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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DC has not taken any AP exams. Will attend an Ivy League school this fall. Top grades, many honors classes. Not an athlete, legacy, or URM. [/quote]

What got them in then?  Lucky draw from the pool of 1600/4.0 ED applicants?  Rigor is usually a major factor.[/quote]

Rigor is in the context of what the school offers. Schools that don’t offer AP still have honors and advanced classes. In this context, to show that you took the most rigorous course at the school you would have to take honors and advanced courses.[/quote]

And that doesn't help much anymore. Times have changed. Look, when the schools decided to drop APs they could not have predicted what happened when COVID hit,. They could not have predicted that SAT subject matter tests would go away and that most schools would become test optional. Colleges are left with APs as the last thing they can look to for some level of standardization across schools. It matters more now than it used to, which is probably why some schools that said they were dropping APs actually have not done so -- they saw what the testing change would mean.[/quote]

A lot of kids are not even taking the AP exam so colleges are only seeing the grade they got in the class, grading that is still school specific. In the scenario where kids are not taking the exam there is really no difference between an honors/advanced class and an AP class.[/quote]

In part, but kids start taking APs in 9th so a pattern of scores is predictive of the senior year scores, especially if the grades support that. Also, colleges know what AP courses are, it's the point of having standards; they have no idea what every random schools' honors class is teaching. [/quote]

They also start taking honors classes in 9th grade. Colleges get the course curriculum from each high school; the information that is covered in AP is usually also covered in advanced classes offered by school.[b] The schools that are dropping AP are usually known for academic rigor and colleges trust this so why wouldn’t they trust the rigor of the advanced classes? [/b]I understand the benefits of a standardized program I just don’t like college boards monopoly on APs and the hoops schools have to go through. [/quote]

This is the key question: why wouldn’t colleges trust these schools? The fact is, though, that it looks like at the same time that SFS, STA, NCS, and GDS announced they were dropping APs, [b]they also all reduced the number of high-scoring 9th graders they admitted[/b]. So it could be that what students in the class of 2023 are seeing is that they’re at the top of the class, and what colleges are seeing is that the class of 2023 looks unusually weak compared to past classes. [/quote]

What? How could you know that they reduced the number of high scoring 9th graders they admitted? And again, STA and NCS still have APs. [/quote]

People here confuse their conspiracy theories with reality on an hourly basis. [/quote]
Perhaps the assumption is that since these schools did away with standardized testing as part of the admissions process they are likely admitting lower scoring admits during these years? Possible, but they have to be strong students to get in anyway.[/quote]

It’s not a “conspiracy theory.” It’s just that the count of students from elite privates on the presidential scholars eligibility list fell off a cliff this year.

Here are the lists from 2018-2023:

[url]https://edu.wyoming.gov/for-parents-students/usps/[/url]

Sidwell:
Range, 2018-2022: 9-19
Average, 2018-2022: 12
Count, 2023: 6

St. Albans/NCS:
Range, 2018-2022: 9-18
Average, 2018-2022: 14
Count, 2023: 4

GDS:
Range, 2018-2022: 5-11
Average, 2018-2022: 8
Count, 2023: 4

Meanwhile …

WIS:
Range, 2018-2022: 0-4
Average, 2018-2022: 2
Count, 2023: 8

School Without Walls:
Range, 2018-2022: 3-7
Average, 2018-2022: 5
Count, 2023: 11
Average SAT score for juniors and seniors
- 2018-19: 1277
- 2021-22: 1317
[url]https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat[/url]

A “conspiracy theory” would be “at the same time they agreed to drop AP courses, the private schools also agreed to caps on high-scoring 9th grade admits.” I don’t have any of the inside information that would be necessary to make such a claim. And I can think of some alternate explanations. (For example, maybe the announcement that they were dropping APs caused applications from high-scoring 8th graders to fall off a cliff.) I’m just saying that, on the available evidence, the distribution of high-scoring students at local schools seems to have altered dramatically for the Class of ‘23 compared to historical patterns. [/quote]

Wanted to address your conspiracy theory--the current STA senior class is a super smart one.  I don't have a kid in it but there are easily a dozen outlier academic rockstars in it.  It's the smartest class in a few years. [/quote]

No dog in this fight, but how can you make a claim like that if the Presidential Scholar tally has dropped so much...Presidential Scholar is basically SAT scores.  Doesn't really comport that there are a dozen outlier academic rockstars, yet only 4 are scoring high enough on the SAT (which doesn't require any academic outliers...just smart kids) to qualify for Presidential Scholars.[/quote]

DP. Presidential scholars means nothing anymore because it only takes into consideration PSAT or early SAT scores. I know kids that had 1580 and 1600 on SAT but did not make presidential scholar because they did not take the final SAT until end of junior year past the deadline. [/quote]

If you are going to make a statement, make sure it is not easily contradicted through a quick google search on 2023 Presidential Scholar qualifying (which does not take into account PSAT scores):

score exceptionally well on either the SAT of the College Board or the ACT of the American College Testing Program, based on tests taken during the year window that begins in August, 2019 and [b]runs through October, 2022[/b], (for the recognition cycle concluding in June, 2023), nominated by their Chief State School Officer (CSSO) or nominated by one of our partner recognition organizations based on outstanding scholarship.[/quote]

I am 100 percent positive there are several students that have a 1580 or above that are not presidential scholars. 100 percent positive. That is at STA, NCS, and Sidwell. 100 percent positive. [/quote]

They don't superscore for Presidential Scholars...maybe that is part of the problem?  You have to score it in one sitting...I think maybe 1550 is the low-end of the range this year.

I mean, getting nominated for the award is an automatic thing (actually winning it requires completing essays and other stuff).  Sorry to discredit you, but anyone getting a 1580+ in one sitting would absolutely have qualified.[/quote]

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