How to Get A's in NCS English in 9th Grade?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s very unlikely that your child will get an A in 9th grade English just coming into NCS. Regardless of where she attended school previously, the transition is likely to be VERY challenging. Let her focus on actually learning how to write without you pressuring her about grades.

BTW, not even the valedictorians at NCS have 4.0 GPA’s and everyone gets into a good school.

Chill out…it’s parents like you who give NCS its bad rap.

For existing students would an A be possible then? Given the transition should be relatively easier. Or it does not matter - HS is just more challenging for all.

It’s possible for both existing and new students. It just depends on what kind of writing skills they’re coming in with. As NCS parents have already the standards are exceedingly high. Think of writing at the level of an Ivy League college senior.

Is it possible? Yes, for example, if you are brilliant and maybe have had a private writing tutor since you were in second grade. Having older sisters who attended NCS recently helps too because you have a better sense of what specific teachers are looking for.

Some of it also luck of the draw. Some English teachers at NCS just refuse to give As on principle. It has nothing to do with the girls’ skills and everything to do with the teachers’ egos.

The administration would never allow a teacher to do this, but please don't let that stop you from weaving your paranoid fantasies.

Do stay in your delusional world. The administration has no power to control how a teacher grades. You obviously do not have a child in the Upper School else you’d know.

Every teacher as under a yearly contract that the admin offers. If a teacher ever refused to give students an A for work that legitimately earned that grade, then that teacher would be shown the door. Any teacher whose grades deviate from tje rest of the department are required to justify them and explain why they are different. What most parents don't know is that teachers who teach the same grade meet to discuss the grade distribution and ensure it is consistent across the board. Again, don't let these facts interrupt the narrative you're so eager to establish about independent school teachers.

Are you talking about private schools in general, or NCS in particular? It doesn’t sound like NCS.

PP’s fantasy description would be great if it were reality. Sadly, it is not true for the most elite privates and certainly not true for NCS. The stupidity of the phrase “legitimately earned that grade” says it all. In subjects such as English and history what constitutes legitimately earned is highly subjective.

While not all schools have formal tenure teacher autonomy in the classroom is deeply rooted in most private schools cultures. It’s cited as one of the factors that helps them retain teachers despite offering a lower salary than public schools.

Failure to renew a teacher‘s contract over grading would lead to the mass exodus of the best teachers. Private school administrators are keenly aware of the teacher shortage and the inability to recruit decent teachers. Short of major wrongdoing no private school is going to dismiss a teacher because they refuse to give A grades.

I had a history professor in college who regarded 2.7 as a decent grade and 3.0 as a very good grade. Unfortunately I found out about this too late to drop the class from my schedule and switch to another class.

Your professor is right. A 2.7 is a B- and and a 3.0 is a B. They are considered to be in the “very good/good” category. This is real grading.

Maybe once upon a time in the age of dinaosaurs. Not in the age of rampant grade inflation.

Publics inflate grades to the point where the mean is a 3.7 UW and the top 25% have 3.9+ averages UW.

It takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS. That’s the tippy-top caliber student. Do colleges and universities truly compensate for the grade deflation at NCS? Some do like the SLACs but the big universities don’t.

NCS continues to disadvantage its students by allowing the harsh grading to continue.

The class of ‘25 had outstanding college admission results. What is the disadvantage?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. If it “takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS,” how did so many NCS girls go to ivies? It’s not adding up. What is the gpa at NCS for ivy admit?

3.7 hooked
3.9 unhooked

How many 3.9 unhooked? 5?

Large droves of NCS girls go to ivies and ivy plus, are they all hooked?

There were 11 Ivies this year out of 85.

I think about 8 are unhooked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. If it “takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS,” how did so many NCS girls go to ivies? It’s not adding up. What is the gpa at NCS for ivy admit?

3.7 hooked
3.9 unhooked

How many 3.9 unhooked? 5?

Large droves of NCS girls go to ivies and ivy plus, are they all hooked?

There were 11 Ivies this year out of 85.

How many out of 11 are unhooked?

3 categories:
-unhooked and top 20% student
-hooked and top 20% student
-hooked and not top 20% student

Roughly you could put 1/3 of the 11 in each category. Same as any strong private.

Is the top 20% cut off approximately at 3.9 gpa?

Definitely not. Maybe 3.7-3.8.

It's hard tell because the cum laude society is the top 20% but is based only on soph and junior year grades. the cut-off for this is generally a high 3.8/low 3.9 but there are girls with overall higher GPAs (across all 4 years)who don't make it because they had lower GPAs during soph and junior. So it's unclear

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. If it “takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS,” how did so many NCS girls go to ivies? It’s not adding up. What is the gpa at NCS for ivy admit?

3.7 hooked
3.9 unhooked

How many 3.9 unhooked? 5?

Large droves of NCS girls go to ivies and ivy plus, are they all hooked?

There were 11 Ivies this year out of 85.

