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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think grade and SAT inflation is also really hurting parent and student expectations.  Back in the 90s only 1-2 kids at my high school had a 4.0 GPA.  There were no weighted classes so no GPAs above a 4.0 at all.  I got into Carnegie Mellon with a 3.75 GPA, which was very near the top of the class for my high school; the top student ended up at Harvard.

Now students who would have been B students in the 90s have 4.3 GPA, leading both them and their parents not to realize that a top GPA is now a 4.9 or some other nonsense.  It's the same with SAT scores.  A 1400 used to be really good.  Now it seems anything under a 1550 is mediocre.   All of the good students are bunched at the top, leading to a lack of separation amongst top students and more of a lotto feeling as to who gets in.  The grading scale is fundamentally broken.[/quote]

It's not broken, it's intentional. And it should be considered fraud. The school brass and teachers keep gullible parents dumb and happy (and quiet) with fake As and the College Board gets suckers hooked to their fake inflated tests.

I see so many parents bragging about their kid's "all A's" and you can just tell by the course list and the kid's orbit they are an average layabout. [b]The parents who brag about the A's never brag about official AP scores or SAT score.[/b][/quote]

Because those tests are not as predictive as grades are.

And we know you hate public schools.[/quote]

My kids went to Fairfax County public schools for 12 years, and I think those tests are much more predictive and objective.
Grades fluctuate even with the luck with teachers.  Some teachers are laid back and give more generous grades. Some teachers are harsh graders.  
Imagine the fluctuation by different schools, counties, states, and parts of countries.[/quote]

I agree that GPA is the least reliable indicator of academic ability and actual knowledge acquisition, though it may be a good indicator of knowing how to figure out teachers and give them what they want, plus some short term memory ability if you have a shcool that actually gives tests (many don't even bother with that anymore). [b]These are skills too, and both require a lot of faking it sometimes. Not everyone is good at that. Getting good grades is often a big measure of EQ and how charming you are, as teachers do have a lot of subjective input into the final letter that goes on the report card[/b].[/quote]
This is such a good point and one that a lot of people don’t seem to focus on. And the kids with high EQ and charm generally go on to do very well in college and the working world too. I am remembering when my kid with perfect stats was disgruntled because she was rejected fron her HYPSM dream school while a friend with lower stats and a hook made it in. My DD told me it wasn’t fair because she’d worked on tons of group projects with this other kid, and my DD somehow always ended up doing all the work to earn them both the A. I asked her why she kept letting this other girl in her group and she said it was because her friend was really funny and appreciative. I noted that this approach most likely helped her friend have more time to do the various interesting ECs she was involved in and that it seemed like the kid had all the tools necessary to be a CEO type some day. It was not surprising to me that a top school would find this kid more appealing and memorable than my DD, as delightful as my child is.[/quote]

+1000

Imagine how boring a college would be if they only took kids who got 1600/36 and had 4.0UW.  Obviously they could fill each class with just students who meet this criteria.  Colleges are looking for a balance of students, and that means diversity across many areas.  Anyone who scores over ~1400 on SAT has the ability to do well at any university---including HYPSM/Stanford/MIT.    My own DC was deferred ED from dream school and rejected last week in RD. While disappointed, DC knew that it was a crapshoot---RD acceptance rate of ~4%.  95%+ of the 50K+ applicants were likely "highly qualified" for the university.  However, my DC is moving on and knew that this was a lottery.  DC has been accepted at 7/8 so far and has 3 more this week, but also realizes these are a crapshoot/lottery.  DC has 1 true safety in those that DC would be thrilled to attend and 2 acceptances at top 40 schools that I know many were rejected from.  Moving on to do final visits and make a choice between those 2 top acceptances.  
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