public school, even though your kid could probably run circles around them academically.

What about 3.7, 3.8?

May get in a T50 school.
Some 3rd tier LAC.
Matriculation in big 3 declined badly in recent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A’s should be difficult to get. What’s the problem here?

I mean, kids have to get into colleges. Even second-tier schools are expecting a 3.8+ unweighted GPA nowadays. A B+ average would place them at 3.4-3.5 which would make it incredibly hard to get into any top 40 school.

No, they are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why high schools send school profiles to colleges so they can see what the average GPA is for students at that particular school.

I prefer private school grading because there is almost always room for improvement. In public schools, meeting the standard gets you an A so there's no motivation to work harder than that. That's why the GPAs are so much higher in public schools. The students met the standard and got an A but their work is not what many would consider A work. Meeting the standard used to be a B or C years ago.

This is SUCH a cope & a completely delusional take.

It doesn't matter at ALL. You are delusional if you think they take that into consideration. ALL schools care about is inflating their OWN numbers for college board reportings. They will 100 percent always accept the student with a 4.5 GPA from some rando public school over the student with a 3.4 GPA from a rigorous private school. It's ALL about the numbers. Same goes for law school. No one cares how "rigorous" your school is

This is true. I recently spoke with the former admissions director from Brown. They told me that in the past decade they've shifted emphasis away from the SAT and onto GPA for "equity" reasons. Kids at "elite" private high schools are given no breaks because they are perceived as "privileged." Your 3.4 GPA kid at NCS/STA stands no chance against the 4.5 GPA kid from the local public school, even though your kid could probably run circles around them academically.

What about 3.7, 3.8?

Any T50 school requires high school ranking in the top 25%.
Any T30 school requires high school ranking in the top 10%.
Any T10 school requires high school ranking in the top 2%.
If 3.7, 3.8 places a student in the top 50%, you are not looking good.
Nowadays private high schools have insane grade inflation, so 3.7, 3.8 barely gets you in the top 25% (more like top 50%).
Plan your college application accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In top schools there is no participation grade.

Big 3 teacher here. Participation is worth around 20% in my classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why high schools send school profiles to colleges so they can see what the average GPA is for students at that particular school.

I prefer private school grading because there is almost always room for improvement. In public schools, meeting the standard gets you an A so there's no motivation to work harder than that. That's why the GPAs are so much higher in public schools. The students met the standard and got an A but their work is not what many would consider A work. Meeting the standard used to be a B or C years ago.

This is SUCH a cope & a completely delusional take.

It doesn't matter at ALL. You are delusional if you think they take that into consideration. ALL schools care about is inflating their OWN numbers for college board reportings. They will 100 percent always accept the student with a 4.5 GPA from some rando public school over the student with a 3.4 GPA from a rigorous private school. It's ALL about the numbers. Same goes for law school. No one cares how "rigorous" your school is

This is true. I recently spoke with the former admissions director from Brown. They told me that in the past decade they've shifted emphasis away from the SAT and onto GPA for "equity" reasons. Kids at "elite" private high schools are given no breaks because they are perceived as "privileged." Your 3.4 GPA kid at NCS/STA stands no chance against the 4.5 GPA kid from the local public school, even though your kid could probably run circles around them academically.

What about 3.7, 3.8?

Any T50 school requires high school ranking in the top 25%.
Any T30 school requires high school ranking in the top 10%.
Any T10 school requires high school ranking in the top 2%.
If 3.7, 3.8 places a student in the top 50%, you are not looking good.
Nowadays private high schools have insane grade inflation, so 3.7, 3.8 barely gets you in the top 25% (more like top 50%).
Plan your college application accordingly.

Ignore this poster, they clearly know nothing about DC privates. A 3.8 is not at the 50%. At our DC private it's a 3.5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In top schools there is no participation grade.

Big 3 teacher here. Participation is worth around 20% in my classes.

Can you state which subject you teach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually participation is 10% of the grade. If your kid is averaging a B+ on assignments and papers, they can still eek out an A- if they get 100% of the participation grade.

The key is probably to figure out how to boost their quality of work to an A-. If they can get just a little better, then they can usually get an A in the class if they earn all of the participation points.

The best kids learn how to game the system early. Go talk to your teachers and ask for feedback on the essay. Make corrections on successive essays and assignments using the previous feedback as guidance.

In top schools there is no participation grade.

Sidwell English gives 10% for participation. Again, teachers can have different grading standards and practices within the same school.

Seems unfair if you get the teacher with the higher standards and so a lower grade compared to classmates in other teachers’ classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC couldn't figure out where points got deducted, thought it's a A.

So one of my kid’s friend will write a paper for English like an hour or two before it is due. The kid gets A’s every time. This is at a big3 that many posters complain about the grading being too hard in English.

Some people are just naturally good at writing. I have a DC who has always excelled at this. No idea where it comes from - they just have it and teachers pointed it out as early as 3rd grade. It's easy for that DC to write well and they understand the analytical component too. Other DC will craft high quality work with same grade, but it takes more effort and it's never got quite the same elegance. It's just one of those skills some people possess. (much like any other skill/knack that a person can have)

This type of advanced writing skill is typically the result of extensive time spent reading -- or being read to -- both fiction and non-fiction -- at a young age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to 'top' private schools and hated it so much. I always wanted to attend public school. I wish my parents invested the 50k year tuition (or just gave it to me) instead.

Public school = inflated gpas, easy classes, less workload, bigger campuses, and you actually get to choose your classes.

You know how maddening it is to have everyone tell us how "easy" we have it and how "privileged" we are when high school was miserable. I had to work 10x harder to get a mediocre GPA. Scored in the 97th percentile on my SAT and it simply wasn't good enough with such an awful GPA.

I attended a top 20 university that felt 100x less stressful than high school. Graduated summa cum laude with barely any effort. Meanwhile, there were countless public school students who entered university with absurd 4.5 GPAs, mediocre SAT scores, and struggled at the university level.

I even had roommates who FAILED classes when they were 'superstars' at their public high schools. And public school students all think they're geniuses because like 90 percent of them have at least a 4.0 GPA. Meanwhile, maybe 2 percent of students at private high school have a 4.0.

+1000000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to 'top' private schools and hated it so much. I always wanted to attend public school. I wish my parents invested the 50k year tuition (or just gave it to me) instead.

Public school = inflated gpas, easy classes, less workload, bigger campuses, and you actually get to choose your classes.

You know how maddening it is to have everyone tell us how "easy" we have it and how "privileged" we are when high school was miserable. I had to work 10x harder to get a mediocre GPA. Scored in the 97th percentile on my SAT and it simply wasn't good enough with such an awful GPA.

I attended a top 20 university that felt 100x less stressful than high school. Graduated summa cum laude with barely any effort. Meanwhile, there were countless public school students who entered university with absurd 4.5 GPAs, mediocre SAT scores, and struggled at the university level.

I even had roommates who FAILED classes when they were 'superstars' at their public high schools. And public school students all think they're geniuses because like 90 percent of them have at least a 4.0 GPA. Meanwhile, maybe 2 percent of students at private high school have a 4.0.

+1000000

You are privileged and you do have it easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually participation is 10% of the grade. If your kid is averaging a B+ on assignments and papers, they can still eek out an A- if they get 100% of the participation grade.

The key is probably to figure out how to boost their quality of work to an A-. If they can get just a little better, then they can usually get an A in the class if they earn all of the participation points.

The best kids learn how to game the system early. Go talk to your teachers and ask for feedback on the essay. Make corrections on successive essays and assignments using the previous feedback as guidance.

In top schools there is no participation grade.

+1. There are no grades for participation or homework.