How many out of 11 are unhooked?

3 categories:
-unhooked and top 20% student
-hooked and top 20% student
-hooked and not top 20% student

Roughly you could put 1/3 of the 11 in each category. Same as any strong private.

Is the top 20% cut off approximately at 3.9 gpa?

Definitely not. Maybe 3.7-3.8.

It's hard tell because the cum laude society is the top 20% but is based only on soph and junior year grades. the cut-off for this is generally a high 3.8/low 3.9 but there are girls with overall higher GPAs (across all 4 years)who don't make it because they had lower GPAs during soph and junior. So it's unclear

So it can be established that about 20% have a gpa approximately 3.9 based on sophomore and junior. The percentage could be higher if considering freshman grades. In total it is likely there are 25% obtaining a gpa of 3.9.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. If it “takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS,” how did so many NCS girls go to ivies? It’s not adding up. What is the gpa at NCS for ivy admit?

3.7 hooked
3.9 unhooked

How many 3.9 unhooked? 5?

Large droves of NCS girls go to ivies and ivy plus, are they all hooked?

There were 11 Ivies this year out of 85.

How many out of 11 are unhooked?

3 categories:
-unhooked and top 20% student
-hooked and top 20% student
-hooked and not top 20% student

Roughly you could put 1/3 of the 11 in each category. Same as any strong private.

Is the top 20% cut off approximately at 3.9 gpa?

Definitely not. Maybe 3.7-3.8.

It's hard tell because the cum laude society is the top 20% but is based only on soph and junior year grades. the cut-off for this is generally a high 3.8/low 3.9 but there are girls with overall higher GPAs (across all 4 years)who don't make it because they had lower GPAs during soph and junior. So it's unclear

So it can be established that about 20% have a gpa approximately 3.9 based on sophomore and junior. The percentage could be higher if considering freshman grades. In total it is likely there are 25% obtaining a gpa of 3.9.

The 20% is more like 3.85+. Some years higher. Some of the cum laude girls have an overall lower GPA than non cum laude girls because freshman year brings them down.

[Anonymous]

Do the AP classes add value to the GPA or it is unweighted at all? I heard NCS is getting rid of APs in 2027 but not sure if it is rumor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the AP classes add value to the GPA or it is unweighted at all? I heard NCS is getting rid of APs in 2027 but not sure if it is rumor.

APs or honors don't add to the GPA.
Where did you hear that about APs and 2027?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the AP classes add value to the GPA or it is unweighted at all? I heard NCS is getting rid of APs in 2027 but not sure if it is rumor.

APs or honors don't add to the GPA.
Where did you hear that about APs and 2027?

Heard from a parent but not sure if it is formally notified or just worry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the AP classes add value to the GPA or it is unweighted at all? I heard NCS is getting rid of APs in 2027 but not sure if it is rumor.

APs or honors don't add to the GPA.
Where did you hear that about APs and 2027?

Heard from a parent but not sure if it is formally notified or just worry.

That is not good if it's true especially if STA keeps them. I'm a rising 9th grade parent but haven't heard this but will be upset if it's true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. If it “takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS,” how did so many NCS girls go to ivies? It’s not adding up. What is the gpa at NCS for ivy admit?

3.7 hooked
3.9 unhooked

How many 3.9 unhooked? 5?

Large droves of NCS girls go to ivies and ivy plus, are they all hooked?

There were 11 Ivies this year out of 85.

How many out of 11 are unhooked?

3 categories:
-unhooked and top 20% student
-hooked and top 20% student
-hooked and not top 20% student

Roughly you could put 1/3 of the 11 in each category. Same as any strong private.

Is the top 20% cut off approximately at 3.9 gpa?

Definitely not. Maybe 3.7-3.8.

It's hard tell because the cum laude society is the top 20% but is based only on soph and junior year grades. the cut-off for this is generally a high 3.8/low 3.9 but there are girls with overall higher GPAs (across all 4 years)who don't make it because they had lower GPAs during soph and junior. So it's unclear

So it can be established that about 20% have a gpa approximately 3.9 based on sophomore and junior. The percentage could be higher if considering freshman grades. In total it is likely there are 25% obtaining a gpa of 3.9.

The 20% is more like 3.85+. Some years higher. Some of the cum laude girls have an overall lower GPA than non cum laude girls because freshman year brings them down.

That is a pretty normal distribution.
Makes me think "blood, sweat, and tears" is kinda exaggerating.

[Anonymous]

This is obviously the post of an incoming/current NCS student, not a parent. The kids are active on this site. All the parents fall for it, every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. If it “takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS,” how did so many NCS girls go to ivies? It’s not adding up. What is the gpa at NCS for ivy admit?

3.7 hooked
3.9 unhooked

How many 3.9 unhooked? 5?

Large droves of NCS girls go to ivies and ivy plus, are they all hooked?

There were 11 Ivies this year out of 85.

