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

[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

It is well known that grade inflation is so out of control that they are quickly becoming meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What on earth are you smoking? This is SO untrue that it is astounding. Do you really think every person in a given college can get an A in the upper level physics or math courses for example? Or English. They require different skills and different high schools do better or worse jobs of preparing students for these disciplines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What on earth are you smoking? This is SO untrue that it is astounding. Do you really think every person in a given college can get an A in the upper level physics or math courses for example? Or English. They require different skills and different high schools do better or worse jobs of preparing students for these disciplines.

+1 colleges literally have entire departments dedicated to getting kids up to speed and addressing differences in high school preparation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What on earth are you smoking? This is SO untrue that it is astounding. Do you really think every person in a given college can get an A in the upper level physics or math courses for example? Or English. They require different skills and different high schools do better or worse jobs of preparing students for these disciplines.

+1 colleges literally have entire departments dedicated to getting kids up to speed and addressing differences in high school preparation.

Then why do these colleges continue to accept students from failing high schools?

[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: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.

What on earth are you smoking? This is SO untrue that it is astounding. Do you really think every person in a given college can get an A in the upper level physics or math courses for example? Or English. They require different skills and different high schools do better or worse jobs of preparing students for these disciplines.

+1 colleges literally have entire departments dedicated to getting kids up to speed and addressing differences in high school preparation.

Then why do these colleges continue to accept students from failing high schools?

Colleges are accepting students not high schools. A smart, motivated kid is going to be o.k. no matter where they graduate from. I really believe that.

[Anonymous]

Because there are lots of colleges.

"Then why do these colleges continue to accept students from failing high schools?"

[Anonymous]

Colleges and universities are searching for autonomous leaders of tomorrow. Community service is an indicator of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids who actually like community service often do alot of it and don't regard it as a meaningless requirement. My daughter had to write an essay for an honors supplement where she was asked to describe something that she was interested enough in that she researched it on her own, and she talked about working with special needs kids and how she had spent time online learning more about their conditions and about what it meant to be a SN parent so that she could be more supportive. She talked about an SN mom who had a blog that she really liked. And I honestly had no idea she had even done that until she showed me the essay. There are occasionally kids who are actually interested and dedicated to doing this work for whom it is not all makework or busywork.

I absolutely agree. However, nowadays college admissions have no idea who's doing it for "credit" and as something just to put on the application, and who's not. It's a shame that it's gotten to this point, because I'm sure there are *some* kids who honestly volunteer because they love it.