How many out of 11 are unhooked?

3 categories:
-unhooked and top 20% student
-hooked and top 20% student
-hooked and not top 20% student

Roughly you could put 1/3 of the 11 in each category. Same as any strong private.

Is the top 20% cut off approximately at 3.9 gpa?

Definitely not. Maybe 3.7-3.8.

It's hard tell because the cum laude society is the top 20% but is based only on soph and junior year grades. the cut-off for this is generally a high 3.8/low 3.9 but there are girls with overall higher GPAs (across all 4 years)who don't make it because they had lower GPAs during soph and junior. So it's unclear

So it can be established that about 20% have a gpa approximately 3.9 based on sophomore and junior. The percentage could be higher if considering freshman grades. In total it is likely there are 25% obtaining a gpa of 3.9.

The 20% is more like 3.85+. Some years higher. Some of the cum laude girls have an overall lower GPA than non cum laude girls because freshman year brings them down.

That is a pretty normal distribution.
Makes me think "blood, sweat, and tears" is kinda exaggerating.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. If it “takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS,” how did so many NCS girls go to ivies? It’s not adding up. What is the gpa at NCS for ivy admit?

3.7 hooked
3.9 unhooked

How many 3.9 unhooked? 5?

Large droves of NCS girls go to ivies and ivy plus, are they all hooked?

There were 11 Ivies this year out of 85.

How many out of 11 are unhooked?

3 categories:
-unhooked and top 20% student
-hooked and top 20% student
-hooked and not top 20% student

Roughly you could put 1/3 of the 11 in each category. Same as any strong private.

Is the top 20% cut off approximately at 3.9 gpa?

Definitely not. Maybe 3.7-3.8.

It's hard tell because the cum laude society is the top 20% but is based only on soph and junior year grades. the cut-off for this is generally a high 3.8/low 3.9 but there are girls with overall higher GPAs (across all 4 years)who don't make it because they had lower GPAs during soph and junior. So it's unclear

So it can be established that about 20% have a gpa approximately 3.9 based on sophomore and junior. The percentage could be higher if considering freshman grades. In total it is likely there are 25% obtaining a gpa of 3.9.

The 20% is more like 3.85+. Some years higher. Some of the cum laude girls have an overall lower GPA than non cum laude girls because freshman year brings them down.

That is a pretty normal distribution.
Makes me think "blood, sweat, and tears" is kinda exaggerating.

No,not an exaggerarion. Top 20% is more like 3.7+ most years. That’s actually pretty low. NCS girls do okay in admissions because many are hooked or have wealthy parents paying $$$$ for tutoring, test prep, private collect counseling that includes essay prep, and for activities that make them pointy.

To get the real cost of the grade deflation you’d have to look at the impact on the girls whose parents can’t afford all the extra support needed to be in the 3.9+ range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. If it “takes blood, sweat, and tears to earn a 3.9 at NCS,” how did so many NCS girls go to ivies? It’s not adding up. What is the gpa at NCS for ivy admit?

3.7 hooked
3.9 unhooked

How many 3.9 unhooked? 5?

Large droves of NCS girls go to ivies and ivy plus, are they all hooked?

There were 11 Ivies this year out of 85.

How many out of 11 are unhooked?

3 categories:
-unhooked and top 20% student
-hooked and top 20% student
-hooked and not top 20% student

Roughly you could put 1/3 of the 11 in each category. Same as any strong private.

Is the top 20% cut off approximately at 3.9 gpa?

Definitely not. Maybe 3.7-3.8.

It's hard tell because the cum laude society is the top 20% but is based only on soph and junior year grades. the cut-off for this is generally a high 3.8/low 3.9 but there are girls with overall higher GPAs (across all 4 years)who don't make it because they had lower GPAs during soph and junior. So it's unclear

So it can be established that about 20% have a gpa approximately 3.9 based on sophomore and junior. The percentage could be higher if considering freshman grades. In total it is likely there are 25% obtaining a gpa of 3.9.

The 20% is more like 3.85+. Some years higher. Some of the cum laude girls have an overall lower GPA than non cum laude girls because freshman year brings them down.

That is a pretty normal distribution.
Makes me think "blood, sweat, and tears" is kinda exaggerating.

No,not an exaggerarion. Top 20% is more like 3.7+ most years. That’s actually pretty low. NCS girls do okay in admissions because many are hooked or have wealthy parents paying $$$$ for tutoring, test prep, private collect counseling that includes essay prep, and for activities that make them pointy.

To get the real cost of the grade deflation you’d have to look at the impact on the girls whose parents can’t afford all the extra support needed to be in the 3.9+ range.

no, 3.7 is low for top 20%. my daughter graduated 3.90 and was not top 20% 2 years ago.

[Anonymous]

This school, like many other private schools, lacks transparency in terms of gpa and ranking. Even parents don't know which one is correct, 3.7 or 3.9 to make cum laude.